Persons who meet UNRWA’s Palestine Refugee criteriaIt also says:
These are persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict. Palestine Refugees, and descendants of Palestine refugee males, including legally adopted children, are eligible to register for UNRWA services.
The descendants of the original Palestine refugees are also eligible for registration, but only refugees living in one of UNRWA’s five fields of operations receive Agency services.Al Awda says:
There are about 7.2 million Palestinian refugees worldwide... More than half the refugee population lives in Jordan. Approximately 37.7% live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, comprising about 50 percent of the population in those areas. About 15% live in almost equal numbers in Syria and Lebanon. About 355,000 internally displaced Palestinians reside in present-day Israel. (!) The remaining refugee population lives throughout the world, including the rest of the Arab world.
“My father became a refugee in 1948. They lived in [Ramallah] until 1956 when a pastor and his wife from Muskegon, Michigan sponsored my dad’s family to come to the United States. They arrived in New York City like a lot of immigrant families and started a new life here. Now, my parents have a son in Congress. It’s really the American Dream,” he said.
Yet Justin is eligible to register as a Palestinian refugee with UNRWA today. He, his father and their non-Palestinian wives are eligible to get aid from UNRWA as refugees if they move to the West Bank or Jordan or other UNRWA areas of operation. His three children, born and raised in Michigan, are also "Palestinian refugees," as will the children of any of his sons. Forever.
It is impossible for Palestinians to lose "refugee" status unless they die - and even then only if the death can be proven with documentation or testimony that would rarely be given if the alternative is more free benefits for that family. (See first link above.)
There can be no more absurd example concerning the official, UN-approved definition of a "Palestinian refugee" than Justin Amash.
(h/t Irene)