Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi has decided to boycott the Arab League's summit, set to be held in Riyadh at the end of March, in response to what he considers as the Arab leaders' plan to "sacrifice" the refugee issue in order to please Israel.Meanwhile, PalArabs continue to be killed - in Iraq:
Gaddafi is worried that in the framework of the Saudi peace initiative, Arab leaders would concede the refugees' right of return, and agree to have them naturalized in their countries of residence, in a bid to encourage Israel's cooperation with the peace plan.
Libyan newspaper al-Jamahiriya reported this week that Libya may begin deporting Palestinian refugees soon, in protest of the Arab plan.
In September, 1995, Libya deported thousands of Palestinians in protest of the signing of the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians, and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Hundreds of those refugees remained stranded in a refugee camp on the Libyan-Egyptian border, while hundreds others spent weeks aboard ships in the Mediterranean Sea, after both Syria and Lebanon refused to give them shelter.
Geneva, 16 March (AKI) - The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that it found deeply disturbing a raid conducted by Iraqi security forces in a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in Baghdad on Wednesday that left at least one Palestinian dead and nine others reportedly still in detention. The agency says it has repeatedly expressed concern over the fate of Palestinian refugees in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's demise.In fact, the numbers of Palestinian Arabs killed or missing in Iraq (not just Baghdad) is over 500, and in the thousands over the past three years according to PalArab sources. And those who are fleeing cannot find refuge in Arab countries either.
"The violence reportedly broke out when the Palestinians tried to resist the raid," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing in Geneva. "They said they were frightened following months of being targeted by various groups. Several have been kidnapped, arrested and killed. They have often expressed concern about the lack of protection by the Iraqi security forces."
Over the past year UNHCR said it has repeatedly called on the Iraqi authorities and the United States-led multinational forces to protect the Palestinians, who fled to Iraq after the creation of Israel in 1948. Some received preferential treatment under Saddam Hussein and have become targets for attack since his overthrow in 2003. Nearly 20,000 of them have already fled but an estimated 15,000 still remain in the country, mostly in Baghdad, according to UNHCR.
Redmond urgently appealed to countries in the region and outside to offer temporary shelter for Palestinians from Iraq, noting that at least 186 of them had been confirmed murdered in Baghdad between April 2004 and January 2007.
“UNHCR believes the number may be significantly higher. Their enclaves in Baghdad have been the target of many militia attacks. Hundreds of Palestinian families have been evicted from their homes with nowhere to go, prevented from seeking refuge in neighbouring countries,” he said.
“Recently, UNHCR has received reports that the families of several detained Palestinians have been forced to pay thousands of US dollars to some members of the Iraqi security forces, allegedly for protection from torture and mutilation of their family members while in detention. Higher sums have reportedly been demanded to ensure their release.”
Yet for some reason, you will find very few human rights organizations or Muslims publicizing these crimes by Arabs against Palestinian Arabs. No human shields, no protests, no calls for boycotts, no calling this "ethnic cleansing" nor "genocide." Very few people even know about Kuwait's expulsion of 400,000 PalArabs in only one week in 1991.
The hypocrisy of those who pretend to care about PalArabs is overwhelming.
The only use that the world has for Palestinian Arabs is to be used as pawns to help destroy Israel.