Who are the Palestinian refugees ?
Palestinian refugees are the individuals who have been forced out from their homes through deliberate Zionist actions since 1947–1948, and their offspring. There are five primary groups of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons:
The largest group is comprised of Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes in 1948. This includes Palestinians registered as refugees with the UNRWA, created in 1949 to aid Palestinians forced from their homes, and others who either were not eligible for international assistance or chose not to receive it. This constitutes the main bulk. The campaign of ethnic cleansing took place before and during the war of 1948, and saw approximately 800,000 Palestinians expelled from their homes, and over 530 villages being demolished.
The second major group is comprised of those Palestinians ethnically cleansed for the first time in the June 1967 war from their places of origin in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
The third group of refugees includes Palestinians who left the Occupied Territories since 1967 and have been prevented by Israel from returning due to revocation of residency rights, denial of family reunification, or deportation. Some are simply unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution.
In addition, there are two groups of internally displaced Palestinians. The first includes those who left their homes or villages but remained in the area that became the state of Israel in 1948. The second group includes Palestinians internally displaced in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Israel depends upon the displacement of these refugees and their descendants to maintain itself as an ethnocracy.