New Scholarship Reaffirms Enduring Legal Status of Palestinian ...

New Scholarship Reaffirms Enduring Legal Status of Palestinian Refugees Under International Law - Law for Palestine Skip to content Our Activities Contact us Donate Our Activities Contact us Donate Our Activities Contact us Donate Our Activities Contact us Donate Who We Are About Us Our philosophy Legal scene Weekly report PDF Academic research and studies Upcoming human rights events Archive Official Palestinian decisions and positions Official Israeli decisions and positions Regional & international decisions & positions Publications of human rights organizations Human rights conferences and events ICC – Palestine The official court records translation (Arabic) Explanatory Articles Jurists Forum Forum Activities Become a member Int’l Law & Palestine Blog Our Articles Book Reviews on Palestine Judgments on Palestine Legal Compendiums UN resolutions about Palestine Join Us Jurists for Palestine Forum Get involved Who We Are About Us Our philosophy Legal scene Weekly report PDF Academic research and studies Upcoming human rights events Archive Official Palestinian decisions and positions Official Israeli decisions and positions Regional & international decisions & positions Publications of human rights organizations Human rights conferences and events ICC – Palestine The official court records translation (Arabic) Explanatory Articles Jurists Forum Forum Activities Become a member Int’l Law & Palestine Blog Our Articles Book Reviews on Palestine Judgments on Palestine Legal Compendiums UN resolutions about Palestine Join Us Jurists for Palestine Forum Get involved Search ع ع New Scholarship Reaffirms Enduring Legal Status of Palestinian Refugees Under International Law April 15, 2026 Academic research and studies New Scholarship Reaffirms Enduring Legal Status of Palestinian Refugees Under International Law A newly published academic chapter by Prof. Dr. Mutaz M. Qafisheh , Head of the Board of Trustees of Law for Palestine, and Dr. Jinan Bastaki , Associate Professor of International Law at New York University Abu Dhabi, argues that the legal status and rights of Palestinian refugees remain intact despite more than a century of displacement and conflict. The chapter, titled “Refugees in Protracted Conflicts: The Lasting Legal Status of Multigenerational Palestinian Refugees,” appears in the edited volume From Protracted Conflict to Sustainable Peace? The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus and International Law, edited by Prof Heike Krieger, Dr Giedre Jokubauskaite, Dr Asli Ozcelik, and Dr Andreas Buser, and published by Oxford University Press. The volume brings together contributions from 33 scholars worldwide, examining legal and policy pathways from enduring conflict towards sustainable peace. The authors situate the Palestinian refugee question within a broader historical trajectory beginning with the British Mandate period, including the 1925 Palestine Citizenship Order, and continuing through successive waves of displacement in 1948, 1967, and more recent hostilities. They argue that, contrary to claims that the passage of time weakens legal entitlements, international law continues to recognise the enduring rights of Palestinian refugees – most notably the rights to repatriation and reparation. “The protracted conflict that created four generations of dispossessed Palestinians does not preclude the constant relevance of the refugee status of these peoples. Creeping legal evidence, coupled with numerous factual indicators, implies that the passage of time would not affect the ongoing rights of Palestinian refugees as a group and as individuals under international law.” Central to the chapter’s analysis is the assertion that prolonged conflict has not diluted refugee status but has instead contributed to the emergence of a form of customary international law that sustains these rights across generations. The authors contend that as long as claims remain asserted and unresolved, legal entitlements persist, drawing parall…