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CNN Live Saturday
Isrealis, Palestinians Continue To Reach Final Peace
Aired July 19, 2003 - 18:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Israelis and Palestinians continue efforts to reach a final peace deal in the Middle East. Meantime, a new poll questioning the desire of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel is sparking controversy and anger. CNN's Matthew Chance has more from Ramallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the refugee camps of the West Bank, few talk of giving up their right of return. The issue of going back to lands that are now Israel has been seen as not negotiable, a matter of when, not if.
Mamoud (ph) left his land in 1948, as the Israeli state was born. Ever since, he's been a refugee, but has always promised his children and grandchildren they'd be back. He even kept the keys to the property he insists was stolen by Israel.
"I kept the keys so I could go back," he told me. "Now they're just a memory, but I will never give up the hope of returning."
Allowing millions of refugees and their families to realize that hope has, for decades, been a key Palestinian demand.
And for those who question it, an angry response. Here, refugee activists smashed the offices of a Palestinian research center in Ramallah. Its latest poll, taken from a survey of 4,500 refugee families living across the Middle East has provoked outrage from those who believe the right of return is sacred.
The poll indicates 95 percent of refugees want the right of return recognized by Israel as a moral principle. But only 10 percent of those asked would return to their homes in Israel as citizens. A finding which challenges existing Palestinian and Israeli perceptions.
More than half said they would accept instead compensation, and homes in the West Bank and Gaza.
It is this apparent flexibility on such a core issue that has surprised many here.
(on camera): The findings of this controversial survey really challenge one of the main obstacles that has for years blocked any Israeli-Palestinian peace. Even the most dovish Israelis reject the idea of a mass return of Palestinians that would in some way undermine the Jewish character of the Israeli state. If that can be avoided, chances of a peace deal may be much greater. (voice-over): But one opinion poll does not make an agreement. Palestinian officials reject the findings, and whatever the pollsters suggest, generations of refugees say they're still clinging to the hope of going back.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 19, 2003 - 18:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Israelis and Palestinians continue efforts to reach a final peace deal in the Middle East. Meantime, a new poll questioning the desire of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel is sparking controversy and anger. CNN's Matthew Chance has more from Ramallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the refugee camps of the West Bank, few talk of giving up their right of return. The issue of going back to lands that are now Israel has been seen as not negotiable, a matter of when, not if.
Mamoud (ph) left his land in 1948, as the Israeli state was born. Ever since, he's been a refugee, but has always promised his children and grandchildren they'd be back. He even kept the keys to the property he insists was stolen by Israel.
"I kept the keys so I could go back," he told me. "Now they're just a memory, but I will never give up the hope of returning."
Allowing millions of refugees and their families to realize that hope has, for decades, been a key Palestinian demand.
And for those who question it, an angry response. Here, refugee activists smashed the offices of a Palestinian research center in Ramallah. Its latest poll, taken from a survey of 4,500 refugee families living across the Middle East has provoked outrage from those who believe the right of return is sacred.
The poll indicates 95 percent of refugees want the right of return recognized by Israel as a moral principle. But only 10 percent of those asked would return to their homes in Israel as citizens. A finding which challenges existing Palestinian and Israeli perceptions.
More than half said they would accept instead compensation, and homes in the West Bank and Gaza.
It is this apparent flexibility on such a core issue that has surprised many here.
(on camera): The findings of this controversial survey really challenge one of the main obstacles that has for years blocked any Israeli-Palestinian peace. Even the most dovish Israelis reject the idea of a mass return of Palestinians that would in some way undermine the Jewish character of the Israeli state. If that can be avoided, chances of a peace deal may be much greater. (voice-over): But one opinion poll does not make an agreement. Palestinian officials reject the findings, and whatever the pollsters suggest, generations of refugees say they're still clinging to the hope of going back.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
