Israeli Arabs 'can't go home'

2003-06-27 13:57

Jerusalem - Israel's supreme court has rejected an appeal by Israeli Arabs to return to their village, from which they were expelled during the 1948 war and which was destroyed by the Israeli army three years later, court sources said.

The court stuck to previous rulings on the same case and said the former inhabitants of Iqrit and their descendents could not be allowed back and that other channels had to be explored for compensation.

When the state of Israel was created, the inhabitants of the mainly Christian village refused to flee to Lebanon as did most Palestinians in the Galilee region.

They were given temporary housing in the area with the promise they would be allowed to return within weeks.

They have been waiting ever since, and their former hilltop village is now being used as an army position overlooking the volatile border with Lebanon.

The court said the Iqrit case could be reconsidered if the political context changed.

The Israeli authorities fear that allowing the villagers back will open the floodgates for claims by some of the 3.7 million Palestinian refugees.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon repeated that he would never allow a single Palestinian refugee to reclaim his house inside Israel.

- AFX