Nearly 60 years ago in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes, their lands and their livelihoods following a war between the newly-created state of Israel and its neighbouring countries.

After the conflict subsided, Israel refused to allow the overwhelming majority of these refugees to return to their homes and lands, despite United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date".

There have been numerous unsuccesful efforts to implement Resolution 194 through the United Nations and to recover Palestinian properties through the Israeli legal system. Palestinian refugees reside in refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in Europe, North America and elsewhere and even within Israel itself. Refugees have born a disproportionate burden of the violence in the many conflicts that have erupted since 1948 and many have been forcibly displaced more than once.

Several decades on, this seminar reflects on the central importance of the Palestinian refugee issue to the longstanding impasse between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people and the continued relevance of international law in resolving this impasse.

Brief interventions by experts in international law, who are also in a position to share their firsthand experiences, will be followed by a public debate.

For more information, contact: Jeff Handmaker