Media reports indicate that tomorrow in Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas will announce a new policy conceding on the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees. Selling such concessions to the Palestinians will be difficult though. In 2003, a survey conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that only 10 percent of the refugees would move back to Israel if given the opportunity. But on the day director Khalil Shikaki was to announce the poll’s findings, an angry mob — possibly instigated by Yasser Arafat — trashed the PCPSR office, and pelted him with eggs. Will Abbas fare better?
Click here for more background info on the refugee issue.
