Palestinian Refugees: Preferences in a Final Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement

The fate of the Palestinian refugees is certain to be one of the most sensitive issues in negotiations over a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Any feasible solution must take the wishes of the refugees into account, yet their preferences remain poorly understood. What do the refugees want? Where would they go if they were granted the “right of return,” and what factors are likely to influence their behavior?

Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), presented answers to these questions, based on three comprehensive surveys of 4,500 refugee families in Lebanon, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza. The PSR carried out the surveys with funding from the Government of Japan, Canada’s International Development Research Center, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.