Preface

Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are one of the largest and longest-standing displaced populations in the world today. The majority of Palestinian refugees and IDPs were displaced nearly fifty-five years ago during armed conflict and in the first Zionist/Israeli-Arab conflict in Palestine with more than 750,000 Palestinians displaced or expelled between late 1947 and the first half of 1949. Of the roughly 150,000 Palestinians who remained in the territories that became the state of Israel on 15 May 1948 several tens of thousands were internally displaced. Approximately 400,000 Palestinians were displaced, some for a second time, during the 1967 Israeli-Arab war. Subsequent displacements and expulsions followed in the occupied Palestinian territories after the 1967 war. Secondary displacement of refugees has continued in various countries of exile, including Jordan