Everyone has the right to return to their country under international law. But Israel denies Palestinians this right and instead allows anyone of Jewish descent to settle on stolen Palestinian land.
There are 800,000 Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank.
In total there are 7 million Palestinian refugees worldwide.
The key is an important symbol of the Palestinian right to return. Many Palestinians have kept their keys in the hope of returning home.
A deeper dive.
There are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees scattered across the world, making this the world’s longest-running refugee crisis.
Palestinian refugees have the right to return to Palestine under international law. Shortly after the Nakba in 1948, the UN confirmed the Palestinian right to return in Resolution 194. The right of return is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1948).
Yet Israel repeatedly ignores or refuses this right, instead allowing anyone of Jewish descent to settle on former Palestinian land. There are now more Palestinians living outside their homeland than within it.
Most Palestinian refugees are individuals who were forced out of their homes in 1948 and their descendants. During the Nakba over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled to make way for the state of Israel. In 1967 another 300,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes and became refugees.
Many Palestinians still have the keys to their homes. The key is an important symbol of the Nakba and the Palestinian right to return.
