About 20 percent of all the Arab refugees have already been “in fact” resettled, and realize they will never return to their former homes in Israel; Archbishop George Hakim, of the Greek Catholic community in Israel, declared in a newspaper interview here today. The Archbishop, most of whose communicants are Arabs, said the fourth who had resettled had found new homes in the United States, Canada, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
“If Israel were now to offer compensation for their property, ” the Greek Catholic leader told the Jerusalem Post, “the hostility of the refugees would vanish.” Israel should nevertheless, he added, offer in principle the alternative for Arab refugees’ return to Israel. The church official said he was certain that the alternative would not be accepted by any large number of the refugees. The Archbishop believes that a considerable number of the refugees would accept compensation immediately, waiving their claims for return to Israel.
In regard to the Arabs in Israel, the Archbishop stated that earlier restrictions against Arabs in border areas here have been eased so much that the Israeli military government in those sectors no longer represents a serious problem.
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