[chrisg23]

The main lobbying group in the USA in this area posted a tweet after the 2024 democratic primaries, to brag about how they achieved a 100% success rate in getting candidates they endorse to win the primary elections.

Perhaps there is a relation?

[kayodelycaon]

I don’t see how a lobby group in the USA has any influence over countries in the Middle East.

I’ve been doing some research and it seems like half the countries in the Middle East marginalize or have completely expelled Palestinians.

If that’s the case, there’s a lot of complex and ugly history no one wants to get involved with.

[chrisg23]

Good points.

-I don’t see how a lobby group in the USA has any influence over countries in the Middle East.

The USA has a bigger military than all the countries in the Middle East Combined. And uses it on the regular. (Israel also has a bigger military than all its neighbors, the only one that has a larger or comparable military is Iran, which is about 1000 miles away to the border.)

-I’ve been doing some research and it seems like half the countries in the Middle East marginalize or have completely expelled Palestinians.

Which ones? Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, three of the immediate neighbors of Israel, have 2.3million, 560k, and 480k registered palestinian refugees. Registered means being tracked by UN agency that tracks these things, its possible they missed a few hundred thousand or million.

There was a change of policy in these countries as well as in Gaza when it was noticed that palestinians that left as refugees have no legal route to going back to their country of origin, because Israel does not consider their claims valid and its 10x easier to keep them out of the country once they leave than it is to force them to leave.

The Gaza Strip itself was the host to some 1 million+ refugees prior to the outbreak of the war. That is 1 million people that used to have a home in Israel proper that now do not, and its the official policy of Israel that they can never return under any circumstances. It remains for the conflict to end to get an updated count with the new, lower number.

The countries in the middle east have collectively made the game theory decision that the best chance for Palestinians to gain real independence and be someday allowed to return to the land they lived in for centuries is to stop taking refugees. Its a heartbreakingly sad situation on many levels.

-If that’s the case, there’s a lot of complex and ugly history no one wants to get involved with.

It is likely uglier than you know. I encourage anyone that is interest to learn more of the history of events, from multiple sources. You might appreciate this interview with a Rabbi who opposes not just Zionism but the creation of Israel itself, from mainly a religious doctrinal point of view but also as a condemnation of what it has done so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhnIZTMM2-w

[CLPadvocate]

1. Similarly or larger sized military in the region: Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Pakistan - depends a bit on how you're comparing.

2. Having no right to return to the country you fled is pretty common situation in the world and by no way specific to the Middle East. An additional point is that people were not fleeing Israel - they were fleeing e.g. the British Empire and Israel has absolutely no legal obligation to allow the refugees from the British Empire to enter. And, additionally, nowhere else in the world are descendants of refugees, who are born in other countries, are considered refugees. They may be considered illegals, though - which is still a completely different situation.

3. Syria and Lebanon are basically failed states with no real power to expel anyone. Situation with Jordan is even more interesting - the Kingdom of Jordan actually occupied (1948) and annexed (1950) the West Bank, making "Palestinians" in the West Bank actually Jordanians. So calling anyone of them "refugee" is more than questionable.