Palestinian Recognition and rights of refugees

Palestinian Refugee Politics and Representation

by Dr. Anne Irfan, Britain Palestine Project

Dr Anne Irfan argues that recognition of Palestine must extend beyond the territory of the West Bank and Gaza to include the rights, experiences and political agency of Palestinians worldwide, particularly the millions living as refugees. Drawing on historical research into Palestinian displacement, refugee camps and the history of UNRWA, Dr Irfan explores how the Nakba continues not only through the loss of land, but also through efforts to fragment Palestinian identity and marginalise Palestinian voices in international discourse.

The session explores:

• Why recognition of Palestine should include recognition of all Palestinians, including refugees and diaspora communities.
• The concept of the Nakba as an ongoing process rather than a single historical event.
• The displacement of Palestinians during 1948 and the creation of one of the world’s largest refugee populations.
• The importance of the right of return and its place in international law and Palestinian political identity.
• Early international responses to Palestinian refugees and the ways in which Palestinian identity was often obscured or depoliticised.
• The history of Palestinian refugee camps as centres of political organisation, community life and national consciousness.
• The origins and evolution of UNRWA and its relationship with Palestinian refugee communities.
• Palestinian resistance to efforts aimed at permanent resettlement outside Palestine.
• The central role of education in Palestinian refugee communities and national identity.
• Contemporary refugee activism, including campaigns centred on the right of return and solidarity across the Palestinian diaspora.

Dr Irfan highlights the ways in which Palestinian refugees have consistently asserted their political agency, challenged attempts to erase their identity and maintained connections to Palestine across generations. She argues that refugee communities have played a central role in shaping Palestinian political history and continue to do so today. The presentation concludes by examining the relevance of refugee history to current events in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, and by arguing that meaningful recognition must encompass the full Palestinian people, wherever they live. Recorded at the Britain Palestine Project annual conference, Recognition is the Beginning, held at the Greenwood Theatre, London, on 2 June 2026. About the Speaker Dr Anne Irfan is a historian of the modern Middle East and Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Race, Gender and Postcolonial Studies at University College London. Her research focuses on Palestinian history, refugee communities, international organisations and the politics of displacement. She is the author of Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the International Refugee System and is widely recognised for her work on the history of UNRWA, Palestinian refugees and the global dimensions of the Palestinian struggle.