Palestinian exodus from Kuwait (1990–91)
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The Palestinian exodus from Kuwait took place during and after the Gulf War. There were approximately 357,000 Palestinians living in Kuwait before the country was invaded by neighbouring Iraq on 2 August 1990.[1] On August 10, twenty Arab League countries at an emergency summit in Cairo drafted a final statement that condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and supported the United Nations resolutions. Twelve Arab states supported the use of force, and the remaining eight, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), rejected a military solution to the Iraqi invasion.[2] According to The Washington Post, classified US reports indicated that the PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, pressed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to make his withdrawal from Kuwait conditional on the withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, and on August 12, Saddam announced his offer to withdraw conditionally.[3] The Kuwaiti government policy which led to this exodus was a response to the position taken by the PLO.
After Operation Desert Storm saw Iraqi forces defeated and pushed out of Kuwait by a coalition led by the United States, more than 287,000 Palestinians were forced to leave Kuwait in March 1991 by the government and fear of abuse by the Kuwait Armed Forces.[1][4][5] Most of the fleeing Palestinians went to Jordan, and limited numbers ended up in Iraq, Israel, the United States, Australia and Canada.[6]
In 2004, relations between the Palestinian leadership and Kuwait improved with the issuance of an official apology by the PLO leader, Mahmoud Abbas, for the PLO's support of the Iraqi occupation. In 2012, the Palestinian embassy in Kuwait was reopened,[7] and some 80,000 Palestinians lived in the state.[7]
Background
[edit]Before the Gulf War, the Palestinian population in Kuwait was 357,000,[1] roughly 18 percent of Kuwait's total population, which was approximately 2 million people.[8]
The Palestinian nationals had come to Kuwait in three different phases: 1948 (the First Arab–Israeli War and the Nakba), 1967 (the Third Arab–Israeli War), and 1973 (the Fourth Arab–Israeli War).
Events
[edit]Iraqi occupation
[edit]During the subsequent Iraqi military occupation of Kuwait, some Palestinians fled for various reasons such as fear of persecution,[9] food and medical care shortages, financial difficulties, and fear of arrest or mistreatment at roadblocks by the Iraqi Army.[9][10]
March 1991 exodus
[edit]Kuwait's campaign against the Palestinians was a response to the alignment of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and his Palestine Liberation Organization with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who had earlier invaded Kuwait.[11] On March 14, 1991, 200,000 Palestinians still resided in Kuwait out of the initial 400,000.[12] Palestinians were forced to leave Kuwait during one week in March 1991 after Kuwait's was liberated from the Iraqi occupation.
During a single week in March, the Palestinian population of Kuwait had been almost entirely deported out the country. Kuwaitis said that Palestinians leaving the country could move to Jordan,since most Palestinians held Jordanian passports.[12] According to The New York Times, Kuwaitis said the anger against Palestinians was such that there was little chance that those who had left during the seven-month occupation could ever return, and relatively few of those remaining would be able to stay.[12]
Aftermath
[edit]Some of the Palestinians who were expelled from Kuwait were Jordanian citizens.[13]
In 2004, Kuwait put off a planned visit by Mahmoud Abbas, the second PLO official after Arafat.[14] Palestinian officials initially denied reports that it had been caused by the PLO's refusal to apologize over its support of the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.[14] However, on 12 December 2004, Abbas, who had now become the PLO leader, apologized for the Palestinian leadership's support of Iraq and of Saddam during the invasion and the occupation.[15] On the first visit to Kuwait by a top Palestinian official since the 1990 invasion, Abbas stated, "I say, yes, we apologize to the Kuwait people over our stand toward Kuwait".[14]
In 2012, it was reported that 80,000 Palestinians lived in Kuwait.[7]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Lesch, Ann M. (2005). "Kuwait". In Mattar, Philip (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Palestinians (Rev. ed.). New York: Facts on File. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0-8160-5764-8. Retrieved 3 January 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Arafat's costly Gulf War choice". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Jack; Atta, Dale Van (26 August 1990). "WHY ARAFAT BACKED SADDAM". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ Schulz, Helena Lindholm (2005). The Palestinian Diaspora. Routledge. p. 6 7. ISBN 9781134496686.
Regulations on residence were considerably tightened and the general environment of insecurity triggered a continuous Palestinian exodus.
- ^ Hicks, Neil (1992). Kuwait: Building the Rule of Law: Human Rights in Kuwait. Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. p. 35. ISBN 9780934143493.
There was a great exodus of Palestinians from Kuwait during July and August, partly attributable to fear of abusive actions by the Kuwaiti security forces, but also brought about by economic necessity.
- ^ Esman, Milton J. (2009). Diasporas in the Contemporary World. Cambridge: Polity. p. 88. ISBN 978-0745644974.
- ^ a b c Hatuqa, Dalia (15 April 2013). "Palestinians Reopen Embassy In Kuwait After Two Decades". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ Journal of Palestine Studies: Palestinians in Kuwait (1991) by Ann M. Lesch.
- ^ a b Schulz, Helena Lindholm (2005). The Palestinian Diaspora. Routledge. p. 67. ISBN 9781134496686.
During autumn 1990 more than half of the Palestinians in Kuwait fled as a result of fear or persecution
- ^ Islamkotob. "History of Palestine". p. 100.
- ^ Hockstader, Lee (10 February 1998). "PLO Leaders Mute Support For Saddam This Time". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ a b c Ibrahim, Youssef M. (14 March 1991). "AFTER THE WAR: Kuwait; Palestinians in Kuwait Face Suspicion and Probable Exile". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022.
- ^ Yann Le Troquer and Rozenn Hommery al-Oudat (Spring 1999). "From Kuwait to Jordan: The Palestinians' Third Exodus". Journal of Palestine Studies. 28 (3): 37–51. doi:10.2307/2538306. JSTOR 2538306.
- ^ a b c "Palestine apology to Kuwait". www.telegraph.co.uk. 12 December 2004.
- ^ Abbas apology to Kuwait over Iraq Archived 2018-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, December 12, 2004