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Why does nobody want Palestinian
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refugees? It's true. And specifically,
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why has every Arab country rejected
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sheltering any refugees from Gaza? In
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just weeks after Hamas's October 7th
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attack, Israel's massive retaliation
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left well over a million Gazins
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homeless. Today, almost twice that
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number. About 90% of Gaza's population
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has been forced from their homes. Yet,
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not a single Arab country will open its
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doors. Why not? Is it a principled stand
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to prevent Israel from depopulating Gaza
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altogether? Or are Arab leaders simply
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talking a good game about Palestinian
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solidarity while never actually wanting
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to help them? As you'll see, it's
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complicated. Hey, I'm Ken Laort. You can
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find a lot of videos about how one side
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here is evil and the other side is
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completely innocent victims, but you
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won't find too many that try to fairly
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explain what's actually happening in a
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conflict that's been going on since
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before we were born. We'll look at the
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history of Palestinian refugees, their
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turbulent history in host countries, and
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finally take a look at the current
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situation in Gaza. In the next few
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minutes, you'll understand a whole lot
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more about this complicated situation.
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Okay, so the Palestinian refugee crisis
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began in 1948. During Israel's creation,
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about 700,000 Palestinians, about 85% of
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the Arab population in that region, they
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fled or expelled from their homes
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altogether. Palestinians call it nakba,
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meaning catastrophe. Entire villages
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emptied out overnight. Families escaping
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on foot or loaded onto carts. They
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carried what they could. And today,
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their descendants number almost 6
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million people, the largest and oldest
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refugee population on Earth. Initially,
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nearby Arab countries, they assumed it'd
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be temporary. They set up makeshift
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camps and didn't try to integrate them
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into their countries, which is important
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because rather than bringing
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Palestinians into their societies
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permanently, they made a choice to house
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them separately, insisting their real
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home was Palestine and they'd soon
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return. Well, that didn't happen. The
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refugee problem wasn't solved within
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months or even years. Instead, it
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dragged on until today. The temporary
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camps turned into permanent fixtures,
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sprawling settlements of tents. They
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eventually became concrete neighborhoods
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filled with residents, some of whom
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still held on to the keys of homes
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they'd never see again. And then 19
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years later, the situation worsened.
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During the 6-day war in 1967, another
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massive wave of Palestinians, this time
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more than 300,000 fled from the West
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Bank and Gaza into Jordan, into Lebanon
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and Syria. Again, the assumption was
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short-term shelter until the Arabs won.
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But again, that just proved wrong. The
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result was overcrowded UN-run camps
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swelling even further with Palestinians
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who were now political ponds trapped in
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a geopolitical limbo. The reception
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Palestinians received it varied wildly
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between Arab nations. Jordan was the
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sole exception which often granted
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citizenship, especially to those fleeing
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from the West Bank, which Jordan itself
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had annexed in 1950. But even there,
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integration wasn't smooth or complete.
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Palestinians in Jordan still faced
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challenges, political suspicions, and
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often violent conflicts. Outside of
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Jordan, the reception was even colder.
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In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of
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Palestinians were intentionally kept
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stateless, forbidden from citizenship,
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barred from many jobs, and tightly
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restricted in camps. Lebanon had a
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tricky religious and political balance
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between Christian, Sunni, Shia, and
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Drews. And it wasn't going to keep a
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massive Palestinian Sunni population
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around. A similar situation unfolded in
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Syria, which kept Palestinians in a
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permanent holding pattern, tolerated,
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sometimes welcomed, but rarely
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integrated into Syrian society. These
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early conditions set the stage for
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decades of tension. Palestinian
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refugees, increasingly frustrated by not
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having a home, often turned militant,
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taking their struggle across Arab
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borders. The Palestinian Liberation
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Organization emerged partly from these
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refugee communities, and it became a
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powerful and armed political force. Of
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course, that made their host countries
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even more wary, and it laid the
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groundwork for more conflicts. By the
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70s, Palestinian refugee populations had
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become permanent, distinct groups within
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Arab countries. They were visible, but
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rarely integrated, and often distrusted
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by their hosts. Entire generations grew
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up in these camps. Children were born,
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grew into adulthood, and started
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families of their own without ever
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living in a home country. Now,
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understanding that history helps explain
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why even now Arab nations are deeply
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resistant to new waves of Palestinian
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refugees. Hey, this is a good time to
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mention that while I spend a lot of time
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researching this, I'm not perfect. If I
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make any serious factual mistake, let me
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know. I'll deal with it in a pin comment
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below. And and if you like stuff like
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this, now's a good time to subscribe.
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Okay, so now let's look at what happened
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next because the Palestinian refugees
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reshaped some of the countries that they
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were hosted in and often violently.
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First, Jordan. By 1970, Palestinians
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made up more than half of Jordan's
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entire population. Eventually, their
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welcome wore out and their relationship
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exploded into violence. It was known as
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Black September. It pitted Jordan's
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military against Palestinian guerilla
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groups, mainly the PLO. They'd turned
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the refugee camps into basically armed
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fortresses. The PLO essentially created
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a state within a state. It openly defied
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Jordan's sovereignty and it tried to
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overthrow King Hussein's monarchy. After
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fierce warfare, Jordan crushed the PLO,
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leaving about 3,400 Palestinians dead
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and tens of thousands expelled. Black
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September taught Jordan a painful
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lesson, and it would never again let
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heavily armed Palestinian factions
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operate on its soil. Actually, most
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Palestinians by then had citizenship,
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but thousands were expelled, mainly to
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Lebanon. And Lebanon got even uglier as
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the PLO set up shop there. Their armed
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presence helped ignite Lebanon's civil
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war from 1975 to 1990, which killed over
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100,000 people and displaced about a
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third of the country from their homes.
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Militias from all sorts of different
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sects and outside countries fought
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viciously, and the Palestinians were
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often right in the middle of it. Even
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today, Palestinians in Lebanon, they're
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politically marginalized. They're banned
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from many jobs. They're denied
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citizenship, and they're viewed with
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suspicion by much of the rest of
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Lebanese society. Kuwait is another
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example of how quickly Arab solidarity
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with Palestinians could evaporate once
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politics shifted. By 1990, about 400,000
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Palestinians lived in Kuwait, making up
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about 20% of its population. And when
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Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Yaser
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Arafat and the PLO publicly supported
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him. And once again, things got ugly.
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After much of the world helped Kuwait
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kick out Saddam, Kuwait then pushed out
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almost the entire Palestinian community.
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About 200,000 who were forcibly removed
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within months and another 200,000 barred
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from ever returning. Yaserfat later said
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that Kuwait's actions were even worse
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than Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
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Other countries had less violent but
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similar stories. Iraq, Libya, Saudi
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Arabia. Palestinians were often
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welcomed, at least to some extent, then
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expelled either quietly or through mass
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expulsions. Each of these episodes
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showed Arab states and their ambivalence
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towards the Palestinian. They're
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publicly supportive of their cause, but
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privately suspicious and wary of
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integrating them into their societies.
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Keeping Palestinians separate and
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stateless became in part a political
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strategy and maintaining the refugee
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crisis as a leverage against Israel
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rather than permanently solving it. Fast
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forward today, Hamas fighting Israel.
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The vast majority of Gazin residents
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have been displaced and they have a
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refugee crisis even more immediate and
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intense than past conflicts. But despite
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that scale and desperation, Arab states
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have again said no. Egypt's president
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and Jordan's king immediately slam their
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doors shut. Both leaders openly declared
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that not a single refugee from Gaza
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would permanently cross their borders.
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Egypt even doubled down by heavily
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reinforcing security at the Rafa border
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crossing, making it crystal clear Gazins
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weren't welcome. King Abdullah summed it
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up this way. No refugees in Jordan, no
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refugees in Egypt. This is a situation
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of humanitarian dimension that has to be
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dealt inside of Gaza and uh and and the
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West Bank and not to try and push the
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Palestinian challenge and their future
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onto other people's shoulders. That's
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the easiest and safest answer for every
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government in the Middle East. They
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clearly understand the danger and
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instability that a large number of Gazan
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refugees could bring. They even reject
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bringing in smaller numbers who might
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bring the war against Israel with them.
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Egypt in particular. It worries about
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extremists slipping into the Sinai and
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that Hamas or another radical group
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would set up shop there where other
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insurgencies are already going on. Egypt
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knows that more armed factions isn't
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going to help their internal issues. And
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it also wouldn't help if Kusha rockets
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and suicide bombers weren't coming from
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Gaza, but from Egypt itself. They're
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currently at peace with Israel, and
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they're not looking for any more
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problems there. So the Arab states, they
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acknowledge the security issues and then
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emphasize that they're protecting
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Palestinian claims by keeping refugees
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in place, no matter how harsh that
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sounds. It's easier to condemn Israel's
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actions loudly than to practically
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support Palestinian refugees. Political
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rhetoric, that doesn't cost anything.
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But housing millions of displaced
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Palestinians, that costs dearly.
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Security risk, social cohesion, you name
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it. Palestinians themselves are
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conflicted, too. I mean, for many,
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leaving Gaza feels like permanently
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surrendering their homeland, exactly
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what Israel would want. And ironically,
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both Palestinians and Arab states find
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themselves resisting relocation for
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different reasons. Obviously, that
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effectively traps Gazins in horrific
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conditions caught between Israeli air
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strikes and a sealed Arab border. But it
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leaves us with a fundamental moral and
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practical dilemma that's still
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unresolved. Is forcibly keeping
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Palestinians trapped inside Gaza a
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principled stand against Israel's
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pressure? Or is it inhumane? So, like a
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lot of things, it's too simple to accuse
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the Arab states of outright cynicism,
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using Palestinian suffering as a
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political weapon against Israel without
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genuinely wanting to help them. But on
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the other hand, there's elements of
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truth in that as well. Like I said in
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the introduction, it's complicated. Hey,
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here's another complicated question. Why
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do Arab armies almost always lose to the
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West? They can do pretty well with
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insurgencies and guerrilla warfare, but
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the last time an Arab army won a
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decisive war against the West was the
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Battle of Hatim when Saladine defeated
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the Christian crusaders and conquered
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Jerusalem. That was in 1187 AD. So,
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what's going on? Hey, I hope you got a
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little bit smarter watching this. And if
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you did, come back
