A/HRC/13/53 the limited capacity of and effort by the United Nations to fulfil its responsibilities to protect the civilian population of Gaza from this oppressive occupation that has lasted for more than 42 years. VI. The plight of Palestinian refugees 35. An important and unwelcome change in the overall posture of the Palestine/Israel conflict is the decreasing attention, in relevant diplomatic and human rights discourse, devoted to the plight of Palestinian refugees, in particular regarding the extent to which their rights as refugees should be fulfilled. Since the Special Rapporteur’s mandate is concerned only with the OPT, discussion will necessarily be limited. Yet the wider implications for the total Palestinian refugee population of over 4 million should not be ignored. The underlying question is whether the refugees living in Gaza and the West Bank enjoy the right of return under international law if they were forced out or fled in 1948. The fundamental text is General Assembly resolution 194 (III) adopted on 11 December 1948, and especially paragraph 11: “Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return ...”. 36. By its nature a General Assembly resolution has no independent binding authority, and does not create legal obligations. Yet in this case it seemed to express a consensus widely shared at the time by governments as to the rights of the parties, and thus deserving of implementation. This language of paragraph 11 has been generally interpreted as conferring an unconditional right of repatriation, in accordance with customary international law, although implementation has been inconsistent due to the control exercised by sovereign States over who may enter their territory. More carefully considered, the second part of the paragraph looks towards implementation, instructing the Conciliation Commission (at the time representing the United Nations in trying to resolve the conflict) “to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees ...”. 37 Israel has over the years used its diplomatic muscle to minimize Palestinian expectations with regard to exercising a right of return. However, up to and including the 1967 War the refugee issue remained salient. The canonical Security Council resolution 242 unanimously called in 1967 for “a just settlement of the refugee problem” as an essential element in its conception of peace, but the shift from the language of paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) represents a partial retreat as it leaves open the question of what would constitute “a just settlement” and who would determine what is “just”. It refers not to the rights of refugees but to “the refugee problem”. Fast forward to 2009, and there is little discussion of the current plight of the refugees living for generations in miserable conditions in Gaza and the West Bank. The Special Rapporteur shares the assessment recently made by Karen AbuZayd, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, that for these refugee issues to remain unresolved 60 years after the dispossession and displacement of several hundred thousand Palestinians is unacceptable. In her words the acknowledgement of “the 60-year-old injustice” would be “a first step towards addressing the consequences of that injustice”.65 Ms. AbuZayd movingly expresses her concern in the form of an appeal: “As forced displacements continue across the West Bank, as Palestinians are evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem, I ask a simple 65 16 “Confronting Dispossession”, Karen AbuZayd, Maan News, 9 December 2009. GE.10-10260