Comment & Debate
Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 29 provides that rights can be limited by law solely for securing ‘due recognition and respect for the rights of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order, and general welfare in a democratic society.’ Article 30 states that nothing in the declaration may be interpreted as implying for any state, group, or person to engage in activity aimed at the destruction of any rights or freedoms guaranteed. The ‘rights’ and ‘general welfare’ of Israel’s Jewish citizens would be endangered if millions of Palestinians who were openly hostile to Israel’s existencea became a majority. Article 3 of the declaration further states that “these rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purpose and principles of the United Nations”. The Palestinian right of return would result in the loss of Israeli sovereignty and its replacement with an Arab-majority state, and the dismantling of Israeli society in favor of an Arab-Muslim dominated society, resulting in the destruction of a UN member state: a violation of the United Nations Charter. For this reason, a Palestinian right of return is invalidated.