August 1957, Washington DC. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts takes the floor of the United States Senate. He is 40 years old. He has been a senator for 5 years. He is already thinking about running for president and he is about to deliver a speech that will infuriate the Israeli government and American Jewish organizations.

The speech is about Algeria, about French colonialism, about independence movements across the world. But buried in this speech is a statement about the Middle East. Kennedy says that the United States should support the right of the Arab refugees to repatriation or to adequate compensation for their lost lands and property.

This is the first time a major American political figure has publicly endorsed the principle that Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes or receive compensation. The Israeli government is shocked. American Jewish leaders are furious. They demand Kennedy clarify his position.

They pressure him to retract the statement. Kennedy refuses. He stands by his words. And this moment becomes a turning point in how Israel views the young senator who three years later will become president. This is the story of what JFK said about Palestinian refugees, why he said it, and how this statement shaped Israel’s concerns about Kennedy throughout his presidency.

Let’s begin by understanding the context of 1957 and the Palestinian refugee crisis that Kennedy was addressing. The Palestinian refugee crisis began in 1948 when Israel declared independence on May 14th, 1948. War immediately broke out between Israel and neighboring Arab states.

During this war, approximately 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes in what became Israel. These Palestinians became refugees. The causes of this refugee flight remain disputed. Israeli sources argue that most Palestinians left voluntarily, believing they would return after Arab armies defeated Israel. Palestinian and Arab sources argue that many were forcibly expelled by Israeli forces, that massacres and intimidation drove them from their homes.

What is not disputed is that by the end of the 1948 war, approximately 700,000 Palestinians were living in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Israel refused to allow them to return. The Arab states refused to resettle them permanently. The refugee problem became permanent. By 1957, when Kennedy gave his speech, the Palestinian refugees had been living in camps for 9 years.

The United Nations had established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRA, to provide food, shelter, and education to the refugees. But no political solution had been found. The refugees lived in poverty. Conditions in the camps were terrible. Entire generations were growing up stateless without citizenship, without hope of returning home.

The situation was becoming a permanent crisis. International law, specifically UN General Assembly Resolution 194 passed in December 1948, stated that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors 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.

This resolution established the principle of right of return or compensation, but Israel refused to implement it. Israel argued that allowing 700,000 Arab refugees to return would destroy Israel’s Jewish majority, would threaten Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. The United States during the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s officially supported resolution 194 in principle, but American policy was vague.

The US did not pressure Israel to allow refugees to return. The issue remained frozen. Into this context, in August 1957 came Senator John F. Kennedy’s speech. The speech was titled Imperialism, the enemy of freedom. Kennedy delivered it on July 2nd, 1957 on the Senate floor. The primary subject was Algeria, which was fighting for independence from France.

Kennedy argued that the United States should support independence movements and oppose European colonialism. In the middle of this speech about Algeria, Kennedy made a broader argument about American foreign policy in the developing world. He said the United States needed to support self-determination, support refugees, support human rights.

Then Kennedy said this, yet what have we done to the Middle East? Instead of recognizing the legitimate claims of the Arab refugees to repatriation or compensation for their lost lands and property which we voted for in the United Nations in 1948, we have allowed their just demands to become subordinated to other strategic considerations.

This was the key sentence. Kennedy was saying that Palestinian refugees had legitimate claims to return to their homes or receive compensation. He was saying the United States had voted for this principle in 1948 but had failed to follow through. He was criticizing American policy for ignoring refugee rights.

Kennedy continued, “The Arab world has been increasingly driven to extremism because of this. The Middle East will remain unstable as long as this problem is unsolved. Kennedy was arguing that the refugee crisis was fueling Arab radicalism, that solving it was necessary for regional stability. He was making a pragmatic argument.

American interests required addressing Palestinian grievances. The speech received relatively little attention when delivered. It was a long speech about multiple topics. The Algeria portions received more press coverage than the Middle East portions, but the Israeli government noticed and American Jewish organizations noticed. Within days, Kennedy began receiving letters from American Jewish leaders.

The letters were critical. They said Kennedy had misunderstood the Middle East situation. They said the Arab refugees had left voluntarily in 1948. They said Israel could not allow them to return without destroying itself. They said Kennedy’s statement undermined Israel. Kennedy received a particularly sharp letter from Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, a prominent Zionist leader.

Silver wrote that Kennedy’s statement about refugee repatriation was dangerous and irresponsible. Silver said allowing 700,000 Arabs to return to Israel would mean the end of the Jewish state. Kennedy responded to Silver in a letter dated July 23rd, 1957. Kennedy’s response is revealing. He did not apologize.

He did not retract his statement. Instead, he clarified and defended it. Kennedy wrote, “I did not call for repatriation of all Arab refugees. I called for recognition of their right to repatriation or compensation as stated in the UN resolution. This is not the same thing.” Kennedy was making a distinction. He was saying that refugees should have the right to choose, return to their homes or accept compensation for lost property.

He was not saying all refugees must return. He was saying they should have the choice. Kennedy continued in his letter, “I recognize that Israel cannot accept the return of all refugees without endangering its security and its Jewish character. But I also believe that the refugees have legitimate claims that cannot be ignored forever.” This was Kennedy trying to balance two positions, support for Israel’s security concerns and support for refugee rights.

He was arguing that both were legitimate, that both needed to be addressed. Kennedy’s letter did not satisfy his critics. American Jewish organizations continued to pressure him. Some threatened to oppose his future political campaigns. Kennedy was planning to run for president in 1960. He could not afford to alienate American Jewish voters who were an important constituency in key states like New York.

Kennedy met with Jewish leaders in late 1957 and early 1958. In these meetings, he listened to their concerns. He assured them he supported Israel’s right to exist, Israel’s security. But he did not retract his statement about refugee rights. Publicly, Kennedy said little more about Palestinian refugees for the next several years.

He had learned that the issue was politically dangerous. He had learned that American politicians did not speak openly about Palestinian rights without paying a political price. But privately, Kennedy maintained his view. In conversations with aids and advisers, he said the refugee problem was real, that it could not be ignored, that eventually it would have to be addressed.

In 1960, Kennedy ran for president. During the campaign, he spoke frequently about supporting Israel. He promised to maintain American military and economic aid to Israel. He promised to defend Israel’s security. He said almost nothing about Palestinian refugees. Kennedy won the presidency in November 1960. He took office in January 1961.

And as president, he faced the question, what would he do about the Middle East? Kennedy’s approach as president was cautious. He did not push for a solution to the refugee crisis. He did not pressure Israel to accept refugee returns. The issue was too complicated, too politically sensitive. But Kennedy did maintain American support for UN ARNWA, the UN agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees.

He ensured that American funding for ARNWA continued. He spoke occasionally about the need for a just solution to the refugee problem, but he did not specify what that solution should be. Israeli officials who dealt with Kennedy as president were always aware of his 1957 statement. [snorts] They remembered that he had endorsed the principle of refugee return or compensation.

They worried that he might at some point try to force Israel to accept refugees. This concern shaped how Israel approached Kennedy. Israeli Prime Minister David Benorian in his meetings with Kennedy always emphasized that Israel could not accept the return of Arab refugees. Benorian made this point repeatedly.

He wanted Kennedy to understand that this was a red line for Israel. Kennedy never pushed Benorian on the issue. He had other priorities in the Middle East. preventing the spread of Soviet influence, maintaining access to oil, managing the Arab-Israeli conflict. The refugee issue was always present, but never became a crisis during Kennedy’s presidency.

However, Kennedy did take one significant action related to Palestinian refugees. In 1961, he appointed a special envoy, Joseph Johnson, to explore possible solutions to the refugee problem. Johnson was a respected academic and diplomat. His mission was to quietly investigate whether there was any way to make progress on the refugee issue.

Johnson spent months traveling in the Middle East. He met with Israeli officials. He met with Arab officials. He met with refugees. He developed a proposal. Johnson’s proposal presented in 1962 was complex. It suggested that refugees should be given a free choice. Return to Israel, resettle in Arab countries, or immigrate elsewhere.

Those who chose to return would be screened by Israel for security concerns. Those who chose not to return would receive compensation. The Johnson proposal tried to balance refugee rights with Israeli security concerns. It gave refugees a choice while giving Israel veto power over who could actually return. Neither side accepted the proposal.

Israel rejected it because it acknowledged a right of return, even a limited one. Arab states rejected it because it did not guarantee that all refugees who wanted to return could do so. Kennedy did not push the proposal. When both sides rejected it, he let it die quietly. The refugee issue remained unresolved.

Why did Kennedy raise the refugee issue in 1957 but failed to pursue it as president? Several factors explain this. First, political reality. Kennedy learned from the reaction to his 1957 speech that speaking about Palestinian rights was politically costly. As president, he could not afford to alienate American Jewish voters or donors.

He needed their support on other issues. Second, strategic priorities. Kennedy faced major crises during his presidency. The Bay of Pigs, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam. The Middle East was important, but the refugee issue was not his top priority there. preventing Soviet expansion and maintaining access to oil mattered more.

Third, Israeli resistance. Israel made absolutely clear that it would not accept refugee returns. Kennedy knew that forcing Israel would damage the USIsrael relationship. [snorts] He was not willing to pay that price. But Kennedy never retracted his 1957 statement. He never said he had been wrong.

He simply stopped talking about it publicly. After Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, the refugee issue largely disappeared from American political discourse for decades. Subsequent presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden have all avoided the issue. Some have spoken in general terms about a just solution for refugees, but none have endorsed a specific right of return.

Kennedy’s 1957 statement remains unique in American presidential politics. No president or major presidential candidate since has explicitly endorsed Palestinian refugee rights to return or compensation. The speech is remembered differently by different groups. For Palestinians and ArabAmericans, Kennedy’s 1957 statement is seen as a rare moment when an American leader acknowledged their rights.

Some Palestinian activists quote the speech to argue that even American politicians have recognized the justice of their cause. For pro-Israel groups, Kennedy’s 1957 statement is seen as a youthful mistake, a position he abandoned as he matured politically. They point to his strong support for Israel as president as evidence that his true position was pro-Israel.

The truth is more complex. Kennedy in 1957 genuinely believed that Palestinian refugees had legitimate claims. He believed international law, specifically UN Resolution 194, should be respected. He believed that ignoring the refugee problem was both unjust and strategically unwise. But Kennedy also believed in Israel’s right to exist and to be secure.

He did not believe Israel should be forced to accept actions that would threaten its Jewish character. He tried to find a balance between these two positions. As president, Kennedy found that balance impossible to achieve. The gap between Palestinian demands and Israeli red lines was too wide. The political costs of trying to bridge that gap were too high.

So, he stopped trying. The text of Kennedy’s July 2, 1957 speech is available in the Congressional Record. Anyone can read it. The exact words Kennedy used are preserved. There is no ambiguity about what he said. Kennedy said, “The legitimate claims of the Arab refugees to repatriation or compensation for their lost lands and property, which we voted for in the United Nations in 1948.

” [snorts] He used the words legitimate claims. He used the word repatriation, which means return. He said the United States had voted for this principle. These are facts, not interpretations. The question is what Kennedy meant by these words and whether he would have acted on them if he had lived longer as president.

These questions cannot be answered definitively. Kennedy was killed before he had the opportunity to develop a comprehensive Middle East policy for a second term. Some historians speculate that Kennedy, if reelected in 1964 and freed from immediate political pressures, might have tried to address the refugee issue in a second term.

They point to his 1957 statement as evidence that he cared about the issue. They argue that Kennedy often delayed addressing controversial issues until he had built enough political capital. Other historians are skeptical. They argue that Kennedy’s silence on the refugee issue during his presidency shows that he had abandoned the position.

They argue that political reality would have prevented him from acting even in a second term. What is certain is that Kennedy said it in 1957. He faced criticism. He defended his statement. And when he became president, Israel never forgot that he had said it. What did JFK say about Palestinian refugees? He said they had legitimate claims to return to their homes or receive compensation.

He said the United States had voted for this principle in 1948. He said American policy had failed to follow through. He said the refugee problem was fueling Arab extremism and needed to be solved. He said these things in 1957 as a senator. He said them publicly on the Senate floor. He defended them in letters to critics.

And then as president, he said almost nothing more about the issue publicly. But he never took the words back. Disclaimer. This video presents historical events based on the congressional record. July 2, 1957. Kennedy’s correspondence with Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and other Jewish leaders. Joseph Johnson mission reports, State Department records, and verified historical documentation.

This content is for educational purposes.

What JFK Said About Palestinian Refugees – The Speech That Enraged Israel DD

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