A key prerequisite for peace is the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the homes their families left behind in 1948. It is an injustice that Jews who were not originally inhabitants of Palestine, nor were their ancestors, can move in from abroad while Palestinians who were displaced only a relatively short time ago should not be so permitted.

Now let’s try some variations on this theme:
A key prerequisite for peace is the right of return for German refugees to the homes their families left behind in 1945. it is an injustice that Russians who were not originally inhabitants of East Prussia, nor were their ancestors, can move in from abroad while Germans who were displaced only a relatively short time ago should not be so permitted.

A key prerequisite for peace is the right of return for Serbian refugees to the homes their families left behind in 1995. it is an injustice that Muslims who were not originally inhabitants of Kosovo, nor were their ancestors, can move in from abroad while Serbs who were displaced only a relatively short time ago should not be so permitted.

A key prerequisite for peace is the right of return for Vietnamese refugees to the homes their families left behind in 1974. it is an injustice that Vietnamese who were not originally inhabitants of South Vietnam, nor were their ancestors, can move in from the North while South Vietnamese who were displaced only a relatively short time ago should not be so permitted.

A key prerequisite for peace is the right of return for Cuban refugees to the homes their families left behind in 1959. it is an injustice that Communists who were not originally inhabitants of Cuba, nor were their ancestors, can move in from abroad while Cubans who were displaced only a relatively short time ago should not be so permitted.

How do all these tracts differ from Qadaffi’s? They are the same in their merits, or better. But because they do not involve an advantage to Muslims combined with a disadvantage to Jews, they can be evaluated dispassionately on their merits. Needless to say, each, and other similar scenarios involving Hindus ethnically cleansed from Bangladesh and Kashmir, are transparently bad ideas. The whole business of reopening old wounds and old wars, so that they may be re-fought, is immediately repellent. Even the notion of allowing Muslims expelled from India during the mutual ethnic cleansing that accompanied the partition of British India into what is now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, to reclaim their homes, would be rejected by Qadafi as impractical and likely to lead quickly to yet another war, one of too many already between Muslims and Hindus of the subcontinent.