The mass displacement and dispossession of an entire population represents an unparalleled disaster in modern history. There is no parallel in recent times to a situation where a foreign minority has undermined the social structure of the indigenous majority, seized their land, and forcibly removed them from their homes. This act is without peer in its enormity. The international community, having endorsed the partition of Palestine, bore a profound sense of responsibility for this calamity. Count Folke Bernadotte, serving as the UN Mediator, notably remarked: "It would be an offense against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants continue to enter Palestine, and, indeed, at least pose the threat of permanently replacing the Arab refugees who have been established on this land for centuries." (UN Doc A/648, 1948).