What was Palestine?
What is the capital of Palestine?
Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the official capital of Palestine, but now as it is occupied by the Israeli army, the capital is not defined as the people of Palestine wish. When most Palestinians discuss Jerusalem as being the capital of Palestine, they are referring to what is commonly termed "East Jeru…salem", which includes all of the Eastern districts of Jerusalem, most of the districts to the North and South of city, and the Old City of Jerusalem. These compose the regions that were in Jordanian hands in 1950. Currently Palestine is split between two separate factions. The Palestinian Authority, which controls sporadic areas in the West Bank has its administrative offices and facilities in the city of Ramallah, to the north of Jerusalem. However, in support of their claim that Jerusalem is their future capital, they have designated Abu Dis (the closest area under their control to Jerusalem) as their official current capital. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, similarly claims Jerusalem as its capital, but has its administrative facilities in Gaza City and its organizational offices in Damascus, Syria. .
It is important to note that this is a claim and not a de facto capital. Depending on whether Palestine is a recognized country or not, it may be the case (or not) the East Jerusalem is the de jure capital (or not).. (MORE)
What is Palestine?
The confusion as concerns "Palestine" is that it refers to two separate things. Definition 1 The British Mandate of Palestine covered all areas between Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It was a relatively small territory that was also bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the northwest and has …access to the Gulf of Aqabah in the south. Definition 2 The current country of Palestine, which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority, is de jure (this means by law) a small grouping of city-states in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. De facto (this means in reality) the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized leadership of Palestine, has lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas as of the Summer of 2006. Most Palestinians want a united country (that is to say that Gaza and the West Bank would become one nation, even though they are bifurcated) and many are willing to settle with Israel to create reasonable borders. On the same note, many Israelis feel the same way. The issue in both camps is that extremists routinely advocate the all-or-nothing solution and use maps of the British Mandate of Palestine to represent their side's ideal outcome. Additional Discussion This use of the Mandate-Map by extremist Palestinian organizations and by many in the Arab World has led to much confusion concerning the actual territories under Palestinian control and the territories which are being negotiated between Israel and Palestine for a future solution. There are those who would prefer to not believe that there is a current recognized Palestinian government. However, almost every major international forum recognizes the Palestinian Authority as the governing authority with whom Israel must negotiate a Palestinian future. Israel has also recognized the role of the Palestinian Authority by way of the Oslo Accords in 1993. (MORE)
Where is Palestine?
There are three different definitions of Palestine: a country (therecognized Palestinian Authority or the unrecognized Arab dream toreplace Israel), a British Mandate (from 1922-1948), or a region.They are all generally in the same place although specific bordersmay differ. In all three, Palestine …is located in the Middle East, specificallythe Southwest Levant. Palestine for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Seaand the Jordan River and various adjoining lands. Differentgeographic definitions of Palestine have been used over themillennia, and these definitions themselves are politicallycontentious. In recent times, the broadest definition of Palestinehas been that adopted by the British Mandate of Palestine, whichincludes present-day Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territoriesof the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The narrowest definition used incontemporary politics embraces only the Palestinian territories ofthe West Bank and Gaza Strip. Other English names for this regioninclude: Canaan, Land of Israel, and Holy Land. [Please also see the Related Link dealing with Palestine'shistory.] (MORE)
When was Palestine founded?
Palestine was and has always been in the middle east since the Saudi Arabians and Palestine joined forces in 661 CE. so that proves that Palestine has been here longer than Israel when Palestine gave a portion of its land to Israel in 1946, and they then took over Palestine but we will get it back…. ( just a side note) (MORE)
What is the landscape in Palestine?
palestine lanscape is filled with rocks and rivers, it has lots of hills and lots of grassland.
Is Palestine a country?
This question is contentious and therefore has several answers. Answer 1 Palestine is a country that is not being recognized for the benefits of greater countries. Such is the situation of Northern Cyprus Turkish Republic. Answer 2 Answer 1 is wrong and is a political statement, not a stat…ement of fact. There has never been a country called Palestine in the history of the world. There is no unique Palestinian language, currency, historical leadership, holidays, religion. Palestine is a name given to an area of land by the Romans, who dispersed most of the Jews from there. Answer 3 Yes it is a country. Answer 4 Yes and No. It has partial provisional sovereignty and incomplete recognition. Read more below. This is a difficult question to properly answer. There was never a historic country of Palestine, and prior to the creation of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922 (with the current known borders), the southwestern Levant was politically arranged quite differently. Prior to 1988, there was international consensus in most major organizations (such as the United Nations, European Union, NATO, etc.) that Palestine was not a country since Israel was the only legitimate post-Palestinian State and that the Gaza Strip and West Bank were territories that should be devolved to Egypt and Jordan respectively. The only organizations that dissented from this view were the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference, which have a vested interest in not recognizing Israel. In 1988, Yasser Arafat declared the Palestinian State in exile. In 1993, the Oslo Accords secured international recognition (including Israel) of the Palestinian Authority as a political entity in charge of securing a future for the Palestinian people. There was a partial devolution of territory and security to several Palestinian areas. In 2005, the withdrawal of Israeli settlements and soldiers from Gaza resulted in the first fully independent Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip. However, Hamas led an insurrection leading to their illegitimate takeover of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority still rules a number of bantustans in the West Bank and exercises limited sovereignty over even those regions. Recently, Palestine gained recognition in the United Nations and had its declaration of independence vindicated by the International Court of Justice. (MORE)
Who is in charge of palestine?
The British Mandate of Palestine covered all of current day Israel (including the occupied territories) and Jordan, as well as parts of Syria. Currently however, the term Palestine refers to the Occupied Territories where Israel has put the Palestinians previously occupying what is now Israel. Th…e Israeli Defense Forces controls Palestine with an iron fist, though recently there has been efforts to bring the Palestinian Authority to power. This has not been successful as of yet because of many things, among them Israel's want for an Israeli Jerusalem without Palestinians and Israel's wants for better safety for their citizens (leading to much worse safety for Palestinians). (MORE)
How old is Palestine?
The question that should be asked is "how old is the name Palestine ", otherwise it is devoid of meaning. Indeed, what is the question about? How old is the land itself, from a geological point of view? The land that came to be renamed Palestine is millions of years old, like most land mass on ea…rth. Or is it about how old the people of the land is? What people, the jews, the christians, the muslims or the druze (in chronological order)? In fact if the question uses the term Palestine it should refer to how old the concept of Palestine is. .
The name is derived from Philistines . They were a "people of the sea" that came from the Aegean Islands - probably Crete - in high antiquity to colonise the Land of Canaan, as it was named before it came to be known as the Land of Israel. The story of David fighting Goliath is reminiscent of the fight between the Hebrews (in fact Canaanites) and the Philistines. In fact, Philistines is not the name of a people, but a Hebrew word ("plishtim") meaning "invaders". As to Hebrews and Canaanites, they are not two different peoples as the Bible suggests in order to differentiate between monotheists and pagans. They are rather one and the same people, the terms having been used one after another at different periods. .
When the Romans won the war over the indigenous people of Canaan - that is, the Hebrew-Canaanites of various religious affiliations - Jews, Samaritans, Baal-worshippers - they changed the name of the land from Israel/Judea/Canaan to Palestina, in order to refer to the former ennemies of its indigenous people and to humiliate them. The name later almost disappeared from European languages, until it surfaced again in the 19th century when European scholars endeavoured to use Latin words and names for the many areas of research that were blossoming at the time. Meanwhile, Arab-Muslim tradition refered to the land and its wider surroundings not as Palestine but as Ard Sham, or more specifically as Ard Bani Isra'il, closely matching the Hebrew term Eretz (Benei) Israel. .
Beginning 20th century, the British coloniser started popularizing the term Palestine to designate the land formerly known to the Ottoman Empire under different names for the different "Milets", administrative regions covering what was also known than as "Southern Syria", esp. by Arabs. The Jewish nationalists used alternately the ancient Hebrew name "Eretz Israel" and Palestine. The British used the word "Palestinians" to refer to the Jewish inhabitants of the land, whereas they called "Arabs" most non-Jews. Only after the Independence war of Israel in 1948 did the term "Palestinian" start refering to the non-Jewish inhabitants, mostly muslims but also Christians. (MORE)
What is the flag of Palestine?
PALESTINE FACTS .
The Meaning of the Flag .
RED: .
The Khawarij were the first Islamic group to emerge after the assassination of Caliph Uthman III, forming the first republican party in the early days of Islam. Their symbol was the red flag. Arab tribes who participated in the conquest of North …Africa and Andalusia carried the red flag, which became the symbol of the Islamic rulers of Andalusia (756-1355). In modern times, red symbolizes the Ashrafs of the Hijaz and the Hashemites, descendants of the Prophet. Sharif Hussein designed the current flag as the flag of the Arab Revolt on June 1916. The Palestinian people raised it as the flag of the Arab National movement in 1917. In 1947, the Arab Ba'ath Party interpreted the flag as a symbol of the liberation and unity of the Arab nation. The Palestinian people readopted the flag at the Palestinian conference in Gaza in 1948. The flag was recognized by the Arab League as the flag of the Palestinian people. It was further endorsed by the PLO, the representative of the Palestinians, at the Palestinian conference in Jerusalem in 1964. .
BLACK: The Prophet Mohammad (570-632) .
In the seventh century, with the rise of Islam and subsequent liberation of Mecca, two flags - one white, one black - were carried. On the white flag was written, "There is no god but God (Allah) and Mohammad is the Prophet of God." In pre-Islamic times, the black flag was a sign of revenge. It was the color of the headdress worn when leading troops into battle. Both black and white flags were placed in the mosque during Friday prayers. The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258), ruling from Baghdad, took black as a symbol of mourning for the assassination of relatives of the Prophet and in remembrance of the Battle of Karbala. .
WHITE: The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750), Damascus .
The Umayyads ruled for ninety years, taking white as their symbolic color as a reminder of the Prophet's first battle at Badr, and to distinguish themselves from the Abbasids, by using white, rather than black, as their color of mourning. Mu'awia Ibn Abi Sufian (661-750), founder of the Umayyad state, proclaimed himself Caliph of Jerusalem. .
GREEN: The Fatimid Dynasty (909-1171), North Africa .
The Fatimid Dynasty was founded in Morocco by Abdullah Al-Mahdi, and went on rule all of North Africa. They took green as their color, to symbolize their allegiance to Ali, the Prophet's cousin, who was once wrapped in a green coverlet in place of the Prophet in order to thwart an assassination attempt. (MORE)
When was Palestine first called Palestine?
The name "Palestine" is the cognate of an ancient word meaning "Philistines". The earliest known mention of the word was by Ancient Egyptian scribes, used to describe invaders from the Palestinian area during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses III in the 12 th century BCE (BC).
What is the population of Palestine?
It really depends on what you mean by 'Palestine'? There is no country today called Palestine, but in the past there were various territories referred to as Palestine, though it was never a well-defined independent country. Many people refer to Palestine as the territory controlled by Britain after… the First World War, under what was called "The British Mandate of Palestine" (which was captured from Turkey during WWI). That territory today includes the countries of Israel and Jordan, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories. Others refer to Palestine only as the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There are various other definitions, and to many it is a highly charged emotional and political subject. The population today of Israel is 7.5 million people. The Arab population of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip today is about 3.5 million (there is no accurate census). The population of Jordan is just over 6 million. (MORE)
How old is Palestin?
The hotly contested country of Palestine used to be part of Israel.The country was originally declared independent in 1988. As of2014, the country is 26 years old.
How was Palestine created?
The question as worded is ambiguous since Palestine refers to several different things. 1) Land: The lands commonly referred to by the term "the Mandate of Palestine" came into existence (according to science) hundreds of millions of years (if not billions of years ago) from interactions betwee…n the African and Arabian Plates. 2) Mandate of Palestine: The British Mandate of Palestine was created during the Treaty of Versailles negotiations when the British Ambassador drew a line on a map and called it Palestine in 1919. In 1922, the area currently known as Jordan was separated jursidictionally from the Mandate of Palestine, giving the Mandate its present shape. 3) Current Nation of Palestine: The Nation of Palestine was created by the Oslo Accords in 1993. This document created the Palestinian Authority which became the recognized government of the State of Palestine. Palestine has embassies in numerous countries (except most Western States) as a result. (There are also embassies from before this point in countries that did not recognize Israel before the 1960s, but they were more symbolic than representative of an actual governing agency.) (MORE)
Who is the leader of Palestine?
It depends on what you are calling "Palestine". If you are referring to the Palestinian Authority, which has de jure authority over both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but has only de facto authority in certain parts of the West Bank, the current leader is Mahmood Abbas (affectionately nic…knamed Abu Mazen). If you are referring to the Gaza Strip, Hamas exerts de facto control in that territory and has Ismail Haniyeh as it ruler in that territory. (MORE)
What is the history of palestine?
Answer 1 Palestine was originally the Jewish land, Judea. When the Romans conquered Judea 2,000 years ago, they re-named the land Palestine, which comes from the name of the Jews old enemies, the philistines. They did that to annoy the Jews, who already had suffered a lot from the Romans. Answe…r 2 Long and incredibly complicated. Besides the Jews and the Arabs: everyone from Ramses II (Pharoa of Egypt), the Romans, Muhammad Ali (of Egypt; not the boxer), Napoleon, the British, the French, the Turks the Persians and the USA have played their part in the history of Palestine. Consult Authors such and Rashid Khalidi for more information. Answer 3 The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has had numerous stages, but they are \ngenerally broken up into four major periods (whose names are my choice):\nBritish Mandate Period (1920s-1948), 1948-9 War and Armistice \n(1948-1967), Expansive Israeli Period (1967-1987), Palestinian Intifada \nand the Palestinian States (1987-Present). 1) British Mandate Period: \nThis period was characterized by a British Mandatory Government \ncontrolling the area called the British Mandate of Palestine. Some of \nthe major events during this period were the increased Jewish \nimmigration to the Mandate of Palestine and their modernization of the \nterritory. This brought in Arab immigration from neighboring territories\nwho wished to live in the more sanitary and developed conditions in \nPalestine. This combined immigration led to massive population \nincreases. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Jewish population was \nbecoming more significant and Arab leaders and militias urged the \nBritish to prevent further Jewish immigration. This resulted in the \nBritish rescinding Jewish immigration rights to the territory and \nculminated with the 1939 White Papers permitting only nominal Jewish \nimmigration. During World War II, Palestine remained off-limits to Jews \nwishing to flee the Holocaust. This, combined with the White Papers, led\nmany Jewish leaders to openly resist the British Occupation. In 1947, \nthe British relented and brought the Palestinian and Jewish question to \nthe United Nations. The slaughter of the Holocaust and American and \nSoviet pressure galvanized the world to provide for a Jewish State and \nan Arab State. The Palestinian Jewish population (who could \nanachronistically be called Israelis) approved of the Partition whereas \nthe Palestinian Arab population refused further territorial concessions.\nThe previously formed Jewish militias began to confront Arab militias \nin the Jewish-Arab Engagement as early as mid-1947. When Israel Declared\nIndependence in 1948, the War became an international conflict \ninvolving Arab Armies from seven additional nations. 2) 1948-9 War and Armistices \nThis period was characterized by the forced emigrations of large \nnumbers of endemic Arabs from Palestine and endemic Jews from elsewhere \nin the Middle East to Arab countries and Israel respectively in the wake\nof mass Arab Anti-Semitism. There was also a semi-viable State of \nIsrael and remaining Palestinian territories were occupied by other Arab\nNations. As a result of the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli War, Israel now \noccupied 78% of the Mandate of Palestine. During this period, Israel was\nconsidered weak by both allies and enemies and was treated to \nbelligerent treatment from its neighbors (even during the "peace"). \nSyrian missiles rained down on the Galilee lowlands periodically, \nEgyptians cut off Israeli shipping through the Suez Canal (leading to \nthe Suez Crisis of 1956), skirmishes in the water occurred, and the Old \nCity was forcibly cleansed of its Jewish inhabitants by Jordanian \nforces. Palestinian rights were also suppressed by the Arab States as \nJordan militarized the West Bank and Egypt openly annexed Gaza after \nwatching its Palestinian Puppet State fail. The Egyptians openly taunted\nIsrael and amassed troops at the Israeli border in 1967 in order to \neradicate the country. 3) Expansive Israeli Period \nThis period is characterized by an Israeli State that acquired (through\nwar) numerous additional territories from Arab States. During this \nperiod, most Arab States (Egypt excepted) refused to negotiate with \nIsrael and therefore did not successfully reacquire these lands. The Six\nDay War completely changed the dynamic of Arab-Israeli relations. \nIsrael was now negotiating from a place of strength and ceding \nterritories for peace. Arab States refused to negotiate at first, but \nafter the stalemate from the Arab-Israeli War of 1973, some Arab \ncountries were willing to negotiate. Egypt and Israel signed a Peace \nAccord in 1979, giving the Sinai back to Egypt in return for mutual \nrecognition and peace. Israel also effectively stopped Syrian peacetime \nattacks and reunited Jerusalem (against international law). Several of \nthe Palestinian refugee camps were opened and a minority of Palestinians\nbegan to commute to work in Israel. In the 1981 and 1982, Israel was \npulled into Lebanese Civil War and fought alongside the Christian \nFalangists against Sunni and Shiite Arabs. Israel withdrew to the Litani\nRiver after the Syrian intervention stabilized the conflict and back to\nIsraeli borders in 2000. 4) Palestinian Intifada and the Palestinian States \nThis period is characterized by the creation of the Palestinian \nAuthority and beginnings of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and \nGaza Territories. This period is defined the "Roadmap to Peace". The \nPalestinian Uprising began to show Palestinian dissatisfaction with the \ncontinuing Israeli military occupation of the territory and lasted from \n1987-1993. At that point the Oslo Accords were signed, granting \nrecognition to a new body called the Palestinian Authority which would \nbe responsible for governing Palestinian affairs. Israel ceded discrete \npieces of land to the PA, but refused to give up large chunks of land \nuntil 2005 when it ceded all of Gaza to the PA. In the wake of this new \naccord, Jordan finalized a Peace Treaty with Israel in 1994. Earlier, in\n1991, as a sidenote, Iraq launched skud missiles at Israel in an \nattempt to shatter the American-Arab Alliance to liberate Kuwait, but \nfollowing American instructions, Israel stood down and did not enter the\nfighting. In 2000, the Second Palestinian Intifada began in response to\nPalestinian anger over perceived Israeli intransigence in devolving \nmore power. This intifada lasted until 2005 and was considered a loss by\nPalestinians. In 2007, the Palestinian Elections sparked a civil war \nbetween Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, leading to the former \ncontrolling Gaza exclusively and the latter controlling the West Bank \nexclusively. Hamas continued to exhibit bellicose behavior, bothering \nboth Israelis and Egyptian Military leaders (who termed the territory \nHamastan). Responding to constant civilian bombardment, Israel invaded \nGaza in December of 2008 in what resulted in nearly 1400 Palestinian \nCivilian casualties. (MORE)
What is the religion of Palestine?
Palestinians are predominantly Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam. Palestinian Christians represent a significant minority, followed by much smaller religious communities, including Druze and Samaritans. Islam makes up over 95% of the population.
Who is the president of Palestine?
Mahmoud Abbas, often referred to by his nickname "Abu Mazen", isthe current President of Palestine as of July 2014.
What is the area of Palestine?
The area of Palestine is 26990 square kilometers of which pre-1967Israel is 20,770 square kilometers, the Gaza Strip is 360 squarekilometers, and the West Bank is 5860 square kilometers. The total is a little smaller than Albania or Burundi or the USState of Massachusetts 5,655 km² | 2,402 mi…² (MORE)
What is the Palestine conflict about?
Which Palestinian conflict is the question referring to? Is it the Arab-Palestinian Conflict? -- which began in 1948, but became much more violent in the 1970s and 1980s, killing between 5,000-25,000 Palestinians depending on the estimates used. Is it the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? -- which… began in the 1920s, but became much more widespread in 1947 with the Jewish-Arab Engagement and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9. Approximately 13,000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Is it the Palestinian Civil War? -- which began in 2006, but most violence took place in 2007 with approximately 600-1000 deaths. See the Related Questions below for the different Palestinian Conflicts. (MORE)
Does Palestine have a capital?
Palestinians claim East Jerusalem to be their capital, however, as Jerusalem is entirely in Israeli jurisdiction, this does not function as a de facto Palestinian capital. Historically, before 1967, Palestine did not have a capital. Currently Palestine is split between two separate factions. The …Palestinian Authority, which controls sporadic areas in the West Bank has its administrative offices and facilities in the city of Ramallah, to the north of Jerusalem. However, in support of their claim that Jerusalem is their future capital, they have designated Abu Dis (the closest area under their control to Jerusalem) as their official current capital. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, similarly claims Jerusalem as its capital, but has its administrative facilities in Gaza City and its organizational offices in Damascus, Syria. (MORE)
What did Jews do in palestine?
Various Zionist organizations bought land from large Arab landowners, often absentee landlords living in other Arab countries.Israelis never sold land. They bought it, cleared it, drained,farmed it, and held it in trust for current and future settlers. Much Arab land was converted to Israeli proper…ty by legal means.Should Arabs not have wanted Jews in "Palestine" they would nothave sold them their land. The Jews started legally purchasing the swampland and deserts ofunoccupied Palestine around the beginning of the 20th Century, andthey converted into livable land. (MORE)
Why was palestine divided?
Many factors come into this issue, I suppose, but it all started after the British mandate over Palestine was dissolved after WWII. Britain divided the land up because it had promised the entire country to both the Palestinians (in the Peel commission) and also to the Israelis (Balfour Agreement).… This was due to the roles Britain wanted both to play in the Second World War, as by giving the land to the Palestinians, they would be more able to dissolve the Ottoman Empire which was fighting on the Axis side, and thus eliminate one opponent. However, they also wanted to favour the Israelis because of the Jewish influence in America, and by engaging America in the war, they would win it (otherwise, not). That is the history behind why there was a split. After the Partition, the country was split between Israel, a single continuous stretch of land; and Palestine, split between the Gaza strip and the West Bank (of the Jordan, in case you were wondering). This partition was refuted and war soon broke out, and the post-war borders moved in the '48 war. They were later to move again in the '67 war. The city of Jerusalem was an 'International City' i.e. nobody owned it. This was an attempt to solve the disputes. (MORE)
Why was palestine created?
There are two definitions for Palestine, and the answer changesdepending on what definition you are using. The first way is torefer to the British Mandate of Palestine which includes the ModernState of Israel (except for the Golan Heights), the Gaza Strip, andthe West Bank. The second way is to refe…r to exclusively thoseterritories which the Palestinian Authority claims will serve as abasis for a future Palestinian State (State of Palestine): the WestBank and Gaza Strip. The British Mandate of Palestine was created by the British whotook an interest in the territory because of its pivotal locationalong the Asia-Africa landbridge and because of its Biblicalsignificance. The State of Palestine was created in 1988 to respond to the needfor the Palestinian refugees of the Arab-Israeli Wars to create astate for themselves to self-govern and try to end theirstatelessness. (MORE)
Is Palestine a state?
Answer 1 Of course that depends on your definition of state. It does not have clearly defined borders, as Israel is constantly occupying/building settlements on more land that belongs/ed to Palestinian people. Neither does it really have a proper government. Hamas was democratically elected as the… political party to govern the Palestinian people, however Hamas only has control of the Gaza Strip, while the Fatah party, which was in power prior to Hamas, has control over the West Bank, despite being elected out. Although Hamas has a military wing, it cannot be said to have its own military force as a state. Ultimately the Palestinian leadership has little control over what the Palestinian people can and cannot do, as so much of daily life is dictated by Israel, and so the Palestinian people are not self-governing, and so I would say no, it is not a state. Answer 2 Palestine has been occupied by the illegal terrorist state of Israel for 62 years now. In 1948, Palestinians were forced out of their homes and land. Since the establishment of Israel, Palestinian homes, schools, institutions have been demolished and bombed on a daily basis. Palestinians do NOT have any rights, 1000's of children, women, and men have been killed in cold blood by the hands of the "IDF" (Israeli Defense Forces). In conclusion, Palestine is NOT a state, due to the fact that it is currently occupied and that the state of Israel is based upon stolen land, Palestinian land. Answer 3 Technically, Palestine is not a state, nor has it ever in history been a state. Presently it is a culturally separate but semi-autonomus part of Israel, much like an Indian reservation in the US, Quebec in Canada, or Swaziland and Lesotho in South Africa . Israel has been a state twice; briefly in ancient times and since 1948 in modern time, but Palestine has never been a state. Personally, one of my dreams is to see Palestine become a fully autonomous state, living in peace beside Israel, but I know that I may not live long enough to see that happen. (MORE)
Are Palestine Muslims?
Palestinians are not all Muslims. Palestinians are consisting of Palestinian christian and Palestinian Muslims but the percentage of Palestinian Christian has greatly diminished since the Israeli occupation especially during the Deir Yassin Massacre of 1948. As the stories of Palestinian Christian i…s not widely told, many people seem to forget their existence and take for granted that all Palestinian are Muslims and their plight has been forgotten. (MORE)
Is Palestine in Asia?
no it is not. Palestine is between middle east and north Africa so technically its in both but their not Asians or Africans their Arabs though some look as black as Africans and some look as white as Europeans mostly like Egypt mostly brown skinned the middle east is more separate than Asia or Afri…ca its more of the middle east really so Palestine is in the middle east (MORE)
Is there a war in Palestine?
There have been several wars in Palestine, such as the Gazan War of2008-2009 and the Gazan War of 2012. However, there is no currentwar in Palestine, just an Israeli military occupation.
Is Palestine evil?
No. No country or people is evil. Palestine and Palestinians are victims of violence and strife and have been attacked both by Israel and by their "fellow" Arabs. Each has placed them in occupation, deprived them of necessary materials, and stalls their chances for proper statehood.
Why is there war in Palestine?
There is a war because the land was originaly Palestine, but was split up after world war 2 to add Israel so that the Jews could have some of the holy land. The Isrealis attacked the Palestinian half of Jerusalem and other Palestinian states because they said the holy city could never be split.This …resulted in Palestinians getting kicked out of their homes, but some fought back, and there is still dispute there now. Ask the US why it supports Israel against civilian Palestinians Because the Palestinians are being ruled and abused by the Israeli's and being denied there rightful homeland. The lands they do still have are being taken away from them and Israeli settlements are being built on them. (MORE)
Does it snow in Palestine?
Yeah it does snow in palestine but in certain areas. It snows in Jerusalem at least once every year or two years.
What is Syria-Palestine?
In Arabic, there is a term for the territory currently occupied by Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. It is called "Bilaad Sham" (بلاد شام) and usually translated as "Greater Syria" since Damascus was the most powerful city in Bilaad Sham. There is another name (with… minority usage) for Bilaad Sham in English which is Syria-Palestine. This name comes from the fact that the two dominant Arab population centers of Bilaad Sham (prior to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9) were in the French Mandate of Syria and the British Mandate of Palestine. (MORE)
Is Israel in Palestine?
Yes and No. Palestine has two different definitions and Israel has two definitions. Palestine 1: All of the lands of the former British Mandate of Palestine. Palestine 2: All of the lands not under Israeli control in 1950 that serve as the basis for any current two-state proposal for the State …of Palestine. Israel 1: All of the lands under Israeli control in 1950. Israel 2: All of the lands under Israeli control, both military and civil as of 2012. Now for the spatial relationships. Israel 1 is entirely within the borders of Palestine 1, but smaller (78%) Israel 1 (78%) + Palestine 2 (22%) = Palestine 1 Israel 2 and Palestine 2 overlap in much of the West Bank Territories. Israel 2 and Israel 1 overlap in all of Israel 1's territories. Israel 2 does not control the Gaza Strip territories which are part of Palestine 1 and Palestine 2. Israel 2 also controls some Syrian territory not in either Palestine. (MORE)
What was the Palestine alphabet?
Palestinians write in Arabic or (less commonly) Hebrew and do this according to the same guidelines practiced elsewhere in the Arab World and Israel respectively. Therefore they use those alphabets. They have no alphabet of their own.
Who is the head of Palestine?
Palestine is currently two different de facto states. The first, and recognized one, is the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Its head is Mahmood Abbas. There is an unrecognized Palestinian State in the Gaza Strip ruled by Ismail Haniyeh.
How did Jews get to Palestine?
Depends when they tried to get there. Most Jews in Israel today were born there.
Why is Palestine in war?
Answer 1 because it bombs Israel constantly for no reason Palestine brought war to themselves, its their fault there was awar. Answer 2 It depends on which Palestinian conflict the question is referringto. Is it the Arab-Palestinian Conflict? -- which began in 1948, butbecame much more violent …in the 1970s and 1980s, killing between5,000-25,000 Palestinians depending on the estimates used. Thisconflict began when the Palestinians fled from the former Mandateof Palestine and the governments of the Arab countries to whichthey fled preferred to effectively incarcerate them in refugeecamps for generations. Is it the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? -- which began in the1920s, but became much more widespread in 1947 with the Jewish-ArabEngagement and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9. Approximately 19,000Palestinians have died in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Thisconflict started in the conflict between Zionism (JewishNationalism) and resurgent Arab Nationalism. It continues as aconflict between these two nationalisms and various religious,political, social, and economic groups which have chosen to supportone side or the other. Is it the Palestinian Civil War? -- which began in 2006, but mostviolence took place in 2007 with approximately 600-1000 deaths. Thecauses of this conflict deal primarily with leadership/politicaldisputes between Fatah and Hamas over governance of the PalestinianTerritories. (MORE)
Are there Hindus in palestine?
Yes. There aren't many but there are some. (Technically that is wrong as right now Palestine doesn't exist but whatever.)
When did the Muslims get Palestine?
The Muslims first conquered Jerusalem and entered Palestine duringthe second Rightful Caliph Hazrat Omar (RAU) without bloodshed. The Muslims first conquered Palestine in the reign of the SecondRightful caliph Hazrat Omar Farooq (RAU) who assumed power on 23rdAugust,632 AD. Background; Allah Alm…ighty sent about 1,24,000 Prophets (Maypeace be upon them all) for the guidance of humans. By faith, theMuslims believe in all these holy Prophets. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW)being the last one. He was the descendent of Hazrat Ismael (AS) theelder son of Hazrat Abraham (AS). Most of the Prophets were from the progeny of Hazrat Jacob (AS)known as Israel, the younger son of Hazrat Abraham (AS), HazratIzak (AS). They came to guide the Israelites (the Jews) to theright path. They were born and buried in Palestine and surroundingareas of Syria and Egypt. The Jews inhabited these areas. The Jewswere many times pushed out of Palestine, or enslaved by the RomanEmpire or Persians for the reasons best known to the Jews. Conquest of Jerusalem (The main city of Palestine) by theMuslim: The holy city of Jerusalem was ruled by the Christians. The entryof the Jews in Jerusalem was banned. The Muslim forces led byHazrat Abu Ubaida and Hazrat Khalid bin Waleed seiged Jerusalem inNovember 636. After a few months the Christian Patriarch Sophroniusagreed to surrender on the condition that the Second RightfulCaliph Hazrat Omar (RAU) should personally come to sign theagreement. Hazrat Omar (RAU) travelled from Madina to Jerusalem andsigned the agreement. Jerusalem fell to the Muslims without anybloodshed in April 637 AD. The Jews were permitted to enterPalestine, live there peacefully and worship according to their ownreligion. Thus the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims livedpeacefully in this city which is sacred for the Jews, theChristians and the Muslims alike. The Dome of the Rock was built byCaliph Waleed bin Abdul Malik. (Husnain Haikal-Tabari-Ibn i Kaseer) (MORE)
What is Ancient Palestine?
Ancient Palestine refers to the region roughly encompassed by the former British Mandate of Palestine during all time-periods prior to 500 C.E. This territory is makes up part of the Southern Levant in the Middle East (Southwest Asia).
Does Palestine have an airport?
There was one in Gaza, but Israel ruined it at the beginning of Intifada 10 years a go.
When was Palestine colonized?
Palestine was created 2,000 years ago by the Romans. When the Romans conquered the Jewish land, Judea, they wanted to make the Jews mad so they re-named the land Palestine. So Palestine was colonized right when it was created because it was already a country.
What does Palestine do to Israel?
According to an article in FrontPage Magazine "F ROM 1949 to 1956, Egypt waged a terror war against Israel, launching c. 9,000 attacks from cells set up in the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip." Around 400 Palestinian infiltrators were killed by Israeli Security Forces each year in 1951, 1952 and 19…53; a similar number and probably far more were killed in 1950. 1,000 or more were killed in 1949. At least 100 were killed during 1954-6. In total upward of 2,700 and possibly as many as 5,000 infiltrators were killed by the IDF, police, and civilians along Israel's borders between 1949 and 1956. In all probability the majority of those killed were unarmed 'economic' and social infiltrators. Throughout the period 1949-56 the Egyptian government opposed the movement of refugees from the Gaza strip into Israel, but following the IDF's Gaza Raid on 1955 the Egyptian authorities facilitated terrorist infiltration but still continued to oppose civilian infiltration.At first, Palestinians were trying to go back to their houses or to retrieve property but after 1950 these acts became much more violent and included killings of civilians in nearby cities. After Israel's Operation Black Arrow in 1955 which came as a result of a series of massacres in the city of Rehevot, the Palestinian fedayeen were incorporated into an Egyptian unit. A high-ranking British army general who worked with the Arab legion , explained in his autobiographical history of the period how he convinced the Legion to arm and train the fedayeen for free. The Israeli government cites dozens of these attacks as "Major Arab Terrorist Attacks against Israelis prior to the 1967 Six Day WarBetween 1951 and 1956, 400 Israelis were killed and 900 wounded by fedayeen attacks.;according to the Anti-Defamation League "[i]n 1955 alone, 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by fedayeen". Establishment of PLO to First Intifada (1964-1987) .
" .
Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Seas to the Jordan River. We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the the consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it..
-Yasser Arafat, 1970.
The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded in 1964. At its first convention in Cairo, hundreds of Palestinians met to, "call for the right of self-determination and the upholding of the rights of the Palestinian nation." In order to achieve these goals, a Palestinian army of liberation was thought to be essential; thus, the Palestinian Liberation Army (PLA) was established with the support of the Arab states. Fatah, a Palestinian group founded in the late 1950s to organize the armed resistance against Israel, and headed by Yasser Arafat, soon rose to prominence within the PLO. The PLO charter called for, "an end to the State of Israel, a return of Palestinians to their homeland, and the establishment of a single democratic state throughout Palestine." After the 1967 war, Palestinians realized that reliance on the Arab states would lead nowhere and that only they could liberate their homeland, which led to the emergence of many more Palestinian guerrilla factions, who took up armed struggle as a primary means of achieving their goals. In the wake of the Six-Day War, confrontations between Palestinian guerrillas in Jordan and government forces became a major problem within the kingdom. By early 1970, at least seven Palestinian guerrilla organizations were active in Jordan, one of the most important being the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) led by George Habash. Based in the Jordanian refugee camps, the fedayeen developed a virtual state within a state, receiving funds and arms from both the Arab states and Eastern Europe and openly flouting the law of the country. The guerrillas initially focused on attacking Israel, but by late 1968, the main fedayeen activities in Jordan appeared to shift to attempts to overthrow the Jordanian monarchy. Various clashes between the fedayeen and the army occurred between the years 1968-1970. The situation climaxed in September 1970, when several attempts to assassinate king Hussein failed. On September 7, 1970, in the series of Dawson's Field hijackings, three planes were hijacked by PFLP: a SwissAir and a TWA that were landed in Azraq area and a Pan Am that was landed in Cairo. Then on September 9, a BOAC flight from Bahrain was also hijacked to Zarqa. The PFLP announced that the hijackings were intended "to pay special attention to the Palestinian problem". After all hostages were removed, the planes were dramatically blown up in front of TV cameras. A bitterly fought 10-day civil war known as Black September ensued, drawing involvement by Syria and Iraq, and sparking troop movements by Israel and the United States Navy. The number of fighters killed on all sides was estimated as high as 3,500.[9] Battles between Palestinian guerrilla forces and the Jordanian army continued during the closing months of 1970 and the first six months of 1971. In November 1971, members of the Palestinian Black September group, who took their name from the civil war, assassinated Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi al-Tal in Cairo. In December the group made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the Jordanian ambassador to Britain.[9] [edit] Lebanon Civil War In the aftermath of Black September in Jordan, many Palestinians arrived in Lebanon, among them Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). In the early 1970s their presence exacerbated an already tense situation in Lebanon, and in 1975 the Lebanese Civil War broke out. Beginning with street fighting in Beirut between Christian Phalangists and Palestinian militiamen, the war quickly deteriorated into a conflict between two loosely defined factions: the side wishing to preserve the status quo, consisting primarily of Maronite militias, and the side seeking change, which included a variety of militias from leftist organizations and guerrillas from rejectionist Palestinian (nonmainstream PLO) organizations. The Lebanese civil war lasted until 1990 and resulted in an estimated 130,000 to 250,000 civilian fatalities and one million wounded.[31] Charred remains of the bus hijacked and burnt by Palestinian militants in 1978 in the Coastal Road massacre .
After Black September, the PLO and its offshoots waged an international campaign against the Israeli state. Notable events were the Munich Olympics massacre (1972) , the hijacking of several civilian airliners (some were thwarted, see for example: Entebbe Operation), the Savoy Hotel attack, the Zion Square explosive refrigerator and the Coastal Road massacre. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Israel suffered attacks from PLO bases in Lebanon, such as the Avivim school bus massacre in 1970, the Maalot massacre in 1974 (where Palestinian terrorists massacred 21 school children) and the attack led by Samir Kuntar in 1979. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, called "Operation Peace for Galilee" by the IDF, and the exile of the PLO to Tunis, Israel had a relatively quiet decade.[citation needed] [edit] First Intifada (1987-1993) The First Intifada was characterized more by grassroots and non-violent political actions from among the population in the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories.[15] A total of 160 Israelis and 1,100 Palestinians were killed over its five years, which ended with the signing of the Oslo Accords.[32] The strategy of non-violence, though widespread among Palestinians, was not always adhered to, and there were youth who threw molotov cocktails and stones, with such violence generally directed against Israeli soldiers and settlers.[33] There were two attacks that represented new developments in terms of political violence inside Israel in this period. The first Palestinian suicide attack took place on 6 July 1989 when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad boarded the Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405. He walked up to the driver and pulled the wheel to the right, driving the vehicle into an abyss, killing 16 people.[34] The end of the intifada also saw the first use of suicide bombing as a tactic by Palestinian militants. On 16 April 1993, Hamas carried out the Mehola Junction bombing, in which operative Saher Tamam al-Nabulsi detonated his explosives-laden car between two buses. One person, a Palestinian, other than the attacker was killed, and 21 were wounded.[35] [edit] Oslo Accords to Camp David Summit (1993-2000) The years between the intifadas were marked by intense diplomatic activity between Israel and Palestinians as well as the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. In this period, suicide bombings of Israeli buses and crowded spaces as a regular tactic, particularly by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.[citation needed] Attacks during this period include the Beit Lid massacre, a double-suicide bombing at a crowded junction that killed 21 people,[36] and the Dizengoff Center massacre, a suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv shopping mall that killed 13 people. Second Intifada (2000-2005) Main article: The Second Intifada Sbarro pizza restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, in which 15 Israeli civilians were killed and 130 wounded .
According to B'Tselem, as of 10 July 2005, over 400 members of the Israeli Security forces, and 821 Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinians since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, 553 of whom were killed within the 1949 Armistice lines, mainly by suicide bombings. Targets of attacks included buses, IDF checkpoints, restaurants, discothèques, shopping malls, a university, and civilian homes.[37][38][39] During the Second Intifada alone 1,137 Israelis were killed by Palestinians, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (counted since 29 September 2000, retrieved at 26 December 2007 [40]). Main article: 2000 Ramallah lynching In October 2000 a Palestinian mob lynched two non-combatant Israel Defense Forces reservists, Vadim Nurzhitz (sometimes spelled as Norzhich) and Yossi Avrahami (or Yosef Avrahami),[41] who had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah in the West Bank. The brutality of the event, captured in a photo of a Palestinian rioter proudly waving his blood-stained hands to the crowd below, sparked international outrage and further intensified the ongoing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces.[42][43][44][45] A spate of suicide bombings and attacks, aimed mostly at civilians, was launched against Israel and elicited a military response. A suicide bombing dubbed the Passover Massacre (30 Israeli civilians were killed at Park hotel, Netanya) climaxed a bloody month of March 2002, in which more than 130 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in attacks. Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield. The operation led to the apprehension of many members of militant groups, as well as their weaponry and equipment. Main article: 2004 Sinai bombings In 2004, 31 people were killed and 159 others were wounded in an simultaneous attack against multiple tourist destinations in Egypt.[46] Of the dead, 15 were Egyptians, 12 were from Israel, two from Italy, one from Russia, and one was an Israeli-American. According to the Egyptian government, the bombers were Palestinians led by Iyad Saleh who had tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks there but were unsuccessful.[47] [edit] Strengthening of Hamas (2005-present) See also: List of Palestinian suicide attacks and Palestinian domestic weapons production Israeli child wounded by a Hamas Grad rocket fired on the city of Beer Sheva, 9 January 2009 .
In the mid 2000s Hamas started putting greater emphasis on its political characteristics and strengthened its popularity amongst Palestinians. In 2006 Palestinian legislative elections Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, prompting the United States and many European countries to cut off all funds to the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority,[48] insisting that the Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace pacts.[49] After the Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in 2005 and the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections Hamas took control over all the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The Hamas rule in the Gaza strip increased the firing of Qassam rockets, mortars and Grad missiles on the Israeli villages located nearby the Gaza strip, Sderot and Ashkelon and led to the armament of the Hamas in the Gaza strip with the funds and assistance of Iran. At the same time, attack attempts continued outside the Gaza strip perimeter, including the well-planned kidnapping operation of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas has made great use of guerrilla tactics in the Gaza Strip and to a lesser degree the West Bank.[50] Hamas has successfully adapted these techniques over the years since its inception. According to a 2006 report by rival Fatah party, Hamas had smuggled "between several hundred and 1,300 tons" of advanced rockets, along with other weaponry, into Gaza. Some Israelis and some Gazans both noted similarities in Hamas's military buildup to that of Hezbollah in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.[50] Hamas has used IEDs and anti-tank rockets against the IDF in Gaza. The latter include standard RPG-7 warheads and home-made rockets such as the Al-Bana, Al-Batar and Al-Yasin. The IDF has a difficult, if not impossible time trying to find hidden weapons caches in Palestinian areas - this is due to the high local support base Hamas enjoys.[51] [edit] Involvement of governments Some allege that the Palestinian Authority (PA) does not do enough to prevent attacks, or to reduce Palestinian public support for acts of violence. Some accuse the PA of sponsoring groups that carry out acts of violence, such as Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and of using the official PA television, radio, press, and education system to facilitate attacks upon Israel. Palestinians assert that it is not realistic to expect the kind of control Israel demands from the PA to curtail these groups, as the PA does not have actual control of most cities or adequate law-enforcement resources, and has suffered severe infrastructural damage to much of its security apparatus during confrontations with the Israel Defense Force. Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, donated $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers, and $10,000 to the families of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military.[52] [edit] Involvement of children In the 1930s, the emergence of organized youth cadres was rooted in the desire to form a youth paramilitary along German and Italian Fascist lines. It was believed that armed youth might bring an end to British hegemony in the Middle East as well as the very existence of Jewry. Youth were cajoled into violence by Palestinian political figures and newspapers that glorified violence and death. The Palestinian Arab Party sponsored the development of storm troops consisting solely of children and youth patterned on the German model. A British report from the period stated that "the growing youth and scout movements must be regarded as the most probable factors for the disturbance of the peace".[53] As a youngster, Yasir Arafat led neighborhood children in marching and drills, beating those who did not obey. In the 1940s, Arafat's father organized a group of militants in Gaza which included Yasir Arafat and his brothers. The leader, Abu Khalid, a mathematics teacher in Gaza, gave Arafat the name Yasir in honor of the militant Yasir al-Bireh.[54] [edit] Modern Main article: Child suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Picture of a Baby in a Suicide Bomber costume, captured by Israeli forces at the house of a Hamas militant[55] .
According to researcher Vamik Volkan, most suicide bombers in the Middle East are chosen as teenagers, educated, and then sent off to perform their duty when they are in their late teens or early to mid-twenties.[56] There have been instances where Palestinian children were involved in attacks, either as child suicide bombers or bomb transporters. On 16 March 2005, an Israeli border guard found a bomb in the school bag of 12-year-old Abdullah Quran at a military checkpoint near Nablus. His life was saved only because a cell phone rigged to detonate the 13-pound bomb failed to set off the explosive at the checkpoint as it had been designed to do. Eight days later, on March 24, 16-year-old Hussam Abdo was captured wearing an explosive belt, having allegedly been paid by Fatah's Tanzim branch to blow himself up at the same checkpoint. The world's media watched as an EOD team disarmed the explosive belt with a police-sapper robot.[57][58] (video). The BBC reported that the child was "paraded in front of the international media", and journalists were not allowed to interview the children and had to rely on the army's account of the incidents.[59] According to the Israel Defense Forces, from September 2000 through 2003, 29 suicide attacks have been carried out by youth under the age of 18, and, more than 40 youths under the age of 18 were involved in attempted suicide bombings that were thwarted. [edit] Involvement of women The "male-militancy path" has met with greater social acceptance in Palestinian society than the "female/grassroots path".[citation needed] Women in particular have increasingly associated political violence with expanded citizenship rights due to the perceived failure of nonmilitaristic tactics to achieve political goals, primary amongst these, the achievement of Palestinian autonomy.[60] The profile of the female Palestinian suicide bombers has been the subject of study by Katherine VanderKaay, who presented her profiling of the subjects at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting. While the first suicide bombing undertaken by a Palestinian took place in 1994, the first female suicide bomber from among Palestinian society did not emerge until January 2002. The bomber was Wafa Idris, a paramedic, reported to be 28, secular, Westernised and only nominally religious.[61][62] [edit] Violence against civilians Qassam rockets fired at Sderot .
According to B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 496 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians from 29.9.2000 to 31.7.2010 in Israel, and another 242 Israeli civilians were killed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.[63] B'tselem reported that the main argument used to justify violence against civilians is that "all means are legitimate in fighting for independence against a foreign occupation". B'Tselem criticized this argument, saying it is completely baseless, and contradicts the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law. .
"According to this principle, civilians are to be protected from the consequences of warfare , and any attack must discriminate between civilians and military targets. This principle is part of international customary law; as such, it applies to every state, organization, and person, even those who are not party to any relevant convention."[64].
B'Tselem further noted that Palestinian spokespersons distinguish between attacks inside Israel proper and attacks directed at settlers in the Occupied Territories, stating that since the settlements are illegal and many settlers belong to Israel's security forces, settlers are not entitled to the international law protections granted to civilians. Human rights group B'tselem rejected this argument, and stated: .
"The illegality of the settlements has no effect at all on the status of their civilian residents. The settlers constitute a distinctly civilian population, which is entitled to all the protections granted civilians by international law. The Israeli security forces' use of land in the settlements or the membership of some settlers in the Israeli security forces does not affect the status of the other residents living among them, and certainly does not make them proper targets of attack. B'Tselem strongly opposes the attempts to justify attacks against Israeli civilians by using distorted interpretations of international law. Furthermore, B'Tselem demands that the Palestinian Authority do everything within its power to prevent future attacks and to prosecute the individuals involved in past attacks."[64].
[edit] Internal violence See also: Hamas violence against Palestinians B'Tselem reports that from 2000 to 2010 there were 664 Palestinians killed by Palestinians. Of those, 134 were killed for suspected collaboration with Israel.[11][65] Concerning the killing of Palestinians by other Palestinians, a January 2003 Humanist magazine article reports:[66] .
For over a decade the PA has violated Palestinian human rights and civil liberties by routinely killing civilians-including collaborators, demonstrators, journalists, and others-without charge or fair trial. Of the total number of Palestinian civilians killed during this period by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces, 16 percent were the victims of Palestinian security forces. ...According to Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World 2001-2002, the chaotic nature of the Intifada along with strong Israeli reprisals has resulted in a deterioration of living conditions for Palestinians in Israeli-administered areas. The survey states: "Civil liberties declined due to: shooting deaths of Palestinian civilians by Palestinian security personnel; the summary trial and executions of alleged collaborators by the Palestinian Authority (PA); extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators by militias; and the apparent official encouragement of Palestinian youth to confront Israeli soldiers, thus placing them directly in harm's way.".
Internal Palestinian violence has been called an Intrafada.[67] [edit] Designations of Terrorism The United States[68] and European Union[69] have designated the Abu Nidal Organisation, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Palestine Liberation Front, the PFLP and PFLP-GC as terrorist organisations. A United States Congress decision from 1987 also described the PLO as a terrorist organization[70] The military wing of Hamas is also recognized as a terrorist organization by Israel,[71] Canada,[72][73] Germany,[74] Japan,[75] Jordan,[76] the United Kingdom[77] and Australia.[78] Palestinian attacked cars in Jerusalem using a front-end loader, killing three people and wounding at least thirty, 2008 .
[edit] Palestinian attitudes towards political violence [edit] 1995-2000 A study conducted by Mkhaimer Abusada of Al-Azhar University explored attitudes towards the use of political violence. Four questions were posed on the subject of political violence to over a thousand respondents randomly selected from localities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The first question was: "Do you support the continuing resort of some Palestinian factions to armed operations against Israeli targets in Gaza and Jericho?" Overall, 56% of respondents responded negatively. Those affiliated with leftist groups showed the highest levels of support for armed attacks against Israelis (74%), while those affiliated with parties supporting the peace process showed the lowest levels (24%). The Islamic opposition was split, with slightly over half in favor, and slightly less than half opposed.[79] In September 1995, survey participants were asked whether they supported, opposed or had no opinion with regard to "armed attacks against Israeli army targets," "armed attacks against Israeli settlers," and "armed attacks against Israeli civilian targets." The majority supported the use of armed attacks against Israeli military targets and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Support crossed all party lines and groups, and was highest among the Islamic opposition (91% and 84%) and the leftists (90% and 89%), though a significant majority of those who supported the peace process also supported armed attacks on military targets and settlers (69% and 73%). To explain the apparent paradox in the latter position, Abusada quotes Shikaki (1996) who, "contends that Palestinian support for the use of armed attacks against Israeli military targets and settlers does not indicate 'opposition to the peace process but Palestinian insistence that the process entails an end to occupation and settlements.'"[79] Palestinian support for armed attacks against Israeli civilian targets in Israel was 20% overall, with support being highest among those affiliated with the Islamic opposition (42%) and the leftists (32%), and lowest among supporters of the peace process (12%) and the National Independents (10%).[79] [edit] 2000-2004 A July 2001 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research (PSR) found that 58 percent of Palestinians supported armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside Israel and 92 percent supported armed confrontations against the Israeli army in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[80] A May 2002 poll by the center found that support for bombings of civilians inside Israel dropped to 52 percent, but support for armed attacks against Israeli settlers remained "very high" at 89 percent. Support for armed attacks against soldiers stood at 92 percent.[81] A poll after the 2003 Maxim restaurant suicide bombing, in which 20 Israelis were killed, found that 75 percent of Palestinians supported the attack, with support higher, "in the Gaza Strip (82%) compared to the West Bank (70%), in refugee camps (84%) compared to towns and villages (69%), among women (79%) compared to men (71%), among the young (78%) compared to the old (66%), among students (81%) compared to professionals (33%), and among supporters of Hamas (92%) compared to supporters of Fateh (69%)."[82] The firing of rockets from Beit Hanoun into Israel was acceptable to about three quarters of the Palestinian public in the occupied territories, and was higher in the West Bank (78%) compared to the Gaza Strip (71%), among students (83%) compared to merchants (63%), and among supporters of Hamas (86%) compared to supporters of Fatah (73%). While firing rockets from Beit Hanoun was supported by a majority of Palestinians (75%), 59% of the residents of Beit Hanoun rejected this practice. 83% of Palestinians favored a mutual cessation of violence.[83] A report by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, a Palestinian organization, showing trends based on polls conducted since 1997, indicated that Palestinian support for military operations against Israeli targets stood at 34-40 percent in 1997-1999, climbed to 65-85 percent in 2000-2004, and dropped back to 41 percent at the end of 2004. "Military operations" were defined as including shootings, car bombs and mortar rocket attacks, but not suicide bombings.[84] A 2005 poll by the center indicated that 53 percent of Palestinians supported "the continuation of [the] Al-Aqsa Intifada, 50 percent supported "suicide bombings against Israeli civilians", and 36 percent supported "the resumption of military operations against Israeli targets".[85] A 2004 study by Victoroff et al. was conducted on a group of 52 boys, all 14 years old, from the al-Shati camp in Gaza. Forty-three percent of the boys reported that a family member had been wounded or killed by the IDF, and half lived in households where the father's employment was lost following the outbreak of the Second Intifada. "Sympathy for terrorism" was found to be correlated with depression and anxiety scores, as well as with the level of "perceived oppression," and "emotional distress". Of those who felt subject to unjust treatment, 77 percent expressed sympathy for terrorism.[86] [edit] 2005-Present Mercaz HaRav massacre .
A March 2008 report by Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research (PSR) noted that the level of support for armed attack against Israeli civilians inside Israel increased significantly with 67% supporting and 31% opposed, compared to support by 40% in 2005 and 55% in 2006. A February 2008 suicide bombing that killed one Israeli woman in Dimona was supported by 77% and opposed by 19%. An overwhelming majority of 84 percent supported the March 2008 Mercaz HaRav massacre, in which a Palestinian gunman killed eight students and wounded eleven in a Jerusalem school. Support for the attack was 91 percent in the Gaza Strip compared to 79 percent in the West Bank. Similar suicide attacks in 2005 had been less widely supported, with 29% support for a suicide attack that took place in Tel Aviv, and 37% support for another one in Beersheba.[87] [edit] Casualties While comprehensive data on internal violence is unavailable, conservative estimates show at least 7,000-11,000 Palestinians[citation needed] have been killed in intra-fighting since the 1982 Lebanon War.[88] Conflict Killed .
Gaza War.
75.
Internal violence 2007-present.
600[89].
Battle of Gaza (2007).
130.
Second Intifada.
714[90].
First Intifada.
1,100.
War of the Camps.
4,000-8,000[citation needed].
[edit] Palestinian groups involved in political violence .
Hamas .
Founded in 1987 by Ahmed Yassin and Mohammad Taha as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas' goal is the establishment of a Palestinian state.[91] .
Armed wing is the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades; the sole target of its suicide bombings and missile attacks is Israel.[91] .
Took part in 2006 elections and won. After the 2007 Battle of Gaza the Hamas government was disbanded by Mahmoud Abbas but remained de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip. .
Currently led by Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh .
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) (founded 1970s) .
Formed by Fathi Shaqaqi as a branch of Egyptian Islamic Jihad .
Goal is the destruction of the state of Israel and replacement with an Islamist state[citation needed] .
Armed wing is the Al-Quds Brigades (Jerusalem brigades) .
Currently led by Ramadan Shallah, the Secretary General and Abd Al Aziz Awda .
The Popular Resistance Committees .
Islamist .
Founded in 2000 by Jamal Abu Samhadana who led the group until he was killed in 2006. .
Hamas linked group, based in the Gaza Strip .
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (founded June 1964) .
Formed as the political representation of the Palestinian people .
Currently led by Mahmoud Abbas [edit] Sub-groups of the PLO .
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (founded 1967) .
Left-wing .
Joined the PLO in 1968 and became the second-largest PLO faction, after Arafat's al-Fatah, but withdrew in 1974, accusing the group of moving away from the goal of abolishing the State of Israel. It was lead by Abu Ali Mustapha until his assassination in 2001. .
Armed wing is the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades .
Currently led by Ahmad Sa'adat .
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) (founded 1969) .
Marxist-Leninist group that believes Palestinian national goals can be achieved only through revolution of the masses. Split into two factions in 1991; Nayif Hawatmah leads the majority and more hard-line faction, which continue to dominate the group. Joined with other rejectionist groups to form the Alliance of Palestinian Forces (APF) to oppose the Declaration of Principles signed in 1993. Broke from the APF - along with the PFLP - over ideological differences. Has made limited moves towards merging with the PFLP since the mid-1990s. .
Abu Nidal organization (ANO), also known as Fatah - the Revolutionary Council (FRC), (founded 1974) .
Split from PLO; part of the so-called rejectionist front, the ANO is a secular, nationalist group. Was led by Abu Nidal, widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian leaders, until his death in August 2002. .
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) .
Minor Left wing faction .
Founded in 196 by Ahmed Jibril and Shafiq al-Hout, re established in 1977 by Abu Abbas .
Arab Liberation Front (ALF) .
Minor faction tied to the Iraqi Ba'ath Party .
Founded in 1969, first leader was Zeid Heidar .
Currently led by Rakad Salem .
As-Sa'iqa (VPLW) .
Palestinian branch of the Syrian Ba'ath Party .
Founded in 1966 as alternative to Fatah, organisation boycotts Palestinian National Authority and is opposed to Oslo Accords .
Organisation was not active during the Second Intifada .
Currently led by Farhan Abu Al-Hayja. .
Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) .
Minor Socialist faction formerly led by Samir Ghawshah .
Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) .
Minor Arab Nationalist faction .
Originally part of the ALF, split from the ALF in 1993 .
Supports the Palestinian right of return and creation of Palestinian state within 1967 borders .
Currently led by Jameel Shihadeh. .
Fatah (founded early 1960s)[92] .
Palestinian nationalist political party .
Reverse acronym for "Harekat at-Tahrir al-Wataniyyeh al-Falastiniyyeh" ("Palestinian National Liberation Movement" in Arabic) .
Also known as the Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine .
Founded by Yasser Arafat in 1959. Took control of the PLO in 1968, with Arafat as chairman. .
Currently led by Mahmoud Abbas [edit] Groups associated with Fatah .
Tanzim (founded 1995) .
Means "organization" in Arabic .
Loosely organized Fatah militia .
Led by Marwan Barghouti until his arrest in 2002. .
Force 17 (early 1970s-2007) .
Elite unit of the PLO once under Yasser Arafat's direct guidance. .
Acts as a versatile unit for combat and intelligence-gathering. .
Dismantled in 2007 and incorporated into the Palestinian Presidential Guard. .
Fatah Special Operations Group (Fatah-SOG) .
Founded in the early 1970s by Col. Abdullah Abd al-Hamid Labib .
Also known as the Martyrs of Tel Al Za'atar, Hawari, and Amn Araissi. .
Recently inactive (as of 2004) .
Ahmed Abu Reish Brigade .
Extremist off-shoot of Fatah. .
Was involved in July 17, 2004 kidnappings in the Gaza Strip. .
Possibly linked to the Popular Resistance Committees .
Led by Ahmed Abu Reish .
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade .
Responsible for many suicide bombings and shootings of Israeli civilians .
Responsible for executing suspected conspirators and leaders of opposition against Arafat .
Funded by Fatah and the Palestinian Authority[citation needed] .
Offshoot of this group, Fatah Hawks, has carried out guerrilla attacks against Israeli military personnel in the Gaza Strip. .
Black September Organization (1970-1973) .
Began as a small cell of Fatah men determined to take revenge upon King Hussein and the Jordanian army for Black September in Jordan. Recruits from the PFLP, as-Sa'iqa, and other groups also joined. .
Carried out Munich Massacre. .
Carried out Attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum [edit] Splinter groups of the PLO .
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) (founded 1968) .
Splinter group from the PFLP, founded by Ahmed Jibril. Declared its focus would be military, not political. Was a member of the PLO, but left in 1974 for the same reasons as PFLP. [edit] al-Qaeda linked groups .
Army of Islam (Jaysh al-Islam) .
Also known as Tawhid and Jihad Brigades and al-Qaeda in Palestine .
The group are an armed Gaza clan named Doghmush who are affiliated with al-Qaeda and Abu Qatada .
Jund Ansar Allah .
al-Qaeda affiliated group in the Gaza Strip, who proclaimed the creation of an Islamic Emirate in Gaza and led an armed rebellion against Hamas. The group was led by Abdel Latif Moussa until his death in 2009 when he was killed in combat with Hamas .
Fatah al-Islam .
The group was established in 2006 by Shaker al-Abssi who led the group unil killed by Lebanese forces in 2007. The group was involved in a conflict with the Lebanese army in 2007 battling for control of Palestinian refugee camps, which caused the death of nearly 500 people. .
Jund al-Sham (1999-2008) .
Radical Islamist Group set up by Palestinians and Syrians which operated in different areas of the Middle East. The group was disbanded in 2008. [edit] Notable attacks .
1974 Japanese Embassy attack in Kuwait .
1980 Paris synagogue bombing .
Munich massacre .
1981 Antwerp bombing .
Attack on the Saudi embassy in Khartoum .
Coastal Road massacre .
Dolphinarium discotheque suicide bombing .
Jerusalem bus 19 suicide bombing .
Ma'alot massacre .
Passover massacre .
Maxim restaurant suicide bombing .
Pi Glilot bombing .
Sabena Flight 571 .
Savoy Hotel Attack .
Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing .
Shawarma restaurant bombing .
Swissair Flight 330 .
Pan Am Flight 110 .
Avivim school bus massacre .
Mercaz HaRav massacre .
Dizengoff Street bus bombing .
Hijacking of Achille Lauro .
Beit Lid massacre .
Jaffa Road bus bombings .
Kiryat Menachem bus bombing .
1979 Nahariya attack .
Lod Airport massacre .
Ma'ale Akrabim massacre .
Hebrew University massacre .
2008 Dimona suicide bombing .
Karkur junction suicide bombing .
EgyptAir Flight 648 .
Night of the Gliders .
2004 Sinai bombings .
Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy .
2000 Ramallah lynching (MORE)
Is Nazareth in Palestine?
Nazareth is a majority-Palestinian city, but it is currently within the 1949 borders of the State of Israel.
Does Palestine have forests?
There are forests in the North of Israel that extend a little bit into the West Bank, but by and large, Palestine is farmable hill-country.
What is the name of Palestine?
Palestine is its own name. If you are referring to the current nations that occupy the space previously occupied by the British Mandate of Palestine, those nations would be Israel and Palestine.
Are there bears in Palestine?
No species of Bear exist in Palestine today, The Syrian Brown Bear used to roam in historic Palestine, but are extinct in that area.
What was Palestine originally?
It depends on how far back you wish to go. The earliest archaeologydates settlements near the city of Haifa from 100,000 years ago. Itthen passed hands to early tribe, Proto-Canaanites, Canaanites,Israelites, Philistines, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians,Persians, Macedonian Greeks, Egyptian Greeks…, Syrian Greeks,Hasmonean Jews, Romans, Byzantines, several different ArabCaliphates and Turkish Empires, Crusader States, the Ottomans, theBritons, and finally Israel and modern Arab States. (MORE)
What is the Palestine War?
Which Palestinian War is the question referring to? Is it one of the wars in the Arab-Palestinian Conflict? -- which began in 1948, but became much more violent in the 1970s and 1980s, killing between 5,000-25,000 Palestinians depending on the estimates used. Is it one of the wars in the Israe…li-Palestinian Conflict? -- which began in the 1920s, but became much more widespread in 1947 with the Jewish-Arab Engagement and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9. Approximately 13,000 Palestinians have died in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Is it the Palestinian Civil War? -- which began in 2006, but most violence took place in 2007 with approximately 600-1000 deaths. See the Related Questions below for the different Palestinian Conflicts. (MORE)
Are there Buddhists in Palestine?
Not very many. The territories where Palestinians live tend to be almost entirely Muslim. But there absolutely are Buddhists in the neighboring state of Israel, and you should be able to find a Buddhist house of worship there.
What was Ottoman Palestine?
The Ottoman Empire ruled the region of Palestine in three distinctprovinces: the Wilayat of Beirut in the north (which extends intomuch of Lebanon), the Mutasaffirat of Jerusalem (which is bunchedin the center), and the Wilayat of Damascus in the south (whichextends into modern Jordan and Syria. Th…ere was no concept in the Ottoman Empire of a unified Palestineas Palestinian activists conceive of it today. (MORE)