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Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia. It encompasses two disconnected territories – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories – within the larger region of Palestine. The country shares its borders with Israel to north, west and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a combined land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Ramallah serves as its administrative center and Gaza City was its largest city until massive evacuations began in 2023 due to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Arabic is the official language. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a presence.

In 1917, Britain called for a Jewish nation to be created in the land of Palestine. After World War I, as part of the partition of the Ottoman Empire, Britain assumed responsibility for Palestine under a League of Nations mandate. During the next two decades, over 100,000 Jews entered the country. As tensions in Palestine increased due to mass immigration of Jews and resulting violence, the British government found it increasingly difficult to manage the situation. In 1947, Britain decided to hand over the issue to the United Nations. After World War II , in 1947, the United Nations adopted a partition plan for Mandatory Palestine , recommending the creation of two independent Arab and Jewish states and an independent Jerusalem entity.  The Jews accepted the partition plan, but the Arabs rejected it. Immediately after the General Assembly adopted the resolution, a civil war broke out, and the plan was not implemented. The British Mandate for Palestine, established in 1920, brought significant changes to the political and social landscape of the area, setting the stage for the conflicts and struggles that would follow.

The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was marked by a war that resulted in the forced displacement of 700,000 Palestinians and created a large refugee population. Subsequent Arab–Israeli wars, including the Six-Day War in 1967, resulted in the Israeli capture and occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On 15 November 1988, Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat, declared the establishment of the State. Signing of the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, negotiated between Israel and the PLO, created the Palestinian Authority (PA) to exercise partial control over parts of Palestinian territories. In 2007, internal divisions between Palestinian political factions led to a takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas. Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the Palestinian Authority, led by Fatah, while the Gaza Strip has remained under the control of Hamas. Israel has built settlements in both of the Palestinian territories since the start of the occupation. The settlements in the Gaza Strip were dismantled in Israel's unilateral disengagement in 2005, and approximately 670,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements in the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Currently, the biggest challenges to the country include the Israeli occupation, a blockade, restrictions on movement, Israeli settlements and settler violence, as well as an overall poor security situation. The questions of Palestine's borders, the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem, and the right of return of Palestinian refugees remain unsolved. Despite these challenges, the country maintains an emerging economy and sees frequent tourism. It is also a member of several international organizations, including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012. This limited status is largely due to the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power, has consistently used its veto or threatened to do so to block Palestine's full membership to UN. (Full article...)

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Skyline of Deir al-Balah, 2008

Deir al-Balah or Dayr al-Balah (Arabic: دير البلح) is a Palestinian city in the central Gaza Strip and the administrative capital of the Deir al-Balah Governorate. It is located over 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) south of Gaza City. The city had a population of 54,439 in 2007. The city is known for its date palms, after which it is named. Deir al-Balah dates back to the Late Bronze Age when it served as a fortified outpost for the New Kingdom of Egypt. A monastery was built there by the Christian monk Hilarion in the mid-4th-century CE and is currently believed to be the site of a mosque dedicated to Saint George, known locally as al-Khidr. During the Crusader-Ayyubid wars, Deir al-Balah was the site of a strategic coastal fortress known as "Darum" which was continuously contested, dismantled and rebuilt by both sides until its final demolition in 1196; after this the site grew to become a large village on the postal route in the Mamluk era from the 13th to 15th-centuries and served as an episcopal see of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem in Ottoman times until the late 19th-century. Under Egyptian control Deir al-Balah, whose population tripled through the influx of refugees from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, was a prosperous agricultural town until its capture by Israel in the Six-Day War. After 27 years of Israeli occupation, Deir al-Balah became the first city to come under Palestinian self-rule in 1994. Since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, it has witnessed frequent incursions by the Israeli Army with the stated aim of stopping Qassam rocket fire into Israel. Ahmad Kurd, a Hamas member, was elected mayor in late January 2005.

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View of Bethlehem, 1898
View of Bethlehem, 1898
Credit: NicFer

Beit Sahour (lit. Place of the Night Watch) is a Palestinian town east of Bethlehem under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority. The population of 12,367, is Christian and Muslim.

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Giraffa camelopardalis at Qalqilya Zoo

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Both the Germans and the Zionists wanted as many Jews as possible to move to Palestine. The Germans preferred to have them out of Western Europe, and the Zionists themselves wanted the Jews in Palestine to outnumber the Arabs as quickly as possible. (...) In both cases, the purpose was a kind of 'ethnic cleansing', that is, a violent change in the ratio of ethnic groups in the population.
Slavoj Žižek, discussing a meeting between Feivel Polkes and Adolf Eichmann

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Yasser Arafat in 1999
Arafat in 1996

Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist and a socialist, Arafat was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.

Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent most of his youth. He studied at the University of King Fuad I. While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following the defeat of Arab forces, Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. (Full article...)

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Topics

Demographics: Definitions · State of Palestine · History · Name · People · Diaspora  · Refugee camps · Arab citizens of Israel

Politics: Arab Higher Committee · All-Palestine Gov-t · PLO · PFLP · Depopulated villages

Today: Fatah · Hamas · Islamic Jihad · Political parties · PNA · Hamas gov-t · Governorates · Governorates · Cities · Arab localities in Israel · PNC · PLC ·

General: Flag · Law

Palestine: West Bank · Gaza Strip · E. Jerusalem

Religion: Islam · Christianity · Judaism · Dome of the Rock · Al-Aqsa Mosque · Great Mosque of Gaza · Cave of the Patriarchs · Church of the Holy Sepulchre · Basilica of the Annunciation · Church of the Nativity · Joseph's Tomb · Rachel's Tomb · Lot's Tomb · Nabi Samwil

Culture: Art · Traditional costumes · Cinema · Cuisine · Dance · Handicrafts · Language · Literature · Music

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