Portal:Palestine

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Coat of Arms of the State of Palestine
Palestinian flag
State of Palestine (including Gaza Strip)
The State of Palestine (Arabic: دولة فلسطينDawlat Filasṭin) is a state that was proclaimed on 15 November 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO's) National Council (PNC) in exile in Algiers, which unilaterally adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. Since November 2012, State of Palestine is a non-member state, having an observer status in the UN, and controlling 40% of the West Bank. Though recognized by more than 130 countries worldwide, it has not yet received a recognition by Israel and US.

The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, defined according to the pre-1967 borders, and has designated Jerusalem as its capital. Areas constituting the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967. The 1974 Arab League summit designated the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and reaffirmed "their right to establish an independent state of urgency." The PLO held observer status at the United Nations as a "non-state entity" from 22 November 1974, which entitled it to speak in the UN General Assembly but not to vote. After the Declaration of Independence, the UN General Assembly officially "acknowledged" the proclamation and voted to use the designation "Palestine" instead of "Palestine Liberation Organization" when referring to the Palestinian permanent observer. In spite of this decision, the PLO did not participate at the UN in its capacity of the State of Palestine's government. On 29 November 2012 the UN General Assembly passed resolution 67/19, upgrading Palestine from an "observer entity" to a "non-member observer state" within the United Nations system, and implicitly recognizing PLO's sovereignty.

In 1993, in the Oslo Accords, Israel acknowledged the PLO negotiating team as "representing the Palestinian people", in return for the PLO recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace, acceptance of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and its rejection of "violence and terrorism". As a result, in 1994 the PLO established the Palestinian National Authority(PNA or PA) territorial administration, that exercises some governmental functions[iii] in parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In 2007, the Hamas takeover of Gaza Strip politically and territorially divided the Palestinians, with Abbas's Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority, while Hamas has secured its control over the Gaza Strip. In April 2011, the Palestinian parties signed an agreement of reconciliation, but its implementation has stalled since.

On November 29, 2012, in a 138-9 vote (with 41 abstentions and 5 absences). General Assembly resolution 67/19 passed, upgrading Palestine to "non-member observer state" status in the United Nations. The new status equates Palestine's with that of the Holy See; similarly, Switzerland was a non-member observer state for more than 50 years (until 2002). The UN has permitted Palestine to title its representative office to the UN as 'The Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations' and Palestine has instructed its diplomats to officially represent 'The State of Palestine', and no longer the 'Palestine National Authority.' On 17 December 2012, UN Chief of Protocol Yeocheol Yoon declared that 'the designation of "State of Palestine" shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents', thus recognizing the title 'State of Palestine' as the nation's official name for all UN purposes. As of 14 September 2015, 136 (70.5%) of the 193 member states of the United Nations have recognized the State of Palestine. Many of the countries that do not recognise the State of Palestine nevertheless recognise the PLO as the "representative of the Palestinian people". The PLO's executive committee is empowered by the PNC to perform the functions of government of the State of Palestine.

Historical boundaries of Palestine.svg

Palestine (Arabic: فلسطينFilasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el) Holy Land and the Southern Levant, and historically has been known by other names including Canaan, Zion, Syria Palaestina, Southern Syria, Jund Filastin and Outremer.

The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were first defined in modern times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum of 16 September 1922, during the mandate period. Today, the region comprises the State of Israel and the State of Palestine.

Selected article

Fedayeen from Fatah in Beirut, Lebanon, 1979

Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic fidā'ī, plural fidā'iyūn, فدائيون) refers to militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people. Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be "freedom fighters", while the Israeli government describes them as "terrorists". Considered symbols of the Palestinian national movement, the Palestinian fedayeen drew inspiration from guerrilla movements in Vietnam, China, Algeria and Latin America. The ideology of the Palestinian fedayeen was mainly left-wing nationalist, socialist or communist, and their proclaimed purpose was to defeat Zionism, "liberate Palestine" and establish it as "a secular, democratic, nonsectarian state". Emerging from among the Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled from their villages as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, in the mid 1950s the fedayeen began mounting cross-border operations into Israel from Syria, Egypt and Jordan. The earliest infiltrations were often to access the lands agricultural products they had lost as a result of the war, or to attack Israeli military, and sometimes civilian targets. Israel undertook retaliatory actions targeting the fedayeen that also often targeted the citizens of their host countries, which in turn provoked more attacks. Fedayeen actions were cited by Israel as one of the reasons for its launching of the Sinai Campaign of 1956, the 1967 War, and the 1978 and 1982 invasions of Lebanon. Palestinian fedayeen groups were united under the umbrella the Palestine Liberation Organization after the defeat of the Arab armies in the 1967 Six-Day War, though each group retained its own leader and independent armed forces.

Selected picture

Palestinian costume
Credit: American colony photographers (edited by Durova)

A Bedouin woman in Jerusalem, sometime between 1898 and 1914, dressed in Palestinian costume, the traditional clothing worn by Palestinians. Many of the handcrafted garments were richly embroidered and the creation and maintenance of these items played a significant role in the lives of the region's women. Until the 1940s, traditional Palestinian costumes reflected a woman's economic status, whether married or single, and the town or district of origin, and a knowledgeable observer could glean such information from the fabric, colors, cut, and embroidery motifs (or lack thereof) in a given woman's apparel.

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Judean Date Palm

Selected quote

Yasser Arafat
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 consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it.

Selected biography

Air Marshall Richard Williams
Sir Richard Williams (1890–1980) is regarded as the "father" of the Royal Australian Air Force. He was the first military pilot trained in Australia, and commanded fighter units in World War I. A proponent of independent air power, Williams played a leading role in the establishment of the RAAF and became its first and longest-serving Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). Born into a working class family, he was an Army Lieutenant when he learned to fly in 1914. As a pilot with the Australian Flying Corps in World War I, Williams commanded No. 1 Squadron and later 40th Wing RAF, earning the Distinguished Service Order. Afterwards he campaigned for an Australian Air Force separate from the Army and Navy, and this came into being on 31 March 1921. The fledgling RAAF faced challenges to its existence for the next decade, and Williams was credited with maintaining its independence. However an adverse report on flying safety saw him dismissed as CAS prior to World War II. Despite promotion to Air Marshal in 1940, he never again commanded the RAAF. After the war he was forcibly retired and took up the position of Director-General of Civil Aviation. He was knighted shortly before his retirement in 1955.

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Palestine

Demographics: Definitions · 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 in the PNA · PNA · Hamas gov-t · Districts · Governorates · Cities · Arab localities in Israel · PNC · PLC ·

General: Palestinian 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 · Costume and embroidery · Cinema · Cuisine · Dance · Handicrafts · Language · Literature · Music

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