Jump to content

Portal:Palestine

Extended-protected page
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PortalProjectResources

The Palestine portal

Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia. It encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories, within the larger historic Palestine region. The country shares most of its borders with Israel, and it borders Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a total 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. Gaza City was its largest city until 2023.

During World War I, the United Kingdom supported the establishment of a Jewish national home in the Palestine region, based on the ideology of Zionism. After defeating the Ottoman Empire, the UK occupied Palestine and set up Mandatory Palestine under the auspices of the League of Nations. During this period, large-scale Jewish immigration allowed by the British authorities led to increased tensions and violence with the local Palestinian Arab population. By 1947, Britain handed the issue to the United Nations, which proposed a partition plan, for two independent Arab and Jewish states and an independent entity for Jerusalem. Immediately after the General Assembly adopted the resolution, a civil war broke out, and the plan was not implemented.

The 1948 Palestine war saw the forcible displacement of most of its predominantly Palestinian Arab population, and consequently the establishment of Israel, in what Palestinians call the Nakba. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which had been held by Jordan and Egypt respectively. In 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) declared the establishment of the State of Palestine. In 1993, the PLO signed the Oslo peace accords with Israel, creating the Palestinian Authority (PA) to exercize limited self-government in the territories. In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in its unilateral disengagement, but the territory is still considered to be under military occupation because of Israel's blockade. 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 PA, 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 its 1967 occupation, with those in the Gaza Strip being dismantled and evacuated as part of Israel's disengagement from that area. Approximately 670,000 Israeli settlers live in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The international community considers these settlements to be 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. Arabic is the official language. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a presence. Palestine 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. In 2024, the International Court of Justice found Israel's continued presence in the State of Palestine to be illegal. (Full article...)

Selected article

Soap stacks inside the Touqan factory in Nablus in 2008

Nabulsi soap (Arabic: صابون نابلسي, ṣābūn Nābulsi) is a type of castile soap produced only in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine. Its chief ingredients are virgin olive oil (the main agricultural product of the region), water, and an alkaline sodium compound. The finished product is ivory-colored and has almost no scent. Traditionally made by women for household use, it had become a significant industry for Nablus by the 14th century. In 1907 the city's 30 Nabulsi soap factories were supplying half the soap in Palestine. The industry declined during the mid-20th century following destruction caused by the 1927 earthquake and later disruption from the Israeli military occupation. As of 2008, only two soap factories survive in Nablus. The old Arafat soap factory has been turned into a Cultural Heritage Enrichment Center.

Selected picture

Machine gunners, Second Battle of Gaza
Machine gunners, Second Battle of Gaza
Credit: American Colony, Jerusalem
Restoration: Lise Broer/Fir0002

Ottoman machine gun corps, before the Second Battle of Gaza, which took place on 19 April 1917. The First Battle of Gaza, just three weeks prior, had ended in defeat for the British Empire, and this second attempt to break through Turkish defenses was also unsuccessful. Six months later, on the third attempt, the Allied forces were finally able to break the GazaBeersheba line.

Did you know...

Mosque of Omar

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.

WikiProjects

You are invited to participate in WikiProject Palestine, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Palestine.
Parent projects
AsiaCountering systemic biasWestern AsiaArab WorldCountries
Main project
WikiProject Palestine
Sub-projects
WikiProjects
WikiProjects
Middle Eastern military history
Related projects
GeographyEgyptIraqIsraelJordanLebanonIslamSyria


What are WikiProjects?

Selected biography

Abu Nidal (May 1937 – 16 August 2002), born Sabri Khalil al-Banna, was the founder of Fatah – The Revolutionary Council, a militant Palestinian splinter group also known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). At the height of his power in the 1970s and 1980s, Abu Nidal, or "father of [the] struggle", was widely regarded as the most ruthless of the Palestinian political leaders. Part of the socialist Palestinian rejectionist front, so called because they reject proposals for a peaceful settlement with Israel, the ANO was formed after a split in 1974 between Abu Nidal and Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Setting himself up as a freelance contractor, Abu Nidal is believed by the United States Department of State to have ordered attacks in 20 countries, killing or injuring over 900 people. The group's most notorious attacks were on the El Al ticket counters at Rome and Vienna airports in December 1985, when Arab gunmen opened fire on passengers in simultaneous shootings, killing 18 and wounding 120. Abu Nidal died of between one and four gunshot wounds in Baghdad in August 2002. Palestinian sources believe he was killed on the orders of Saddam Hussein, but the Iraqi government insisted he had committed suicide.

Categories

To display all subcategories click on the "►":


Good articles

Did you know? articles

In the News articles

Picture of the day pictures


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


Religions in Palestine


Arab states


Other countries

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals