Jump to content

Portal:Palestine

Extended-protected page
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PortalProjectResources

The Palestine portal

Palestine, officially known as the State of Palestine, is a country in southern Levant region of the West Asia. The country shares is bordered with Israel to the east, north and west, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories. Palestine has a total land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people.The Palestinian people are mostly Arabs, while Kurds, Turks, Armenians and Assyrians are also found. Majority of Palestinian people are Muslims, with minority includes Christians, Samaritans and Druze. Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital, Ramallah is administrative center and Gaza is largest city, as of 2023.

The wider historic region of Palestine, the country's history is deeply rooted in religious significance. Located in Fertile Crescent, the region is referred to as "cradle of civilization". Palestine gave rise various groups such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. The region have been ruled by the Canaanites, Philistines and Israelites. Jerusalem, along with Bethlehem and Hebron are among the holiest cities, revered by the Jews, Christians and Muslims. During the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 7th century, the region came under Islamic control. Successive Islamic Caliphates' rule continued, until the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099. Following Saladin's conquest of Palestine in 1187, the Islamic rule was restored. Between 13th century to 16th century, the Mamluk Sultanate ruled. The Ottoman Empire conquered the region in 1516 and ruled for the next 400 years, until the World War I. Following the British conquest of Palestine in 1917, Mandatory territory was established under the League of Nations, setting up stages for the conflict.

The modern Palestinian state have been in conflict since 1948, which was triggered during the British rule. Following the establishment of Mandate, British government facilitated immigration of the Jews, supporting the Zionist movement. Intercommunal tensions increased between the Zionist Jews and Arabs (Christians and Muslims). In 1947, the United Nations prepared a partition plan for Palestine, rejected by the Arabs. The 1947–1949 civil war and the 1948 war resulted displacement of Palestinians from the lands captured by Israel, known as Nakba. The subsequent Arab–Israeli wars, including the Six Day War in 1967 saw entire Palestinian territories being occupied and Israel established illegal settlements. Palestinian militant groups, including the PLO led several armed rebellions against Israel. After 1993–1995 peace treaties, the interim government was formed to govern certain parts. Following the end of the second intifada, Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip. However the occupation of the West Bank continues. The 2006–2008 civil war resulted Hamas takeover of the coastal enclave.

As of 2024, Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 145 member states of the United Nations. It is a semi-presidential republic. Due to the ongoing conflict Palestinians are subjected to the ongoing occupation, restrictions on movement, blockade by Israel, violence by Israeli settlers and Zionist terrorism. Palestine's borders, the legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem, and the right of return of Palestinian refugees remain unsolved. Israel has built illegal settlements in the West Bank, where to 600,000 Israeli settlers reside. The Gaza Strip is ruled by Hamas and the West Bank is governed by Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. Today, there are nearly 7 million Palestinian refugees around the world, with some of them within the country. Despite these challenges, the country maintains an emerging economy and sees frequent tourism. Palestine have potential reserves of crude oil and natural gas. It is a member of several international organizations, including the United Nations, Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. (Full article...)

Selected article

Bani Na'im (Arabic: بني نعيم, Banî Na‘îm) is a Palestinian town in the southern West Bank located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) east of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate. The town had a population of 20,084 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated at a higher elevation than most localities in the area with an altitude of 951 meters (3,120 ft). Known as Brekke in the pre-Roman era, it was later referred to as "Caphar Barucha" in the 4th-century. The town is best known as the burial place of Lot. Following the Muslim conquest, its name was Arabicized as "Kafr al-Barik." The tomb of Lot was turned into a mosque during Islamic rule and remained so under Crusader rule. Later, the Arab tribe of "Bani Nu'aym" settled there, giving the town its current name "Bani Na'im," first used by Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi in 1690. Bani Na'im grew in population during the British Mandate for Palestine. It joined the 1936–1939 Arab revolt as the site of a battle between the irregular Palestinian Arab forces of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and the British Army. Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Bani Na'im was annexed by Jordan. It came under Israeli occupation after Israel captured the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1997, Bani Na'im was transferred to Palestinian administration and consequently became a municipality. Today, it serves as a commercial center for Hebron area villages, although most government services are in Hebron.

Selected picture

Dome of the Rock
Dome of the Rock
Credit: Yaakov Shoham

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine and a major landmark located in Jerusalem.

Did you know...

Mustafa Barghouthi

Selected quote

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

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

Edward Wadie Saïd (Arabic pronunciation: [wædiːʕ sæʕiːd] Arabic: إدوارد وديع سعيد, Idwārd Wadīʿ Saʿīd; 1 November 1935 – 25 September 2003) was an American-Palestinian literary theorist, and University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He was a founding figure of the critical field of post-colonialism. Saïd was a Palestinian Arab born in Jerusalem (then in the British Mandate of Palestine), and held an American passport through his father who was a Palestinian U.S. citizen with Protestant origins. Said was an advocate for the human rights of the Palestinian people, whom the commentator Robert Fisk described as the Palestinians' most powerful voice. As an influential cultural critic, academic, and writer, Edward Saïd was known best for the book Orientalism (1978), a critical analysis of the ideas that are the bases of Orientalism — the Western study of Eastern cultures. As a public intellectual, he discussed contemporary politics, music, culture, and literature, in lectures, newspaper and magazine articles, and books. Drawing from his family experiences as a Palestinian Christian in the Middle East, at the time of the establishment of Israel (1948), Saïd argued for the establishment of a Palestinian state, equal political and human rights for the Palestinians in Israel — including the right of return — and for increased U.S. political pressure upon Israel to recognize, grant, and respect said rights; he also criticized the political and cultural politics of Arab and Muslim régimes. He received a Western education in the U.S., where he resided from adolescence until his death in 2003; as such, in his memoirs, Out of Place (1999), Saïd applied his dual cultural heritage to narrow the gap of political and cultural understanding between The West and the Middle East, to improve Western understanding of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. His decade-long membership in the Palestinian National Council, and his pro–Palestinian political activism, made him a controversial public intellectual.

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