Portal:Palestine

(Redirected from P:PAL)

PortalProjectResources

The Palestine portal

Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين, romanizedFilasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine (دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn), is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It comprises of two disconnected regions – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It shares borders with Israel to the west and north, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. Palestine's combined land area is 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Rafah is the largest city and Ramallah serves as the administrative center. The official language is Arabic. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a significant presence.

As of May 2024, Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by over 72% of member states of the United Nations. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012.

The region of Palestine has played an important part in world history. The Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines all left their mark on the land. In addition to its historical significance, Palestine holds profound religious importance for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Throughout history the region has seen periods of coexistence and conflict between different religious and ethnic groups. Notably, during the Middle Ages, when Jewish communities faced persecution, they found refuge and protection under Muslim rule and the wider Islamic world. The Ottoman Empire, which controlled Palestine from the 16th century until its collapse at the end of World War I, provided a sanctuary for Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. The end of the Ottoman rule marked a new chapter in Palestine's history. Following World War I, the British Empire assumed control of the region under the League of Nations mandate. 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 accompanied by a forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and created a large Palestinian refugee population. Subsequent Arab–Israeli wars, including the Six-Day War in 1967, resulted in occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In 1988, PNC, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat, declared the establishment of Palestine. Signing of the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, negotiated between Israel and the PLO, aimed to establish a government and the eventual creation of Palestinian state. However, the implementation of the Oslo Accords faced significant challenges, including the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and ongoing security concerns. 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 by the Palestinian National Authority, led by Fatah, and the Gaza Strip under the control of Hamas. (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

Jerusalem in the early 20th century
Jerusalem in the early 20th century
Credit: Photo: American Colony; Restoration: L. Broer/J. Wartenberg

A view of Jerusalem in the early 20th century. The earliest verified reference to the city is in the Amarna letters, which date to the 14th century BCE. Over its long history, it has been controlled by Israelites, Judaeans, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mamluks, Turks, and the British before being split between Israel and Jordan. Israel captured East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967, and the city remains a core issue in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Did you know...

Sir Charles Burnett in RAF full dress

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 "►":


Featured content

Featured articles

Featured lists

Good articles

Did you know? articles

Featured pictures

In the News articles

Main page featured articles

Main page featured lists

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

Related portals


Religions in Palestine


Arab states

Associated Wikimedia

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

Discover Wikipedia using portals