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³There is no greater sorrow on earth than
the loss of one¹s native land² Euripides,431 BCWho are the Palestinians?
Some 4500 years ago the Canaanites lived on a
land that later came to be known as Palestine,
Developing a culture of certain characteristics
which deeply influenced the long history of the
Palestinian people. The Palestinians like many of
nations of that time in history, were exposed to
many invasions and wars. The land of Palestine
came under successive domination of the Persians,
Greeks, Romans, Byzentines, Franks and Ottomans
are few of the thirteen invaders who attempted to
conquer Palestine.
Through the centuries Palestinians have been
Jewish, many converted to Christianity and later
converted to Islam. Today many Palestinian
families have Jewish ancestors and many more
trace their ancestors back to Jesus Christ and his
decibels.
In 1967, Jerusalem was 80% Christian today
after the Israeli occupation less then 18% of
Jerusalem are Christians. Christian Palestinians
and Moslem Palestinians have suffered the Israeli
occupation.
Who are the settlers?
³Israeli settlers are colonizers of Palestinian
land.² Nelson Mandela
Israeli governments have established the vast
majority of settlements directly. All settlements
receive governmental support for infrastructure,
construction, establishment of public institutions,
and the like. Surprisingly the majority of settlers
are American Jews who are privileged by US law
to maintain duel citizenship. Financial support of
these Jewish American settlers comes directly
from US institutions. Settler receives the sum
off $30.000 for the purchase of home on
settlement grounds.
Establishing the settlements, populating them and
expanding them is carried out while the Occupied
Territories are controlled by the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) and subject to "belligerent
occupation," i.e., to occupation resulting from war.
International organizations and International law
views the IDF, as the occupying army, so the IDF
must act in accordance with international
humanitarian law, i.e., the laws of war, particularly
those relating to treatment of the civilian
population residing in occupied territory.
The establishment of permanent civilian
settlements in the Occupied Territories
contravenes international humanitarian law.
According to that law, an occupying power is
prohibited from transferring population from its
territory into territory it occupies. In addition,
international law prohibits creating permanent
change not intended for the benefit of that
population. The settlements are viewed ³as
obstacles for peace² by the US government and
the UN.
Since the Palestinian occupation, Israel has
invested substantial efforts and means to protect
the settlements and their residents. Israel has also
expropriated or requisitioned additional
Palestinian lands (by force and against the will of
the occupied Palestinians) , both private and
public, to expand and defend settlements, and to
build roads bypassing Palestinian towns and
villages in order to increase settlers' security.
Who are the Palestinian Refugees?
³One in every four of the worlds refugees is a
Palestinian² United Nations Relief Work Agency
Palestinians are the worlds largest refugee
population in the world. In the 1948 war that
resulted in the creation of Israel in 77% of
Palestine, some 750,000 Palestinians were
displaced and dispossessed of their homeland..
Israel has consistently rejected the Palestinian
right of return, except for a conditional offer to
accept 100,000 refugees in the early 1950's which
was later withdrawn. In 1950 the United Nations
set up a special agency, the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA), to provide for
relief services for the refugees scattered in
camps throughout the region. In the 1967 war,
some 350,000 Palestinians became refugees, many
for the second time. Today there are around 5
million Palestinian refugees, about 70% of the
total Palestinian population.
They are scattered in 59 refugee camps in the
West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and
individually throughout the world. Two of the
primary demands by refugees are return and
compensation as provided for under UN Resolution
194 of 1948.
What is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? *(1917-1947)
The Palestine problem became an international
issue towards the end of the First World War
with the disintegration of the Turkish Ottoman
Empire. Palestine was among the several former
Ottoman Arab territories which were placed
under the administration of Great Britain under
the Mandates System adopted by the League of
Nations pursuant to the League's Covenant
(Article 22) .
All but one of these Mandated Territories
became fully independent States, as anticipated.
The exception was Palestine where, instead of
being limited to "the rendering of administrative
assistance and advice" the Mandate had as a
primary objective the implementation of the
"Balfour Declaration" issued by the British
Government in 1917, expressing support for "the
establishment in Palestine a national home for the
Jewish people".
During the years of the Palestine Mandate,
from 1922 to 1947, large-scale Jewish
immigration from abroad, mainly from Eastern
Europe took place, the numbers swelling in the
1930s with the notorious Nazi persecution of
Jewish populations. Palestinian demands for
independence and resistance to Jewish
immigration led to a rebellion in 1937, followed by
continuing terrorism by Jewish militants and
resistance by Palestinian nationalists.
During and immediately after World War II.
Great Britain tried to implement various formulas
to bring independence to Palestinian land ravaged
by violence. In 1947, Great Britain turned the
problem over to the United Nations.
( 1947-1977)
After looking at various alternatives, the UN
proposed the partitioning of Palestine into two
independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the
other Jewish, with Jerusalem internationalized
(Resolution 181 (II) of 1947). One of the two
States envisaged in the partition plan proclaimed
its independence as Israel and in the 1948 war
expanded to occupy 77 % of the territory of
Palestine. Israel also occupied the larger part of
Jerusalem. Over half the indigenous Palestinian
population fled or were expelled. Jordan and
Egypt occupied the other parts of the territory
assigned by the partition resolution to the
Palestinian Arab State which did not come into
being.
In the 1967 war, Israel occupied the remaining
territory of Palestine, until then under Jordanian
and Egyptian control (the West Bank and Gaza
Strip). This included the remaining part of
Jerusalem, which was subsequently annexed by
Israel. The war brought about a second exodus of
Palestinians, estimated at half a million. Security
Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November
1967 called on Israel to withdraw from
territories it had occupied in the 1967 conflict. In
1974, the General Assembly reaffirmed the
inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to
self-determination, national independence and
sovereignty, and to return. The following year, the
General Assembly reaffirmed the inalienable
rights of the Palestinian people to
self-determination, national independence and
sovereignty, and to return. The following year, the
General Assembly established the Committee on
the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian People.* Based on United Nations documents and sources
**This fact sheet is provided by Palestinian
American Women Association (PAWA). PAWA is a
pacifist non political organization, dedicated to
fostering cooperation and understanding .For more information please write to:
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