We want peace but we do not want this peace process
A lasting peace is one which is just and fair for all
and as long as Israel is enforcing peace their way
the Palestinians have to fight for theirs
Israel's peace process is Surrender or War
Palestinian's peace process is UN Resolutions 194, 242, 338....
Why does the USA strictly implement UN resolutions everywhere except where Israel is concerned?
This page contains links to sites in Palestine and Palestine related sites.
For Middle East, North Africa, Arab and regional information visit Arab Countries
Palestine, historic region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, comprising parts of modern Israel, Jordan, and Egypt; also known as the Holy Land. This article discusses the physical geography and history of Palestine until the UN took up the Palestine problem in 1947; for the economy and later history, see Gaza Strip, Israel, Jordan, and West Bank. Palestine is the Holy Land of the Jews, promised to them by God according to the Bible; of the Christians because it was the scene of Jesus' life; and of the Muslims because Jerusalem is the traditional site of Muhammad's ascent to heaven. Palestine comprises three geographic zones: a part of the Great Rift Valley, a ridge, and a coastal plain. The earliest known settlements in Palestine, e.g. Jericho, may date from 8000 BC An independent Hebrew kingdom was established 1000 BC After 950 BC this kingdom broke up into two states, Israel and Judah. Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans in turn conquered Palestine, which fell to the Muslim Arabs by AD 640. The area was the focus of the Crusades and was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1516. By the late 19th cent., Zionism arose with the aim of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and during World War I the British, who captured the area, appeared to support this goal. After the League of Nations approved (1922) the British mandate of Palestine, Jews immigrated there in large numbers despite Arab opposition. There was tension and violence between Jews and Arabs, and the British, unable to resolve the problem, turned (1947) the Palestine question over to the UN. At that time there were about 1,091,000 Muslims, 614,000 Jews, and 146,000 Christians in Palestine.
********
West Bank, territory between Israel and Jordan, located W of the Jordan R. and the Dead Sea (1995 est. pop. 1,320,000), 2,165 sq mi (5,607 sq km), occupied by Israel since the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. Many Israelis refer to it as Judaea and Samaria. It includes the cities of Hebron, Jericho, and Nablus, and the Old City of Jerusalem. The north is fertile; the south largely barren. Olives, fruit, and citrus products are produced; small-scale industries manufacture goods such as cement and textiles. The inhabitants are mostly Muslim Arab Palestinians; there are about 198,000 Israeli Jewish settlers. After the partition of Palestine and the formation (1948) of Israel, the territory was annexed (1950) by Jordan. Following the 1967 war, the UN Security Council called for Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank. The Camp David accords (1978) incorporated plans for Arab self-rule in the region. A peaceful resolution, however, was impeded by the establishment of Israeli settlements in the area and by Israeli-PLO hostility (Arab states, including Jordan, recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole representative of the West Bank Arabs in 1974). A 1993 accord between Israel and the PLO led to limited Palestinian self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip in mid-1994. An interim agreement in 1995 called for the extension of self-rule to, and the withdrawal of most Israeli forces from, all Arab cities and villages in the West Bank (except East Jerusalem) in 1996. Much of this had been accomplished when increased tensions between Israel and the Palestinians put the agreement in jeopardy. However, most of Hebron was turned over to Palestinian control in 1997. Yasir Arafat was elected president of the Palestinian government in 1996. A 1998 accord called for further territorial handover; although there were delays, this was accomplished by Mar. 2000. Negotiations in 2000 proved unfruitful, and widespread violence erupted in the West Bank (and Gaza) in the fall after Ariel Sharon visited the Haram esh-Sherif (or Temple Mount) in Jerusalem. Efforts to resume to talks were subsequently mainly unsuccessful, stymied by mutual distrust and a cycle of fighting and violence, including suicide bombings by Palestinians and Israeli attacks on facilities of the Palestinian authority and Israeli reoccupation of Palestinian territory. The continuing growth of Israeli settlements in the region, which nearly doubled in population from 1992 to 2001, has also proved a major irritant to Arabs and stumbling block to peace. In Mar., 2003, the Palestinian parliament established the post of prime minister, effectively reducing Arafats powers as president; Mahmoud Abbas, regarded as more moderate than Arafat, was appointed to the post. The acceptance by Palestinians and Israelis of an internationally supported road map for peace raised hopes for a cessation of violence, though militant Palestinian groups only agreed (June) to a three-month cease-fire that did not hold even that long. Abbas resigned in September and was replaced by Ahmed Qurei, who, like Abbas, clashed with Arafat over control of the security forces. Israels construction of a security barrier in the West Bank became an international issue in 2003. It was begun in 2002 in the N West Bank, where it paralleled the border, and around Jerusalem, but plans to extend it south and into the West Bank to protect Israeli settlements brought widespread condemnation. The United Nations estimated that 274,000 Palestinians would end up in the 15% of the territory on the Israeli side of the 400-mi (640-km) fence and wall barrier, and that 400,000 more would have their lives disrupted by it. The United Nations General Assembly requested (Dec., 2003) that the International Court of Justice issue an advisory opinion on the barrier.
********
Gaza Strip, coastal region of the Middle East (2003 est. pop. 1,200,000), 140 sq mi (370 sq km), on the Mediterranean Sea, adjoining Egypt and Israel. Densely populated and impoverished, it is mainly inhabited by Palestinian refugees; there is also a small minority of Israeli settlers. The strip was part of the British mandate for Palestine from 1917 to 1948, passed to Egyptian control in 1949, and has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Autonomy for the region, promised by the Camp David accords (1978), has yet to be granted. The Palestinian uprising (intifada) began in Gaza in 1987; the area has been the scene of renewed violence since 2000. A 1993 accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) resulted in limited Palestinian self-rule in the area in mid-1994, but the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza has been undermined by conflicts with both Israel and Hamas, which is especially strong there.
********
Israel, officially State of Israel, republic (1995 est. pop. 5,433,000, including Israelis in occupied Arab territories), 7,992 sq mi/20,700 sq km (excluding occupied Arab territories), SW Asia, bounded by Lebanon (N), Syria and Jordan (E), the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt (W), and the Gulf of Aqaba (S). The capital is Jerusalem; other major cities are Tel AvivJaffa and Haifa. There are four land regions: the Mediterranean coastal plain; a mountain area in the northeast; the semiarid Negev in the south; and, in the extreme east, a portion of the Great Rift Valley, including the Dead Sea, which at 1,292 ft (394 m) below sea level is the lowest point on earth. Despite adverse conditions, extensive irrigation has enabled agriculture to flourish. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the major export crops. A wide variety of industrial goods is produced, including textiles, chemicals, military and electronic equipment, and machinery; Israel is an important diamond processor. The manufacture of high technology items (computers, software, and telecommunications equipment) and biotechnology have also become significant. Tourism is also important. The standard of living is high for a Middle Eastern nation, but a high trade deficit, heavy defense expenditures, and inflation have put the economy under strain. About 85% of the population are Jews, about half of whom are immigrants from Europe, North America, Asia, and North Africa. The non-Jewish population consists mainly of Muslim, and a smaller group of Christian, Arabs. The official languages are Hebrew and Arabic, but English and many European languages are widely spoken. Israel is highly urbanized. About 7% of the people live on collective farms known as kibbutzim,moshav ovdim, and moshav shitufim.
History
For the earlier history of the region, see Palestine. In Nov. 1947 the United Nations divided Palestine, then under British mandate, into Jewish and Arab states. Six months later the British withdrew, and on May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed. The neighboring Arab states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq rejected both the partition of Palestine and the existence of the new nation. In the war that followed (194849), Israel emerged victorious and with its territory increased by one half. Arab opposition continued, however, and full-scale fighting broke out again in 1956 (the Sinai campaign), 1967 (the Six-Day War), and 1973 (the Yom Kippur War). Israel emerged from these conflicts with large tracts of its neighbors' territories. In 1978 Israeli Prime Min. Menachem Begin and Egyptian Pres. Anwar al-Sadat signed the Camp David accords; a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was signed (1979) in Washington, D.C., and Israel withdrew from the Sinai by 1982. Little progress was made, however, with respect to the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and in 1981 Israel annexed the Golan Heights (captured from Syria in 1967). Israel's fierce, intermittent fighting with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon led to a devastating Israeli invasion in 1982. Israel withdrew in 1985 but maintained a 612 mi (1020 km) security zone there just north of the border. Begin retired in 1983 and was succeeded by Yitzhak Shamir. Indecisive elections in 1984 and 1988 resulted in an awkward coalition government, led by Labor party leader Shimon Peres (198486) and Shamir (198690). In June 1990, after the coalition collapsed, Shamir formed a right-wing government. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there were increasingly violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the occupied territories. Soviet Jews began emigrating to Israel in large numbers in 1990, strapping Israel's resources, and Iraq launched missiles at Israel during the Persian Gulf War. Israel began peace talks with Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians in 1991. In 1992 the Labor party and its allies won the largest bloc of seats in parliament, and Yitzhak Rabin became prime minister. In 1993 Israel signed an accord with the PLO that led to Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho in mid-1994; a 1995 accord called for the expansion of self-rule to all Arab cities and villages in the West Bank by 1996. A peace treaty with Jordan was signed in 1994. Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist in 1995; Peres succeeded him as prime minister. Internal terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists in 1996 and 1997 postponed the peace process and, in elections held in 1996, Peres narrowly lost the prime ministership to the Likud candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu. Under an accord signed in 1998, Israel agreed to withdraw from additional West Bank territory, while the Palestinian Authority pledged to take stronger measures to fight terrorism. In the May 1999 elections, Labor returned to power under Ehud Barak, a former army chief of staff, who formed a coalition government. In September, Barak and Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, signed an agreement to finalize their borders and to determine the status of Jerusalem within a year. By Mar. 2000 Israel completed handing over additional West Bank territory; in May it withdrew from S Lebanon. Further peace talks deadlocked in July, and in the fall a new cycle of violence erupted in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel itself following Ariel Sharon's visit to the Haram esh-Sherif (the Temple Mount to Jews) in Jerusalem. In Feb. 2001 Sharon defeated Barak for the prime ministership. Sharon formed a broad national unity government and pursued a hard line with the Palestinians, leading to reoccupation of West Bank towns in 2002 in an attempt to end attacks against Israelis. Labor left the government in Oct. 2002, forcing Sharon to call for elections in Jan. 2003, which resulted in a victory for his Likud bloc and brought a four-party, mainly right-wing coalition to power. In May, 2003, Sharons government accepted the internationally supported road map for peace with some limitations; the plan envisioned the establishment of a Palestinian state in three years. Talks resumed with Palestinian authorities, who also negotiated a three-month cease-fire with Palestinian militants, and Israel made some conciliatory moves in Gaza and the West Bank. Suicide bombings and Israeli revenge attacks resumed, however, in August, and in October Israel attacked Syria for the first time in 20 years, bombing what it termed a terrorist training camp in retaliation for suicide bombings. Israels ongoing construction of a 400-mi (640-km) fence and wall security barrier in the West Bank, potentially enclosing some 15% of that territory, brought widespread international condemnation in late 2003.
********
Copyright (c) 2003 Columbia University Press.
Used by permission of Columbia University Press.
About....
General information, cities, towns, municipalities, places, flag, maps, useful Information....
Business
Economy, reports, statistics, banks, directories, jobs, investment, promotion.... Culture
General resources, heritage, art, literature, photography, cinema, music, song, dance, cultural, scientific, environmental, sporting entities & info.... Education
Schools, colleges, academies, universities, polytechnics, institutions, research, resources, projects.... History
Ancient & modern history, human rights, politics & political parties, related sites, articles.... Media
Newspapers, magazines, news, newsletters, news agencies, radio, TV, internet, articles, reports, cartoons.... Organizations
Government, ministries, overseas missions, embassies, corporations, organizations, industrial entities, centres, public hospitals, institutions,
societies, foreign entities.... Travel
Airlines, air, sea & coach charters services, travel, tours, guides, hotels, resorts, inns, hostels, health, travel tips, weather.... Gateways
Gateways, search engines and directories to country related sites and information.... Books
Books, CDs, Videos about Palestine and Palestinians.... Arab Countries
Arab World: Middle East, North Africa, Arab and regional information. Resources to other Arab countries.... Links Page
For personal pages, private companies & entities, un-categorized and other sites. Add link or view
Hint: Use the "FIND" function in the Edit menu of your browser to search the page.
Most local links in other categories also include extensive or interesting country information.
All sites are in English or an English version is available except where indicated with flag(s) without "+".
The flag(s) means the site is available in the language of the flag(s). If more than 5 languages (other than Arabic or English) the UN flag is used, example means 5 languages other than English or Arabic means it is available in Arabic only and + is available in Arabic and English
Extensive database of more than 12,500 projects and tenders. Updated on a daily basis with the latest business information in 14 countries in the Middle East
Kenyon Institute
Provides research facilities for anyone working in Jerusalem, Israel or the Palestine Territories. (British School of Archaeology of Jerusalem)
Dead Sea Scrolls & Qumran
Producing a diversity of opinions, analyses, interpretations and reconstructions
Jerusalem Quarterly File Scholarly articles on Jerusalem's history and trends currently shaping the city
Palestine Media Center +
A podium for official speech directed to the international public opinion - news, statements, articles, reports, documents....
United Nations Population Fund
Focusing on demographic training, maternal and child health care and family planning in the occupied Palestinian territory
Grassroots International
The One Million Dollars campaign, current situation in Palestine, Building Democracy Under Occupation....
Palestine Children's Relief Fund
PCRF - Established by concerned people in the US to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths
For personal pages, private companies & entities and other un-categorized sites, please visit
Free For All, Add URL or View Palestine Links Page
Books
Here is a selection of books, CDs and videos that will eventually cover various subjects related to Palestine & the Palestinians. The comments here are extracts from reviews and comments from editors and readers.
Click on the book title for full details and reviews.
Recommended reading:
Children of Israel, children of Palestine: Our Own True Stories by Laurel Holliday
Israeli Jews and Palestinians appear side by side for the first time in this remarkable book to share powerful feelings and reflections on growing up in one of the world's longest and most dangerous conflicts.
The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem 1947-1949 by Benny Morris
What makes this and other similar works by Israel's "new" historians significant is that they are coming around to what academics in Europe and some even in America have known for decades, that Israel forced the majority of Palestinians out of Israel through the use of terrorism, mass murder, and forced expulsions
Palestinian Identity by Rashid Khalidi
An impressively thoughtful, layered, and well documented study of key aspects of the evolution of modern Palestinian nationalism
All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 by Walid Khalidi
An excellent, thoroughly documented account of Palestinian genocide by the state of Israel.
The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History by Keith W. Whitelam
Should be read by all dispassionate or even passionate persons who want to increase their historical awareness
By Way of Deception by Victor Ostrovsky
The # 1 "New York Times" best seller the Israeli foreign intelligence agency The Mossad tried to ban
Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye
There are too few books like this one about Arabs and Arab Americans as people....
The Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People from Their Homeland By Michael Palumbo
No matter how much you think you know about the middle east, how much of a critic of Israel you might be, this book will make you angry.
Recommended listening:
Zaghareed: Music From The Palestinian Holy Land by El-Funoun
A concept album based on the music played during a traditional wedding ceremony.
Recommended viewing:
The 50 Years War: Israel and the Arabs
Leading statesmen, generals, terrorists and others who made the headlines in one of history's most bitter and enduring struggles tell the story of the Arab-Israeli conflict
Palestinian Diaries
Three young Palestinians document the day-to-day curfews, arrests, and executions in the streets of Palestinian communities under Israeli occupation
For more books, popular music, classic music, videos, DVDs and CDs visit:
Sometimes you have to read about Israel to know Palestine
But always you have to read about Palestine to know Israel!
We know our borders, but have they decided on theirs yet?
The land does not belong to us, we belong to the land.
I like to be neutral but there are many elements against me.
Bad is when people think of themselves only
Worse is when people think the world revolves around them
Worst is when people think the universe evolves for them
means 5 languages other than English or Arabic
means it is available in Arabic only and +
Location, history, links....
The cradle of Christianity and one of the earliest Christian structures....
Window to the arts & culture of Palestine
Songs, pictures, video, media, news....
Daily news, political analysys, Palestinian Question, human rights, Zionist terrorism....
UNRWA - Provides services to 3.7 million registered Palestine refugees
