Palestine: The Bitter History

Palestinians consider "Palestine" to be the area covered by what we now call Israel plus the Occupied Territories. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria and Jordan in the west, touches Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the south and the Mediterranean Sea in the east.

In 1917, the British promised a homeland for the Jews through the Balfour Declaration in the land of Palestine where the people living there could trace their roots over many centuries. At this time, more than 90% of the population here were Arabs, Muslims and Christians.

The mass migration of Jews began in the 1920s and tension was inevitable. Britain then handed over the matter to the United Nations and in 1948, the UN partitioned the land to create the state of Israel by giving Jews 55% of the land when they made up of only one-third of the population and owned only 6%of the total land area. The Palestinians were forced out off their land even though they were the legal owners, and have never been allowed to return.

It was also in 1948, after a war with the Arab neighbours, that Israel seized another 22% of the land, expelled some 800,000 inhabitants and destroyed 531 villages. In 1967, after the "Six Day War" Israel occupied Gaza and West Bank. In the same year, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242, declaring that the occupation was illegal and demanded Israel to withdraw and return the land to its rightful owners.

Israel ignored the demand and continues to ignore many other UN resolutions since. This is because the US has been vetoing all efforts to end the illegal occupation.

The Palestine Flag

Did You Know?

1) Did you know that since the creation of the United Nations in 1945, no country has violated as many UN Security Council Resolutions as the state of Israel?

2) Did you know that anyone of Jewish faith can move to Israel, but Palestinians who were born there and with homes and lands there are not allowed to return?

3) Did you know Palestinians are not allowed to move between their own towns without getting a "visa" from the Israel first?

4) Did you know that Israel allots 85% of the water resources for Jewish settlers and the remaining 15% is divided among the Palestinians? For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is given to about 400 Jewish settlers, while 15% must be divided among Hebron's 120,000 Palestinians.

5) Did you know that former Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, was held responsible for the massacre of more than 2750 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila? The UN qualified the massacre by Sharon as Genocide.

6) Did you know that 5 million of the 8 million Palestinians are refugees, making then the biggest group of refugees in the world?

7) Did you know that Palestinians are not permitted to leave the country even if their are seriously ill?

8) Did you know that the towns in Palestine are separated from each other by military checkpoints and separation walls?

9) Did you know that Palestinian children are denied equal opportunities in education?

Source : Brochure from the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs Against Persecution of Palesinians (COMPLETE)