palestine 101
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Palestine 101 History, culture, facts on the ground
Palestine 101 History, culture, facts on the ground
The purpose of this presentation is to
offer a brief survey of history to show the
Arab connection to the Holy Land before
highlighting key points in modern history,
from the rise of political Zionism to the
Partition of Palestine, Creation of the
state of Israel through the 1967 Six-Day
War.
Part II will focus briefly about current facts
on the ground and the Palestinian reality
of living under occupation.
Historic Palestine, known
today as Israel, is roughly the
size of New Jersey.
Population – 7.6 million total.
20%, or about 1.5 million, of
this total are Palestinian
citizens of Israel
At just under 2,300 square
miles, the West Bank is
smaller than Cook County,
home to Chicago, and the
collar counties of DuPage,
Will and Lake combined.
Population: About 2.6 million,
including 300,000 Israeli
colonial settler
The Gaza Strip is about the
size in area as the city of
Detroit.
Population: 1.7 million
This graphic depicts the loss of historic Palestine from the Partition of Palestine in 1947 until today. The West Bank,
which Israel occupied in 1967, is now carved up into small Bantustans because of settlements, by-pass roads and
the Apartheid Wall.
Brief history of Palestine
Palestine was always an Arab land.
First people migrated to Palestine
from Arabia thousands of years
ago.
1186-1155 BC – People from Crete
settled in the southern region of
Palestine called Baalist. They
became known as the Balistiniyyun,
or the Philistines
597 BC – The Babylonians invaded
Palestine, which by now was home
to both Philistines (Arabs) and
Jews
636 AD – Second Caliph – Omar ibn
Khattab conquers Jerusalem. He
signs the Omari Treaty with Christian
leaders, allowing them to worship
freely. He cleans the Al Aqsa mosque
site, which had become a garbage
dump. Eventually, he allows Jews to
return to Jerusalem.
1059 AD – First Crusade begins.
Christians slaughter Muslims and
Jews, drive remaining Jews out.
1187-1192 AD – Third Crusade –
Salah‟ al-Din reclaims Jerusalem and
allows Jews to return.
Rise of Zionism Theodore Herzl (1860 – 1904) wrote his seminal book, Der Judenstaat in 1896. In it, he advocated for a national homeland for Jews.
Father of Zionism
“Anti-Semitism can’t be cured.
It can only be avoided.” ~ Herzl
Rise of Zionism
The ethnic cleansing of Palestine was always at the
core of political Zionism since its inception.
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
“It must be clear that there is no room in the
country for both people … the only solution is a
Land of Israel … without Arabs …”
~ Yosef Weitz, director of the Jewish National Fund‟s land department
and founder of the Transfer Committee, 1944
1882 – First Zionist settlement created in Palestine, financed by the
Rothschild family
1896 – Herzl published “Der Judenstaat”
1897 – First official Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland.
Transferring Palestinians out of Palestine already major goal
1901- Jewish National Fund created – contained a Transfer
Department
Nov. 2, 1917 – Balfour Declaration through Great Britain‟s weight
behind Zionist aspirations for a „home for the Jews in Palestine‟
(Source: 1948 Lest We Forget)
Zionism timeline
November 1937 – Population Transfer Committee formed
Nov. 29, 1947 – United Nations adopts Resolution 181 and divides Palestine,
giving Jews – who owned less than 7% of the land and lived there less than
10 years – 54% of Palestine. The indigenous Palestinian population received
45% and Jerusalem was to be kept under UN administration.
March 10, 1948 – Plan Dalet distributed to the Haganah, the Zionist
paramilitary group
Plan Dalet contained guidelines for ethnic cleansing of Palestine
May 14, 1948 – Creation of the State of Israel. Zionists paramilitary keep
fighting and depopulating Palestinian villages.
Jan. 1, 1949 – Armistice signed. Zionists end up with 78% of historic
Palestine (Source: 1948 Lest We Forget)
Zionism timeline
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
Initial plans to transfer Palestinians had three stages to take 10 years
1.Tenant farmers
2. Landless villagers working as agricultural laborers
3. Farmers who owned less than 3 dunums per capita
But David Ben Gurion wanted the entire land immediately:
“…on the basis that after we build a strong force following the
establishment of the state, we will abolish the partition of the
country and we will expand to the whole Land of Israel.”
(Source: 1948:Lest We Forget)
“...We will not achieve this by preaching
sermons on the mount, but by machine-
guns, which we will need.”
~ Executive committee member of the Jewish Agency, 1937
(Source: 1948 Lest We Forget)
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
More proof of the Zionists‟ plans to eradicate the Arab population
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
Al-Tira December 1947
Haifa Oil Refinery December 1947
Balad el-Sheikh December 1947
Yehiday Massacre December 1947
Khisas Massacre December 1947
Qazaza Massacre December 1947
Jaffa Massacre January 1948
Semiramis Hotel Massacre
(Jerusalem) January 1948
Cairo-Haifa Train Massacre March
1948
(Source: 1948 Lest We Forget)
al-Lajjun Massacre April 1948
Deir Yasin Massacre April 1948
Qaluniya Massacre April 1948
Ayn el-Zaytoun Massacre May 1948
Abu Shusha Massacre May 1948
al-Tantura Massacre May 1948
Beit Daras Massacre May 1948
Lydda Massacre July 1948
al-Dawayima Massacre October 1948
Saliha Massacre October 1948
Eilaboun Massacre October 1948
Hula Massacre October 1948…
Massacres perpetrated by Zionist militants from, 1947-1948
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
From 1947 to 1949, Zionist
militants:
Killed 13,000 Palestinians
Forced 750,000 into exile
Depopulated and/or destroyed
more than 500 villages
They did this to claim more land
Source: “The Nakba: Preserving our Narrative,” AMP 2009
The Nakba (The Catastrophe)
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
The Naksa
350,000 Palestinians forced from their
homes; some for the second time since
1948
In six days, nearly 20,000 Arabs were
killed and the air forces of Egypt, Syria
and Jordan were destroyed
Israeli soldiers entered Al Aqsa mosque
compound and declared, “It was easy as
cake – Muhammad‟s religion is gone.”
(Source: “Palestine, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,”
by Dr. Tareq Suwaidan)
Zionism and ethnic cleansing
San Francisco Sentinel
Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin admitted Israel started
the Six-Day War.
“In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian army
concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser
was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves.
We decided to attack him. … We will take the initiative and attack
the enemy, drive him back, and thus assure the security of Israel
and the future of the nation.” ~ Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Aug. 8, 1982
(source: “Fifty Years of Israel” by Donald Neff. p. 65)
“Up to Johnson‟s
presidency, no
administration had
been as completely
pro-Israel and anti-
Arab as his.”
~ Donald Neff, former
Jerusalem bureau chief for
Time magazine.
(Source: “Fifty Years of Israel,” by
Donald Neff.)
US attitude toward the Israeli aggressions: “Herewith the account,
with a map, of the first day’s turkey shoot.” ~ National Security Advisor Walt Rostow
Settlements started in 1967
Israel established its first
settlement just 5 weeks after
the end of the Six Day War.
A secret State Dept. cable
bound for the US embassy in
Tel Aviv expressed concern
that Israel was not interested
in peace:
“Israeli objectives may be
shifting from original position
seeking peace with no
territorial gains toward one of
territorial expansionism,”
Sept. 14, 1967
(Source: “Fifty Years of Israel”
by Donald Neff)
Palestine 101
Where are we today?
Settlements
By 1968, Israel had settlements in all the lands it occupied in the 1967
war: Egypt, Jordan and Syria and East Jerusalem.
By 1976, there were 68 settlements.
Each administration referred to settlements as illegal until the
administration of Ronald Reagan, who said they were “not illegal.” He
never said what settlements „were,‟ however.
The language changed from settlements being illegal to being an
“obstacle to peace.”
President Bill Clinton changed the language further by referring to the
settlements as “complicating” factors. (Source: “Fifty Years of Israel” by Donald Neff)
Since 1967, more than 224
settlements and outposts have
been constructed illegally on
Palestinian land in the West
Bank.
More than 500,000 Israelis are
living illegally in colonies on
Palestinian land – including
200,000 in East Jerusalem.
In East Jerusalem, settlements
are called “Israeli
neighborhoods.” They now ring
the Old City and its historic
religious sites.
Soon, Jewish-only compounds
will completely encircle the
history Old City.
Settlements
Settlements are being constructed in strategic areas to divide the West Bank from
north-south and east-west.
Settlements and the “buffer zones” surrounding them now account for more
than 40 percent of West Bank land
Israel offers incentives in the way of mortgage subsidies and other aid to encourage
Jews to move to the colonies.
In 2007, 40 percent of the settlements' population growth was comprised of Jews
emigrating from Israel and abroad.
In 2009, Israel issued only 200 building permits for Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
They need 1,500.
Nearly 300,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, but only 13 percent of that area‟s
land is available to them, compared with 35 percent for Jewish settlements.
This open land in
front of the
Apartheid Wall is
within the
boundaries of
East Jerusalem.
Israel will not
grant building
permits there to
Palestinians.
They must build
outside the wall
and risk losing
their Jerusalem
residency status.
(Source:
Israeli Committee Against
House Demolitions)
East Jerusalem
Apartheid Wall When
completed, the
Apartheid Wall
will be about
450 miles long,
twice as long
as the 1948
borders.
85 percent of
the wall is
being built on
Palestinian
land, annexing
an additional
12 percent of
land into Israel.
In 2004, the International Court of
Justice ruled that building the wall
on Palestinian land is illegal.
Palestinians trapped on the
wrong side of the wall must now
obtain permits to remain in their
own houses.
About 500,000 Palestinians live in
areas severed by the wall.
77 percent of school children
reported they missed school
occasionally because the wall‟s
checkpoints are closed.
(Source: Grim Statistics:
The reality of living under occupation)
Myth: The Wall has stopped suicide bombings in Israel.
Fact: The Wall still is not finished; suicide bombings stopped in 2006.
Moral: The Wall is about annexing more land into Israel. It is not
about security.
Source: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Checkpoints and barriers
Entrance to al-Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron
There are about 600 checkpoints, roadblocks and obstacles, such as
trenches or earth mounds. Palestinians are forbidden from traveling –
sometimes even crossing – about 120 miles or roads. (Source: B‟Tselem
Home demolitions
Israeli Occupation
Forces have destroyed
25,000 homes in the
West Bank and Gaza
since 1967 and 2,000
in East Jerusalem.
Currently, there are
20,000 demolitions
orders outstanding in
East Jerusalem.
90% of West Bank
residents can no
longer enter
Jerusalem and 100%
of Gaza residents are
prohibited. Source: ICAHD
The US gives Israel nearly $3 billion in conditional military aid annually.
In per capita terms, that amounts to more than $500 per Israeli.
It amounts to $8 million per day.
Israel has been the largest recipient of US foreign aid since 1976.
20 percent of the US foreign aid budget is allotted to Israel.
The total cumulative U.S. aid to Israel from
1949 through 2010 is more than $114 billion.
This figure is not adjusted for inflation. Source: Congressional Research Service and The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Steve Walt.
US aid to Israel
Other US aid
In 2009, the United States pledged $900 million in emergency aid to
Palestinians.
$300 million of this was to help the victims of Israel‟s three assault on Gaza
that killed 1,400 people; destroyed thousands of homes, schools, mosques,
universities, municipal buildings and infrastructure like water treatment plants
and electrical plants.
The United States donated $228 million to the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency from January to August 2010.
UNRWA was established in 1949 to deal with the 750,000 Palestinians who
were made refugees by the creation of the state of Israel.
Source: Congressional Research Service and UNRWA.org
Other US aid
In February 2011, when the federal government nearly shut down due to
lack of funds:
AIPAC produced a letter for the Republican first-termers to sign in which
they pledged that, no matter what else they cut, Israel
would be exempt.
And almost immediately, 65 of the 87 Republican freshmen signed on,
with more signing on later.
„vehicle crossing
enhancement‟ is a
CHECKPOINT
Unemployed Palestinians and
their children „foster trade‟ by
selling goods to people waiting
to get through the checkpoint
Other topics of urgency
Random arrests
and detentions
Child prisoners
Palestinian
citizens of Israel
Unrecognized
villages
Displacement
of Bedouins
Resources
Reading list In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story
By Ghada Karmi
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
By John Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt
Fifty Years of Israel
By Donald Neff
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
By Ilan Pappe
The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After
By Edward Said
A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a
Palestinian in Israel
By Hatim Kanaaneh
Deliberate Deceptions: Facing the Facts about the
U.S.-Israeli Relationship
By Paul Findley
Websites www.ampalestine.org
http://endtheoccupation.org/
www.unrwa.org
www.pchrgaza.org
www.btselem.org/
www.badil.org/
www.defenceforchildren.org/
www.bdsmovement.net
www.whoprofits.org
Contact AMP
American Muslims for Palestine
10101 S. Roberts Road
Palos Hills, IL 60465
708.598.4267
www.ampalestine.org