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| HOME | Palestine is the ancient name of a Middle Eastern country situated
on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Its size has varied greatly
throughout its history and its exact borders are even now in dispute.
Its location at the junction of trade routes linking three continents has meant that it was a melting pot for religious and cultural influences. It has also, unfortunately, been a natural battleground for the region's powerful states and thus subject to domination by them, the first of these being Egypt in the third millennium BC. When Egyptian power began to wane in the 14th century BC, the country was again invaded: this time by Hebrews, who were a Semitic tribe from Mesopotamia, and by Philistines (from whom the country took its name), an Indo-European people. The West Bank The West Bank is a term used to mean the disputed lands located west of the Jordan River between Israel and Jordan. Its area is about 5900 sq km (2278 sq mi) and it holds many sites of religious importance to Jews, Christians and Muslims. The largest cities of the West Bank are Hebron (Arabic: El Khalil) and Nablus. Part of biblical Samaria and Judaea, the West Bank was a part of the
British Mandate for Palestine from 1920-1948. It was formally annexed by
Jordan in 1950 -- an act that was not recognized by the Arab League, the
United Nations or the United States.
The Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip is a narrow area of desert land along the western Mediterranean Sea. It is about 42km (26 miles) long and 6.5 to 8km (4 to 5 miles) wide. It too, like the West Bank, was a part of the British Mandate from 1917 to 1948. Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip from 1948 until the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (except for a brief period of Israeli occupation in 1956-57) when it passed to Israeli control. The Gaza Strip is densely populated -- an estimate in 1993 gave the figure as 800,000 -- with more than 99% of its population being stateless Palestinian Arabs. The majority are refugees from Israel who have lived under extremely difficult conditions in refugee camps since 1948. The flimsy economy is based upon agriculture, livestock, fishing and some small industry. Poverty and unemployment are widespread and the success of the 1993 peace accord between the Palestinians and Israel depends in no small way upon whether economic progress for the people of the Gaza Strip is an outgrowth of the accord. The intifada The intifada is a revolt by Palestinian Arabs against Israeli military occupation of lands taken in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It began in late 1987 in the Gaza Strip and soon spread to the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It involved throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, strikes and business boycotts. Neither the Israeli government nor the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were prepared for the movement. The cause of the intifada is undoubtedly the frustration growing out
of the many diplomatic failures to address the grievances of the Palestinian
Arabs. Israeli response to the movement drew worldwide criticism for its
harshness, and the intifada in fact compelled the Israeli government to
re-evaluate Palestinian nationalism as well as the depth of Palestinian
discontent, anger, and utter frustration.
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