Palestinians

The Palestinians designate today people Arabic-speaking person established mainly in the geographical area of the Palestine (more precisely in the Palestinian Territoires and in Israel), and which also counts a Palestinian Diaspora dispersed in the Monde arabo-Moslem, particularly in Jordan, like in various countries of the world.

Identity of the " populate palestinien" affirmed themselves gradually since the beginning of the 20th century, and primarily specified during the Israeli-Arab Conflit, as this one continued in the form of a israélo-Palestinian Conflit. They assert a independent State today.

Terminology

To the neighborhoods of 1968, the term of " Palestiniens" was still commonly used to indicate all those which lived the Palestine of the British mandate before the immigration of the " new Jewish Yichouv " at the 20th century like their descendants, whatever their Jewish origins ( to see the article Sabred ), Arab or others and whatever their religions. However, after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, majority of the Jews of the " Ground of Israel " gradually ceased being defined as " Palestiniens". This term was specified to gradually exclude all the Jewish populations living in the territory from the old British mandate, as the nationalist claims of the Arabs of Palestine were expressed.

Today, according to the meanings, some exclude also the Arab from Israeli nationality in particular, while others continue to call them " Palestiniens". The use of the term thus alternates according to the context and of the time, between a significance of membership of an area or a " ethnie".

It is expected that the Constitution " palestinienne" under development, which should apply in the case of the creation of a Palestinian State, defines legally the Palestinian citizenship when this one has a direction.

Language

the Palestinian Arab , alternative of the Arab , is the most widespread dialect among the Palestinians. The distinctive sign of this dialect is the very particular pronunciation of the letter “qaaf”.

the Hebrew modern is also practiced by the majority of the Palestinians of Israeli citizenship, just like by those of the occupied territories, like common language, for professional and administrative reasons.

Origins and Palestinian identity

The origins of the Palestinian population are numerous because mixings of populations having lived in Palestine were multiple.

Certain European travellers in Palestine (as Mark Twain in 1867) reported testimonys of a largely under-populated area. According to this approach defended in particular by the professor Alan Dershowitz, the Jewish immigrations of and the beginning of the 20th century supported the arrival and the installation of new Arab populations of the close areas towards Palestine. On the contrary, of many historians develop the idea that Palestinian people were already made up before 1880 and were uprooted by immigrations Zionists. Besides agriculture constituted one of the main resources of the Palestinian people, as the policy testifies some continues purchase of the Palestinian arable lands during all first half of the XXe century by the organizations Zionists (cf the one Funds Jewish national for the purchase of arable lands in Palestine created on the initiative of Chaïm Weizmann). In spite of the exaggerations of rigor on a subject also discussed, it seems that the thesis of Palestinian people already made up corresponds more to reality than the phantasms of a " ground without peuple" defended by the theorists Zionists: to explain the increase in the Palestinian population after 1880 (certain estimates evaluate the global population of Palestine (all confused origins) around 500 000 hearts before 1880) by the simple installation of Arab populations (in particular wandering) of the the Middle East which would have been attracted by the " opportunités" offered by Jewish immigration (the more so as any border did not exist between two banks of the the Jordan), it is to forget that the constitution of Yishouv (autonomous Jewish community) Zionist excluded for at the same time national reasons (will to depend only on oneself) and ideological (certain Socialists refusing to transform the Zionism into a colonialism of exploitation, following the example principal colonialisms of the time) the recourse to indigenous labor. Such was besides the direction of the slogan " Avoda Ivrit " : Hebrew work.

Formation of the national identity

The Arab identities continued, in all the area, like a reaction to Othoman nationalism then with European colonialism. One of the first newspapers " palestiniens" , the founded Filastin in 1911 by Issa Al-Issa, was addressed to its readers by using the term of “ Palestinians ”.

However, the first projects of introduction of “Palestinian State” were rejected by the Arabs of Palestine who regarded themselves mainly as a under-part of Syria until in 1920. Conflicts between Palestinian nationalists and various nationalist groups side-Arabic continued during the British mandate on Palestine. The latter lost gradually of their importance. In 1937, it had there nothing any more but one group which expressed the wish to be melted in an Arab super-entity. The port of the Keffieh by the Palestinian nationalists was essential during the British mandate.

However, the Palestinian national feeling was truly exacerbated in the population only starting from the Guerre the six day old of 1967, in reaction to the Israeli conquest of the 22% of historical Palestine not conquered in 1948 and managed by the Jordan and the Egypt since 1949. The inhabitants of these territories shared from now on problems and shared interests, which were not those of the other close Arab countries. This late assertion of a Palestinian national feeling (at the expense of a Arab Nationalism regional) took part in the refusal of certain Israelis to consider the Palestinian cause, as shows it in particular the quotation of Golda Meir with the Sunday Times in June 1969: " There was No such thing ace Palestinians. It was not ace though there has Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself ace has Palestinian people and we cam and threw them out and took to their country from them. They did not exist (the Palestinians did not exist. It is not as if there were Palestinians in Palestine being considered as Palestinians, that we expelled and with whom we stole their country. They did not exist) "

The expression of an side-Arabism of the Arabs of Palestine continued to be expressed officially from time to time in the mouth of certain Arab leaders like Zuhayr Muhsin, leader of a Palestinian faction pro-Syrian woman and representing with the PLO, which affirmed in 1977 that there was “ no difference between the Arabs of Syria, Palestine or Lebanon ” and that was only for “ political reasons which we insist on the Palestinian identity ”. Such opinions were also expressed in Jordan where the capacity minimized the difference between Palestinians and Jordanian, for reasons of interior policy. However, the majority of the organizations directed to them " combat" in the direction of a Palestinian nationalism which continued to develop.

In 1977, the General meeting of the United Nations created a " international day of solidarity with the people palestinien" , fixed at the date of the November 29th.

The Palestinian cause

Demography

In 1944, one counted 1.363.387 Christian Arabic and Moslems in Palestine.

Most of the Palestinians live today in the borders of Palestine under British mandate. However, more half lives in exile. It is very difficult to hold of the statistics on the Palestinian population throughout the world.

The " Palestinian Academic Society for the Study off International Affairs " however the following estimates in 2001 drew up:

Note:: The Palestinian population of Jerusalem-Is, around 200 000 inhabitants, can be counted twice (in the West Bank and Israel).

It is still estimated that 50 to 80% of the inhabitants of Jordan are Palestinian. The central Office of the statistics Palestinian announces in 2003 an estimate of 9,6 million Palestinians in the world.

Out of Palestine

See the detailed article Palestinian Diaspora

Palestinian refugees

See the detailed article Taken refuge Palestinian

Political representation

See the detailed articles Palestinian Authority, Political Palestinian, Palestine (State asserted) and PLO

Economy

For a complete article, to see Economy in Palestine

During the years 1994 with 2000, according to a report/ratio of the the IMF, the Palestinian economy increased on a rate/rhythm of 9,28 % per annum, and investments of 150 %, which does of it one of the fastest rates of development in the world during this period. Of 1994 with 2001, the European Union financed in the Palestinian territories, of the projects of infrastructures for more than 3 billion euros. Most of the projects carried out using the European assistances were destroyed in 2002 and 2003 by the Israeli army in reprisals with perpetrated bloody murders, according to the intelligence services isréliens, with the tacit agreement of the Palestinian Authority. Among the operated destruction: the Airport of Gaza (9,3 million euros), the camp of the civil police force (2,05 million euros), the medico-legal laboratory (700 000 €), of the destruction of afforestation (720 000 €), etc

Culture

For a complete article, to see Palestinian Culture

The culture of Palestine is very old and gathers Jewish, Christian and Moslem contributions. There have been also for approximately 200 years villages of Jews of Russian origin. Among the inhabitants of Palestine, there are still Moslem Druzes and Circassiens. The araméen is not any more that one liturgical language in Palestine, but survived in Syria and Iraq, in small communities. There are communities of Bedouins in the valley of Jericho as in the Negev (the latter have the Israeli citizenship).

There is a Palestinian traditional craft industry (dresses embroidered at the point of cross, Keffieh), dances ( to see Dabkeh ), songs, poems. The Palestinian culture also develops in cultural institutions and Universities.

Religions

The Palestinian population is largely Moslem sunnite with Christian minorities and a small community of Samaritains (Palestinian Jews/Juifs). The British had listed in 1922: 752 048 Palestinians (within the meaning of the time) of which 589 177 Moslems, 83 790 Jews, 71 464 Christians and 7 617 people of other memberships. That means that apart from the Jews, 88% of the Arab population were Moslem, 11% Christian woman and 1% other.

There do not exist statistics available which make authority today. The estimate of Bernard Sabella of Bethlehem is that 6% of the Palestinian population are Christian (orthodoxe Greeks or Armenians; Latin, Greek catholics; Protestants Lutherans or Anglicans; other Eastern rites). According to the Palestinian statistical office, it seems that 97% of the Arab inhabitants of the occupied Palestinian Territoires are Moslem and 3% Christians; there are approximately 300 Samaritains and a few thousands of Jews karaïtes which are considered always Palestinian. In Israel on the other hand, among the not-Jewish population, 68% are Moslem, 9% is Christian, 7% are Druze and 15% others.

See too

Palestinians in Kuwait

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