Foundation Islamic Union
Palestine
Official Name: State of Palestine (PS)
Capital city : East Jerusalem
Important Cities: Hebron, Gaza, West Bank.
Area: 6,165 km2
Population : 5,222,000 (2021)
Population Growth Rate: 3.71% (2006)
Average Human Lifespan: 71 years
Ethnicity: Palestinian Arab 99.4%, Jewish 0.6%
Language: Arabic (Official)
Religion: Muslim (Sunni) 98.7%, Christian 0.7%,
Geographical Situation: In order to determine the territorial area of Palestine, which is located at a strategic point between Asia and Africa, it is necessary to look at the changing political borders. Accordingly, it is most appropriate to accept the 1922 borders drawn for the mandate administration in the international arena as the last political borders of Palestine. Because the territory of the Mandate Administration of Palestine, which consists of an area of approximately 27,000 km2 surrounded by the Mediterranean, Lebanon, Syria, the Jordan, the Jordan River and the line extending from the Dead Sea to the Aqaba harbour of the Red Sea and the Sinai peninsula belonging to Egypt, except for today's Jordan, which was separated from the east of the Jordan River with the initiative of the UK after a short period of time, completely corresponds to both the political region that comes to mind when Palestine is mentioned throughout history and the geographical region defined above.
Mode of Government: Semi-Presidential
Political and Administrative Structure: The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was created by the Oslo Peace of 1994. The FUY, which was initially established for a transitional period of 5 years, was given security and civil affairs powers in Palestine's urban centres and only civil affairs in the countryside. Due to the lack of a transport point that will provide a physical connection to the outside world, serious economic and indirectly commercial difficulties are suffered.[1]
Political Parties: The PLO was founded before the establishment of the State of Israel (1948) to represent the indigenous people living in Palestine and to ensure the restoration of their national rights. The organisation has become the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians in the international arena through time and changing conditions. Until the new generations of Palestinians, who were uprooted from their lands in 1948 and made refugees in the neighbouring Arab countries, established armed resistance groups and took up their cause, the struggle against Israel was carried out by the Arab countries in question. It was within this framework that the PLO first emerged under this name.
Al-Fatah was founded in the late 1950s by Yasser Arafat and a few close associates, and the most important factor in its establishment was the belief that success could only be achieved if the struggle was fought solely on the basis of Palestinian identity, independent of Arab countries. al-Fatah's philosophy, which was adopted by the entire organisation after it took over the PLO and became the official ideology, is based on the following five pillars:
a- the liberation of Palestine;
b- to wage armed struggle to realise this goal;
c- to rely on Palestinian self-organisation;
d- to co-operate with friendly Arab forces;
e- to co-operate with friendly international forces.
From the mid-1970s onwards, it has been able to assert its representative character to a wider and wider public. The first notable development was the recognition of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the millions of Palestinians living under occupation and outside Palestine, which was the main item on the agenda of the Arab Summit in Rabat in October 1974. At the same time, the process of international recognition began and the organisation was summoned to a session of the UN General Assembly on Palestine, followed on 13 November by Arafat's address to the world from the rostrum of the United Nations. On 22 November, the General Assembly granted the PLO the status of an observer member of the United Nations and recognised the organisation as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and one of the main parties to peace in the Middle East.
Amidst these developments, a fundamental difference of opinion emerged within the PLO. The moderate wing, led by Arafat and al-Fatah, from 1974 onwards, especially after the UN resolutions, abandoned the goal of armed struggle and the destruction of Israel as the only way forward and sought a solution through diplomatic struggle. The radical groups, most of whom belonged to the left wing, on the other hand, continued to resist the goal of the destruction of Israel through armed struggle and the establishment of a democratic and secular state in the whole of Palestine, in which Muslims, Christians and Jews would live with equal rights. The turning point that brought a new direction to the search for a solution was the uprising (intifada) launched by the Palestinian people at the end of 1987. Shortly thereafter, Jordan renounced its claims to the West Bank in favour of the PLO, and in a meeting held in Algiers on 15 November 1988, the organisation's parliament declared the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the territories comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and elected Arafat as head of state. Thus, the Palestine Liberation Organisation's solution of "two states for two peoples" (one state for Jews and one state for Palestinians) was put forward in the most explicit way.
Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement
Known as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas takes its name from the first letters of the Arabic words Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islâmiya (Islamic Resistance Movement).
Founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin just before the 1st intifada, Hamas describes itself as a 'resistance against Israel' organisation.The short-term aim of Hamas is the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territories, while its long-term goal is the establishment of an Islamic Palestinian state based on the 1948 borders.
Hamas has won many 'democratic' elections at the local level, such as elections for the chamber of commerce and trade and university student elections. Its growing popularisation among the Palestinian people brought Hamas to power in the 2006 elections. The coming to power of a Palestinian movement that did not recognise Israel caused the Palestinians to lose foreign support. Some material aid to the Palestinians was cut off and the Palestinians faced international expulsion.
The Gilad Shalit incident was a turning point for Hamas. Khaled Mashaal, the head of the political bureau in Damascus, was the addressee of this order. Al-Qassam Brigades had been taking orders directly from Meshaal for a long time. Meshaal gradually consolidated his power within the organisation. The political bureau was increasingly recognised by several governments, notably Germany, which mediated the release of the captured soldier.
In June 2007, Hamas seized control of Gaza after an internal dispute between Fatah and Hamas. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas also dissolved the Hamas government. After Hamas took control of Gaza, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was closed. The problematic situation of this border crossing is the reason for convoys travelling from Turkey to Gaza.
Hamas' most important external links are Syria and Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran approached Hamas because of its painful relationship with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Despite their sectarian differences, the two organisations became close allies motivated by the common enemy, Israel.[2]
History: During the Umayyad period, many Arab tribes were settled in Palestine. Caliph Abdulmalik b. Marwan gave great importance to this place and especially to Jerusalem.
Ottoman Period: The city came under Ottoman rule after the Battle of Mercidabık (1516) during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim I; Suleiman the Magnificent completed the conquest of the area, including its surroundings. In the meantime, in order to protect the holy places, the walls around the 868 acres of Jerusalem, which Muslims call 'Harem' or 'Old City', were rebuilt; the walls and gates of the tomb of Prophet David (a.s.) and the Dome of the Rock were renovated and enriched with ornaments.
A few hours after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Arab League declared war on Israel and Egypt. Jordan. Syrian, Lebanese and Iraqi forces attacked from three directions, initially making significant advances, but the war turned against them when the Western powers supported Israel. The United Nations Security Council appointed Count Bernadotte, nephew of King Gustave V of Sweden, as a mediator to broker peace between the parties; however, Count Bernadotte was killed by Jewish militants because he wanted Jerusalem to remain in Arab hands. Five days later, in a meeting held in Damascus, al-Lajnet al-Arabiyyat al-ulyâ li-Palestine, headed by Amin al-Husseini, declared the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza to include all Palestinian territories[3]; Ahmed Hilmî Abdelbâki was appointed as the president. Although Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia immediately recognised the new state, Jordan, which had ambitions over the Palestinian territories, opposed it, and even some Palestinians who were in favour of King Abdullah wanted Jordan to take Palestine under its protection. In the meantime, despite the ceasefire made with the efforts of the USA, Israel continued the war and occupied the whole of Palestine up to the Gulf of Aqaba, including the Sinn peninsula, and only then signed a separate armistice treaty with each Arab country it fought with. Accordingly, on 24 February 1949, the Gaza region was ceded to Egypt, but most of Sinai remained under Israeli occupation. Meanwhile, a group of 250,000 Palestinians who had fled their homeland were settled in Gaza. On 23 March, the old Lebanese-Palestinian border was adopted; on 3 April, the West Bank was ceded to Jordan and the city of Jerusalem was divided into two parts, with Jordan occupying the eastern part and Israel the western part. On 20 July, the old Syrian-Palestinian border was adopted. Thus, at the end of this war, Israel gained more territory in Palestine than it had gained under the 1947 partition plan, while Jordan became the second largest territorial gainer after Israel. The number of Jews, which was around 650,000 in 1947, reached 758,000 by the end of 1949, while Palestinians who did not want to live under Jewish oppression sought refuge in neighbouring countries or in areas where Arabs were concentrated. Therefore, the population balance in Palestine changed in favour of the Arabs, and a Palestinian refugee problem has emerged, which has lasted until today. Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as the capital city on 23 January 1950, despite all the reactions, created a second issue, which, like the issue of refugees, has occupied the world public opinion until today.
The al-Fatah organisation, which became stronger day by day, started an armed struggle against Israel in early 1965. On 5 June 1967, in order to put an end to the al-Fatah guerrillas' operations and to seize the 'arz-ı mev'ûd', Israel launched a new offensive against the Arabs and in six days of war, it captured the Sinai belonging to Egypt, the Golan Heights belonging to Syria, the West Bank and East Jerusalem under Jordanian rule and the Palestinian territories. It occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem under Jordanian administration and the Gaza Strip of Palestine. Thus, Israel, which captured new lands outside the Palestinian territories, added 1.000.000 more to the 300.000 Arabs living within its borders. In the meantime, the number of Jews reached 2,300,000, making up 63 per cent of the general population. UNSCR 237 of 14 June 1967, which called for the humane treatment of the people in the occupied territories and for those who wanted to return to their homes to be allowed to do so, could not be implemented. Therefore, the number of Palestinian refugees increased by 350,000-400,000. UNSC Resolution 242, adopted unanimously on 22 November 1967, emphasised the inadmissibility of gaining territory through war and the necessity of a just and lasting peace in which every state in the region could live in security.
The burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which was under Israeli occupation, by a Jew on 21 August 1969 added a new dimension to the issue. This event, which caused the reaction of the whole Islamic world, led to the convening of the Islamic Conference. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, of which Turkey was a member, decided at the Rabat summit on 22-25 September 1969 that Israel should leave Jerusalem and Jerusalem should be restored to its pre-1967 status. Likewise, the UNSC adopted Resolution 267 dated 15 September 1969 demanding the restoration of Jerusalem's former status.
After the 1975 Israel-Egypt treaty, the Palestine Liberation Organisation made some efforts to gain international recognition. The Palestinian issue and the organisation became the main topic on the Middle East agenda in 1976. Egypt and Jordan asked the UN Security Council to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and to adopt a resolution on the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state on these lands.
Israel's massacre at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps south of Beirut plunged the Middle East into renewed tensions.
Economy: The lack of economic activity makes the country dependent on imports. The country is in constant need of international aid and support from the Palestinian diaspora.
According to the World Bank, the amount of foreign exchange transfers to the country in this framework accounted for 17% of national income in 2020 (2.6 billion USD). As of 2019, the share of sectors in national income; agriculture 7%, industry (including construction) 18%. Unemployment is 26% in 2020.[4]
Internal Problems: The sovereignty and representation problems of the Palestinian Authority, the instability and security problems caused by the ongoing conflict/insurgency, the lack of integrity of the territories constituting the Palestinian State and the dependence on Israel have long been major obstacles for Palestine.
External Problems: Hot war with Israel continues. Israel is constantly expanding its territory.
Islamisation in the country: The activities initiated for the spread of Islam date back to the Prophet (s.a.s.). The Prophet (pbuh), while sending letters of invitation to Islam, sent a letter to the Emir of Busrâ, Shurahbîl b. Amr al-Gassânî, who was a Byzantine, but the envoy Haris b. Umayr al-Azdî was killed and this led to the Battle of Mûte (629), which resulted in the defeat of the Muslims. The following year, the Prophet (s.a.s.) himself embarked on the expedition of Tabuk and shortly before his death, he wanted to send an army under the command of Usama b. Zayd to perhaps avenge the Battle of Mûteh, but the army could not leave Medina due to his illness. When Hz Abu Bakr (r.a.) was elected caliph, he immediately sent Usama to this expedition. Then he assigned Amr b. As to the conquest of Palestine. Muslims first marched on Gaza. They defeated the enemy army at the nearby place called Dâsın or Tâdûn and captured the city.
Currency: New Israeli Shekel
National Income per Capita: 3.156 USD
Foreign Trade: Exports: 313 milyon $ (2004) (Batı Şeria dâhil)
Export products: Çiçek, narenciye
Export partners: İsrail, Mısır, Batı Şeria (Batı Kıyısı)
Import Products: Gıda, tüketim malları, yapı malzemeleri
Import Partners: İsrail, Mısır, Batı Şeria (Batı Kıyısı)
Energy: Electricity production: 140,000 kWh; Elektrik İsrail tarafından sağlanır.
Electricity imports: 90,000 kWh; Elektrik İsrail tarafından sağlanır.
Ports: Gazze
Airports: 2 (2006)
