What's the capital of Palestine?
East Jerusalem
In the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is stated to be the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000, the Palestinian Authority passed a law proclaiming Jerusalem as its capital, and in October 2002, this law was approved by chairman Yasser Arafat. Since that time Israel has shut down all offices and NGO organisations connected to the PLO in East Jerusalem, saying that the Oslo Accords do not permit the Palestinian National Authority to operate in Jerusalem. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognised East Jerusalem as capital of the State of Palestine on 13 December 2017.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Two Palestinians were killed on January 11 in clashes with Israel troops, one each in Gaza and West Bank. Israeli military said rioters had put their forces in danger in Gaza. In the other cases, it said troops fired at the main instigator after being attacked with rocks, though PA official Ghassan Daghlas however claimed it to be an unprovoked attack. This took the death toll to 16 Palestinians and one Israeli since Trump's declaration.
China–Palestine relations
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the lack of "an independent [Palestinian] state with full sovereignty" a "terrible injustice" in an April 2017 meeting between Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki. Wang went on to say that China supports Palestinians' efforts to create an independent state based on the borders set before the 1967 Six-Day War as well as the establishment of its future capital in East Jerusalem. In July 2017, Xi Jinping delivered a further formalization of China's positions in his "Four Points" on the "issue of Palestine", the first of which was that China supported the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestine within the framework of the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
History of the State of Palestine
After a two-year impasse in negotiations with Israel, the Palestinian Authority sought to gain recognition as a state according to its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital from the UN General Assembly in September 2011. A successful application for membership in the UN would require approval from the UN Security Council and a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly.
East Jerusalem
The Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement of 1995, suggested while Israel would not accept challenges to its political sovereignty over all of Jerusalem it might, with the idea of a "holy basin", theoretically allow Palestinian extraterritorial sovereignty over a part of the East Jerusalem area, with Palestinians directly controlling the Noble Sanctuary, while Jews would obtain religious rights over the Temple Mount. This view, splitting religious and political authority, was unacceptable to Hamas and Arafat soon disowned the idea. At the 2000 Camp David Summit, it was agreed there could be no return to the pre-1967 Jerusalem lines of demarcation; that Israel's unilaterally imposed municipal boundaries were not fixed; that just as Israel's expansion there would be larger than mapped just after 1967, so too the Palestinian expansion would stretch out to take in villages not connected to the city earlier; that Jerusalem would remain a single unified metropolitan unit not divided by an international border, and under the governance of two distinct municipal authorities, with one under full Palestinian sovereignty and serving as the capital of the State of Palestine, exercising full powers in most parts of East Jerusalem. An exchange of neighboruhoods was envisaged, with Israel taking sovereignty over Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev and Gush Etzion, while excluding areas earlier included, such as Sur Baher, Beit Hanina and Shu'afat. During the last serious negotiations in 2008 with the government OF Ehud Olmert, Olmert, on 16 September, included a map which foresaw a shared arrangement over Jerusalem, with Israeli settlements remaining in Israel and Palestinian neighbourhoods part of a Palestinian state and constituting their future capital. The "Holy Basin", including the Old City, would be under joint trusteeship overseen by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United States and the state of Palestine. Olmert showed, but would not share, the map with Mahmood Abbas, who was forced to make a copy of it on a napkin.
Millennium Summit
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for Yaser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, to reach an agreement with him. During the summit, Barak stated:
"The opportunity for peace in the Middle East is now at hand and must not be missed. Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, now calls for a peace of honour, of courage and of brotherhood. We recognise that Jerusalem is also sacred to Muslims and Christians around the world and cherished by our Palestinian neighbours. A true peace will reflect all these bonds."
Yaser Arafat responded to Ehud Barak's comments by saying the Palestinians have already contributed to the peace efforts by making significant sacrifices towards a compromise between the two countries.
Ireland–Israel relations
On 22 October 2014, the Seanad (Irish upper house of parliament) passed a motion calling on the government to give formal recognition to the State of Palestine and take active steps to promote a viable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The move follows similar initiatives in other European states, including Sweden and the United Kingdom. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most Israelis are opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, in December 2014 a petition was sent by over 800 Israelis asking Ireland to offer Palestine this recognition. The petition was sent to Ireland's Lower House ahead of a recognition vote already approved in the Upper House. Signatories to the letter included three well-known authors, Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, both Israel Prize winners, and David Grossman, as well as former Foreign Ministry director-general Alon Liel. Subsequently, the Irish government announced that it would accept a motion proposing the recognition of Palestine, with 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital, as specified in U.N. resolutions. According to the Jerusalem Post, European countries have become frustrated with Israel, since peace talks have collapsed and Israel is still building settlements in territory the Palestinians claim as theirs. Ireland will not be alone in recognising Palestine; Sweden became the largest Western European country to offer Palestine recognition, and parliaments in Spain, Britain and France have backed resolutions in favour of recognition. However, the Spanish and British governments, are at this time, refusing to recognise a Palestinian state.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Palestinian officials have said the announcement disqualifies the United States from peace talks, while Hamas called for a new intifada following Trump's declarations. Following the announcement there were demonstrations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as in Iran, Jordan, Tunisia, Somalia, Yemen, Malaysia and Indonesia, and outside the U.S. embassy in Berlin. By December 25, 2017, Salafi groups had fired almost 30 rockets towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, with almost half landing inside Gaza. Two caused minor damage to property near Ashkelon and Sderot, and Hamas rounded up the Salafists thought responsible for the attacks.
2009 Arab Capital of Culture
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially launched the celebration of Jerusalem as the Capital of Arab Culture for 2009 at a ceremony in Bethlehem. Simultaneous ceremonies were supposed to take place in Jerusalem, Gaza, Nazareth and Mar Elias refugee camp in Lebanon. These synchronized celebrations in five locations reflect the desire of building a cultural bridge between the Palestinian people in Palestine and the Palestinians in the diaspora. Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter instructed police to suppress PNA-sponsored events calling Jerusalem the "capital of Arab culture" because they constituted a violation of the interim agreement, which includes a clause stating that the PA is prohibited from organizing events in Israeli territory.
Azerbaijan–Palestine relations
The official diplomatic relations between the two countries began on 15 April 1992 with non-resident representation of Palestine in Azerbaijan until the opening of the Embassy of the State of Palestine in the Azerbaijani capital Baku officially by President Mahmoud Abbas in 2011.
History of the State of Palestine
As a result of the war, Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip, and in September 1948, formed the All-Palestine Government in Gaza, partly as an Arab League move to limit the influence of Jordan over the Palestinian issue. The former mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was appointed president. On October 1 of that year, the All-Palestine government declared an independent Palestinian state in all of Palestine region with Jerusalem as its capital. This government was recognised by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but not by Jordan or any non-Arab country. However, it was little more than a facade under Egyptian control and had negligible influence or funding. Egypt did not permit unrestricted entry of Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt proper, and vice versa. In 1959, Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt, dissolved the All-Palestine government to rule the Gaza Strip directly.
Postage stamps and postal history of Palestine
After the Mamluks dislodged the Crusaders, annexed the Ayyubid principalities, and defeated the Mongol army in Anatolia, Baybars established the province of Syria (which included Palestine), with Damascus as its capital. At this point, imperial communications throughout Palestine were so efficient that Baybars would boast that he could play polo in Cairo and Damascus in the same week. An even more rapid carrier pigeon post was maintained between the two cities. Its use in forming a defensive league against the Crusaders was noted by Raymond of Agiles, who thought it rather "unsporting".
Criticism of the BBC
During the 2012 Summer Olympics, on their country profiles pages, the BBC listed "East Jerusalem" as the capital of Palestine, and did not list a capital at all for Israel. After public outrage and a letter from Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev, the BBC listed a "Seat of Government" for Israel in Jerusalem, while adding that most foreign embassies "are in Tel Aviv". It made a parallel change to the listing for "Palestine", listing "East Jerusalem" as the "Intended seat of government".
Jerusalem Embassy Act
The Act recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city. Its purpose was to set aside funds for the relocation of the Embassy of the United States in Israel from its location in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, by May 31, 1999. For this purpose it withheld 50% of the funds appropriated to the State Department specifically for "Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad" as allocated in fiscal year 1999 until the United States Embassy in Jerusalem had officially opened. Israel's declared capital is Jerusalem, but this is not internationally recognized, pending final status talks in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian Arab Front
According to its own proclamations, PAF supports the right of Palestinian refugees "wishing to return to their homes [to] live at peace with their neighbours," in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194; formation of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital, releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, destruction of the Israeli West Bank barrier; and evacuation of Israeli settlements from the West Bank.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Palestinian officials said the announcement disqualifies the United States from peace talks. Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah said the policy change "destroys the peace process". Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech where he said the decision meant the United States was "abdicating its role as a peace mediator". Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki similarly said the United States could no longer act as a mediator in the peace process because it had become a party to the dispute. Adnan al-Husayni asked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Israel–United States relations
On 6 December 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and announced his intention to move the American embassy to Jerusalem. On 22 January 2018 Vice President Mike Pence in an address to the Israeli Knesset announced that the embassy would be moved before the end of 2019. On 18 October 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US Consulate-General in Jerusalem would be merged into the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Hitherto, the Consulate General had been responsible for conducting US relations with the Palestinians. Its responsibilities would be assumed by a Palestinian Affairs Unit within the Jerusalem Embassy.
Palestine 194
Palestine 194 is the name given to a diplomatic campaign by the Palestinian National Authority to gain membership in the United Nations for the State of Palestine. The name of the campaign is a reference to Palestine becoming the 194th member of the UN. The campaign is part of a strategy to gain international recognition of the State of Palestine based on the borders prior to the Six-Day War, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The initiative developed during a two-year impasse in negotiations with Israel that followed the latter's refusal to freeze its settlement activities in the West Bank. The campaign was reported in the media as early as late 2009, and gained prominence during the leadup to the 66th Session of the General Assembly in September 2011. President Mahmoud Abbas submitted the application to the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 September 2011; the Security Council has yet to vote on it. In September 2012, the Palestinian Authority announced a draft resolution according non-member observer state status to Palestine, which the General Assembly passed on 29 November 2012.
Gerald Kaufman
Following the 2011 Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition and membership of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital, Kaufman wrote in the following in his op-ed (dated 11 September 2011) in "The Guardian":
Mustafa Barghouti
He has said that there are two possible solutions to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: "an independent Palestinian state" covering, at the very least, all the area within the 1967 frontiers, and with its capital in East Jerusalem, and with all settlements dismantled, or "a single democratic state," no longer exclusively Jewish, "in which all citizens are equal." He complains that Israel "has sought to trap the Palestinians into a corner of the chessboard where there's no longer any choice. If we agree on a two-state solution, we are offered bantustans. And if we say that in those conditions, we'd prefer a single, bi-national state, then we are accused of wanting to destroy Israel."
Palestinian territories
Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. East Jerusalem is generally recognized as part of the Palestinian Territories. In UN resolutions concerning Israel, East Jerusalem is routinely referred to as part of the West Bank or as part of the Palestinian Territories.
West Bank
The most densely populated part of the region is a mountainous spine, running north-south, where the cities of Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron and Yattah are located as well as the Israeli settlements of Ariel, Ma'ale Adumim and Beitar Illit. Ramallah, although relatively mid in population compared to other major cities as Hebron, Nablus and Jenin, serves as an economic and political center for the Palestinians. Near Ramallah the new city of Rawabi is under construction. Jenin in the extreme north and is the capital of north of the West Bank and is on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley. Modi'in Illit, Qalqilyah and Tulkarm are in the low foothills adjacent to the Israeli Coastal Plain, and Jericho and Tubas are situated in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea.
History of the Jews in Jordan
Under Ottoman rule (1516 - 1917 CE) the name "Palestine" disappeared as the official name of an administrative unit, as the Turks often named their (sub)provinces after the capital. Since its 1516 incorporation into the Ottoman Empire, what had been Palestine was part of the vilayet of Damascus-Syria until 1660, next to the "vilayet" of Saida (Sidon), This was briefly interrupted by the 7 March 1799 - July 1799 French occupation of Jaffa, Haifa, and Caesarea. On 10 May 1832 it was one of the Turkish provinces annexed by Muhammad Ali's short-lived, imperialistic Egypt (nominally still Ottoman); but in November 1840, direct Ottoman rule was restored.
History of the State of Palestine
On 11 July, the Quartet on the Middle East met to discuss a return to negotiations, but the meeting produced no result. On 13 July, in an interview with "Haaretz", Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour claimed that 122 states had so far extended formal recognition to the Palestinian state. On the following day, the Arab League released a draft statement which declared a consensus to "go to the United Nations to request the recognition of the State of Palestine with Al Quds as its capital and to move ahead and request a full membership." The league's secretary-general, Nabil al-Arabi, confirmed the statement and said that the application for membership will be submitted by the Arab League. On 18 July, Syria announced that it had formally recognised the State of Palestine, the last Arab state to do so. The decision was welcomed by the league, but met with criticism from some, including former Lebanese prime minister Selim al-Hoss: "Syria has always been calling for the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation and ambitions. The latest stance, however, shows that [Syria] has given up on a national policy that has spanned several decades. ... Why this abandonment of a national principle, and what is the motive behind it? There is no motive except to satisfy international powers that seek to appease Israel".
Foreign relations of the State of Palestine
Since 2011, Palestinian diplomacy has been centred around the Palestine 194 campaign, which aims to gain membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations at its 66th Session in September 2011. It seeks to effectively gain collective recognition for a Palestinian state based on the borders prior to the Six-Day War, with East Jerusalem as its capital. In September 2012, the Palestine Liberation Organization submitted a draft resolution according non-member observer state status to Palestine, which the General Assembly approved on 29 November 2012. The change in status was described by "The Independent" as "de facto recognition of the sovereign State of Palestine".
Ramallah
Ramallah ( ) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located north of Jerusalem at an average elevation of above sea level, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the "de facto" administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Ramallah was historically an Arab Christian town. Muslims form the majority of the population of nearly 27,092 in 2007, with Christians making up a significant minority.
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court, is centered in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in 1948. After Israel captured the Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War, it assumed complete administrative control of East Jerusalem. In 1980, Israel issued a new law stating that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel."
International recognition of the State of Palestine
After a two-year impasse in negotiations with Israel, the Palestinian Authority began a diplomatic campaign to gain recognition for the State of Palestine on the borders prior to the Six-Day War, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The efforts, which began in late 2009, gained widespread attention in September 2011, when President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application to the United Nations to accept Palestine as a member state. This would constitute collective recognition of the State of Palestine, which would allow its government to pursue legal claims against other states in international courts.
Jerusalem
The status of the city, and especially its holy places, remains a core issue in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The Israeli government has approved building plans in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City in order to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, while some Islamic leaders have made claims that Jews have no historical connection to Jerusalem, alleging that the 2,500-year-old Western Wall was constructed as part of a mosque. Palestinians regard Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, and the city's borders have been the subject of bilateral talks. A team of experts assembled by the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 concluded that the city must be divided, since Israel had failed to achieve any of its national aims there. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in 2014 that "Jerusalem will never be divided". A poll conducted in June 2013 found that 74% of Israeli Jews reject the idea of a Palestinian capital in any portion of Jerusalem, though 72% of the public regarded it as a divided city. A poll conducted by Palestinian Center for Public Opinion and American Pechter Middle East Polls for the Council on Foreign Relations, among East Jerusalem Arab residents in 2011 revealed that 39% of East Jerusalem Arab residents would prefer Israeli citizenship contrary to 31% who opted for Palestinian citizenship. According to the poll, 40% of Palestinian residents would prefer to leave their neighborhoods if they would be placed under Palestinian rule.
Arab–Israeli conflict
On 9 December 2017, US president Donald Trump announced the United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, prompting condemnation by other world leaders as well as the 2018 Gaza border protests. The new United States Embassy opened in Jerusalem on 14 May 2018.
Jerusalem
The Palestinian National Authority views East Jerusalem as occupied territory according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242. The Palestinian Authority claims Jerusalem, including the Haram al-Sharif, as the capital of the State of Palestine, The PLO claims that West Jerusalem is also subject to permanent status negotiations. However, it has stated that it would be willing to consider alternative solutions, such as making Jerusalem an open city.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
On December 13, 2017, during an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting held in Istanbul, more than 50 Muslim majority countries rejected and condemned Trump's decision by passing the "Istanbul Declaration on Freedom for al Quds" ("Jerusalem" in Arabic) and calling for the worldwide recognition of "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its occupied capital". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated at the summit that the United States is no longer fit to participate in the Middle East peace process because of its bias and cannot be accepted as a "fair negotiator". While the summit did not produce any concrete sanctions against Israel or the United States, "The New York Times" called the declaration "the strongest response yet" to Trump's decision. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urges its members to join in the Arab League boycott of Israel.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
China has historically supported an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and said that this position remains unchanged in the aftermath of Trump's announcement. Following the announcement, Chinese state media aired lengthy broadcasts emphasizing Palestinian opposition to it and lack of support for the move among America's European allies. Chinese news reports also stressed the risk of "instability and uncertainty" in the Middle East. Some analysts have argued that moving the embassy could push Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians in final status negotiations. The Chinese embassy issued an alert to travellers regarding the increasingly complicated and intense safety conditions in Israel after the announcement.
Beersheba Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine
The Beersheba Subdistrict (, ) was one of the subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine. It was located in modern-day southern Israel. The city of Beersheba was the capital. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the subdistrict largely transformed into the Beersheba subdistrict of Israel.
Corpus separatum (Jerusalem)
Corpus separatum (Latin for "separated body") is a term used to describe the Jerusalem area in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. According to the plan the city would be placed under international regime, conferring it a special status due to its shared religious importance. The corpus separatum was one of the main issues of the Lausanne Conference of 1949, besides the other borders and the question of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. The plan was adopted by the General Assembly with a two-thirds majority, although its implementation failed and nowadays, the view that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and Palestine is widely supported internationally.
History of Palestine
This was the period of Palestine's greatest prosperity in antiquity. Urbanization increased, large new areas were put under cultivation, monasteries proliferated and synagogues were restored. The cities of Palestine, such as Caesarea Maritima, Jerusalem, Scythopolis, Neapolis, and Gaza reached their peak population, and the population West of the Jordan may have reached as many as one million. Bede in his "Historia Ecclesiastica", drew on Orosius' information gathered from the local Jews to describe Palestine as one of the provinces of "Syria, which is called Aram by the Hebrews. The place is between the River Euphrates and the Great Sea, and extends towards Egypt; its largest provinces are Commagene, Phoenicia, and Palestine, as well as the countries of the Saraceni and the Nabathaei. It has twelve "gentes"."54
International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict
On October 6, 2002, Yasser Arafat signed the Palestinian Legislative Council's law making Al Quds "the eternal capital of Palestine."
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Many countries do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, notable exceptions being Israel, the United States, and Russia. The majority of UN member states and most international organisations do not recognise Israel's ownership of East Jerusalem which occurred after the 1967 Six-Day War, nor its 1980 Jerusalem Law proclamation. The International Court of Justice in its 2004 Advisory opinion on the "Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" described East Jerusalem as "occupied Palestinian territory."
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
On December 11, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, said the organization would once again focus on Israel and the Palestinian cause. He urged Arab states to abandon the peace process and called for a new Palestinian uprising. The same day, thousands of Hezbollah supporters demonstrated in Beirut, chanting "Death to America! Death to Israel!" while waving Palestinian and Hezbollah flags.
List of diplomatic missions in Palestine
Most diplomatic missions to Palestine/the PNA are resident in Ramallah, although a few countries also maintain offices in Gaza. At present, 25 embassies exist in Ramallah and Gaza city, with additional missions to the Palestinian National Authority and consulates listed.
Palestinian National Unity Government of March 2007
On 17 March, Ismail Haniyeh presented his new national unity government before the Palestinian Legislative Council. The Parliament approved the government, with 83 representatives voting in favor and three against. The 25 ministers were sworn in by President Mahmoud Abbas at the ceremony, which was held simultaneously in Gaza and Ramallah. The program of the national unity government included ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and the establishment of the independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty within the 1967 borders, with al-Quds as its capital, implementation of the Cairo Agreement pertaining to the PLO, and commitment to the Palestinian right of return. Israel rejected the new government, while Norway recognized it and other countries reacted with reserve. On that moment, 41 of 132 Members of Parliament, nearly a third of the PLC, were in Israeli detention.
Mehmet Kaplan
In a Turkish newspaper interview, Kaplan said that it is natural for Sweden to recognize Palestine as a state, and that the "occupied territories will, if Allah willing, be freed, and east Jerusalem will become the capital of Palestine." Further he said that Israel will be forced to a peace agreement.
He has also been labeled being an Islamist by various personalities, including the previous MP, Nalin Pekgul of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.
Palestinian land laws
In early April 2009, it was reported that several Jewish businessmen from the United States purchased 20 dunams (2 hectares) of land from Palestinians in the Mount of Olives area of Jerusalem. The report prompted the PA to reissue its warning that sale of property to Jews constitutes "high treason" punishable by death. Sheikh Tamimi, Chief (Islamic) Judge of the PA, reminded Palestinians of an earlier fatwa against the practice. "The city of Jerusalem is the religious, political and spiritual capital of the Palestinians," he said. "The Jews have no rights in Jerusalem. This is an occupied city like the rest of the territories that were occupied in 1967." Fatah legislator Hatem Abdel Kader, an advisor to the PA Prime Minister, asserted that the ban on sale of property to Jews was still necessary as the Israeli government and settlers were mounting a "fierce onslaught" on the Arab sector in East Jerusalem, attempting to alter the demographic balance there by demolishing Palestinian homes. East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel in the wake of the 1967 war, but the annexation has not been recognized by the international community.
Yunis Al Astal
"The [Jews] are brought in droves to Palestine so that the Palestinians – and the Islamic nation behind them – will have the honor of annihilating the evil of this gang."
"…All the predators, all the birds of prey, all the dangerous reptiles and insects, and all the lethal bacteria are far less dangerous than the Jews."
"…In just a few years, all the Zionists and the settlers will realize that their arrival in Palestine was for the purpose of the great massacre, by means of which Allah wants to relieve humanity of their evil."
"…When Palestine is liberated and its people return to it, and the entire region, with the grace of Allah, will have turned into the United States of Islam, the land of Palestine will become the capital of the Islamic Caliphate, and all these countries will turn into states within the Caliphate."
Embassy of the State of Palestine to the Holy See
The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Vatican City () is the diplomatic mission of the Palestine in Vatican. It opened on 16 January 2017.
2010–11 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks
In February 2011, Israel offered to ease economic and security restrictions against the Palestinians, which reportedly included allowing additional Arab construction in East Jerusalem, giving the Palestinian Authority security control in seven West Bank cities, and discussing a proposed Palestinian Authority gas field alongside an Israeli one off the coast of Gaza, on condition that the Palestinian Authority resume direct talks. The proposal was agreed to by Middle East Quartet chief Tony Blair, and rejected by the Palestinians. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Israeli proposal "just a trick and procrastination", stating that "what Netanyahu should do, if he wants to build confidence, is immediately stop settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and recognize a Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967", called on Western nations to "stop dealing with Israel as if it is above the law", and "reach a historic decision that will recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital", and urged the Quartet to force Israel to halt settlement construction "including in Jerusalem". The following day, Israel approved the construction of 13 additional Jewish homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; , "House of Meat"; "", , "House of Bread"; ; ; initially named after Canaanite fertility god Lehem) is a Palestinian city located in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. The economy is primarily tourist-driven.
Palestine Liberation Organization
Initially, as a guerrilla organization, the PLO performed actions against Israel in the 1970s and early 1980s, regarded as terroristic activities by Israel and regarded as a war of liberation by the PLO. In 1988, however, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, contingent on terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the right of return to land occupied by Palestinians prior to 1948, as well as the right to continue armed struggle until the end of "The Zionist Entity." In 1996, the PLO nullified the articles of the PLO's Charter, or parts of it, which called for the destruction of Israel and for armed resistance.
Israel
Israel (; ; ), officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition.
History of Palestine
According to the Hebrew Bible, the United Kingdom of Israel was established by the Israelite tribes with Saul as its first king in 1020 BCE. In 1000 BCE, Jerusalem was made the capital of King David's kingdom and it is believed that the First Temple was constructed in this period by King Solomon. By 930 BCE, the united kingdom split to form the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), and the southern Kingdom of Judah. These kingdoms coexisted with several more kingdoms in the greater Palestine area, including Philistine town states on the Southwestern Mediterranean coast, Edom, to the South of Judah, and Moab and Ammon to the east of the river Jordan. The socio-political system during this period was characterized by local patrons fighting other local patrons, lasting until around the mid-9th century BCE when some local chieftains were able to create large political structures that exceeded the boundaries of those present in the Late Bronze Age Levant.
Ramallah
Yasser Arafat established his West Bank headquarters, the Mukataa, in Ramallah. Although considered an interim solution, Ramallah became the "de facto" capital of the Palestinian Authority, now officially known as the State of Palestine. It hosts almost all governmental headquarters. In December 2001, Arafat held meetings at the Mukataa, but lived with his wife and daughter in Gaza City. After suicide bombings in Haifa, Arafat was confined to the Ramallah compound. In 2002, the compound was partly demolished by the Israeli Defense Forces and Arafat's building was cut off from the rest of the compound.
On November 11, 2004 Arafat died at the Percy training hospital of the Armies near Paris. He was buried in the courtyard of the Mukataa on November 12, 2004. The site still serves as the Ramallah headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, as well the official West Bank office of Mahmoud Abbas. Throughout 2005, while the Disengagement Plan was underway, some US government officials suggested to the Palestinian leadership to move the provisional capital back to Gaza, where it had been when the Palestinian Aurhority was first established in 1994. President Abbas, however, refrained from doing so, arguing that at this point, it was important to keep the administrative center in the West Bank in order to remind the international community that the West Bank was still awaiting territorial solution.
East Jerusalem
Jerusalem was to be an international city under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. It was not included as a part of either the proposed Jewish or Arab states. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the western part of Jerusalem was captured by Israel, while East Jerusalem (including the Old City) was captured by Jordan. The war came to an end with the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. On 23 January 1950, Israel declared Jerusalem its capital, with a Knesset resolution declaring that, "With the creation of a Jewish State, Jerusalem again became its capital". Jordan followed suit on 24 April and, on the basis of a referendum conducted also among Palestinian West Bankers, the Hashemite Kingdom incorporated the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The unification was recognized by the United Kingdom, which however stipulated that they did not recognize the assertion of Jordanian sovereignty over East Jerusalem, but only "de facto" control. The United States, while approving the unification, withheld making any public statement and likewise affirmed that since the issue of Jerusalem was "sub judice", it did not recognize either the Israeli annexation of West Jerusalem, nor the Jordanian annexation of the eastern area of the city.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Hamas called for a new intifada, but the response from Palestinians inside Jerusalem was relatively muted. Protests were held in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Palestinians burned portraits and effigies of Donald Trump and tore pictures of Salman bin Abdulaziz and Muhammad bin Salman in protest of the embassy move. The Israel military estimated that 3,000 people in the West Bank and 4,500 in the Gaza Strip participated in protests on December 8, 2017.
Outline of Israel
Israel – country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The State of Israel ("Medinat Yisrael") came into existence as the homeland for the Jewish people at the termination of Mandatory British Palestine on 14 May 1948, through the Israeli Declaration of Independence. This was followed by massive migration of Jews from both Europe and the Muslim countries to Israel, and of Arabs from Israel, contributing to the extensive and still ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict. Israel's financial capital and technology center is Tel Aviv and the proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized. About 43% of the world's Jews live in Israel today, the largest Jewish community in the world.Geography of Israel
Administrative divisions of Israel
Galit Hasan-Rokem
Hasan-Rokem is a founding editor of the "Palestine–Israel Journal" and a long-time pro-Palestinian activist. She is a strong supporter of the two-state solution and the division of Jerusalem into the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state. As a visiting scholar at Rutgers University in 2014, she claimed that Israeli street signs exhibit bias against Arabic-speaking residents, since the Hebrew text is more prominent and the Arabic translation is often a phonetic version of the Hebrew.
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
In June 2009, reacting to President Obama Barack's Cairo Address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared for the first time conditional support for a future Palestinian state but insisted that the Palestinians would need to make reciprocal gestures and accept several principles: recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people;demilitarization of a future Palestinian state, along with additional security guarantees, including defensible borders for Israel; Palestinian would also have to accept that Jerusalem would remain the united capital of Israel, and renounce their claim to a right of return. He also claimed that Israeli settlements retain a right to growth and expansion in the West Bank. Palestinians rejected the proposals immediately.
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center
Our vision involves two sovereign states, Palestine and Israel, who in the future may choose to enter into a confederation or even a federation, possibly with other neighboring countries and where Jerusalem becomes the federal capital. Indeed, the ideal and best solution has always been to envisage ultimately a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel where people are free and equal, living under a constitutional democracy that protects and guarantees all their rights, responsibilities, and duties without racism or discrimination. One state for two nations and three religions.
Thawabit
Al-Thawabit al-Wataniyya (), shortened as Thawabit ('fundamental principles') and sometimes referred to as Palestinian red-lines, are a set of supra-constitutional principles that were formulated by the Palestinian National Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1977, representing the core issues of national consensus on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and to which all Palestinian factions must pledge fealty: including the right to resistance, the right to self-determination (statehood), Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return (in accordance with UNGA 194).
2010–11 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks
On June 14, in what was understood as a response Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he endorsed, for the first time, a "Demilitarized Palestinian State", after two months of refusing to commit to anything other than a self-ruling autonomy when coming into office. Netanyahu also stated that he would accept a Palestinian state if Jerusalem were to remain the united capital of Israel but open to all religions, the Palestinians would have no military, and the Palestinians would give up their demand for a right of return. He also claimed the right for a "natural growth" in the existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank while their permanent status is up to further negotiation. In general, the address was viewed as a significant turnaround from his previously hawkish positions against the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Palestine Exchange
The Palestine Exchange (PEX) (, "bursat filasteen") is a stock exchange based in Nablus in the Palestinian territories. Established in 1995, 
it aims to provide an environment for trading that is characterized by equity, transparency and competence, serving and maintaining the interest of investors.
As of December 2012 there are 48 listed companies on PEX with a total market capitalization of about $3 billion in five main areas: financial services, insurance, investments, industry, and services. Most of the listed companies are profitable and trade in Jordanian Dinar, while others trade in US Dollars.
Jerusalem
In April 2017, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced it viewed Western Jerusalem as Israel's capital in the context of UN-approved principles which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. On 15 December 2018, Australia officially recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but said their embassy in Tel Aviv would stay until a two-state resolution was settled.
International Conference on Supporting Palestine Intifada
The participants in the sixth conference, emphasized on the necessity of further attempt to terminate the occupying Palestine and to be pursued for the unity in Palestine lands, and forming the independent country of Palestine, and al-Quds to be its capital. Meanwhile, this statement rejected the normalization of relationship to Zionism Regime, and asked all countries to break off their relationship to this regime, besides, this statement announced a few other issues, too.
Status of Jerusalem
The status of Jerusalem is disputed in both international law and diplomatic practice, with both the Israelis and Palestinians claiming Jerusalem as their capital city. The dispute has been described as "one of the most intractable issues in the Israel–Palestine conflict", with conflicting claims to sovereignty over the city or parts of it, and access to its holy sites. The main dispute revolves around the legal status of East Jerusalem and especially the Old City of Jerusalem, while broader agreement exists regarding future Israeli presence in West Jerusalem in accordance with Israel's internationally recognised borders. The majority of United Nations (UN) member states hold the view that the final status of Jerusalem should be resolved through negotiation, and have therefore favored locating their embassies in Tel Aviv prior to a final status agreement. However, in recent years the international consensus to abstain from expressing a viewpoint on the city's final status has shown signs of fragility, with Russia, the United States and Australia adopting new policy positions. Furthermore, the proposal that Jerusalem should be the future capital of both Israel and Palestine has also gained international support, with endorsements coming from both the United Nations and the European Union.
Palestinian Declaration of Independence
The declaration's reference to Palestine being the "land of the three monotheistic faiths" has been held as recognising the Jewish historical connection to the land, instead of arguing that Jews are colonists and foreigners in the land. Referring to "the historical injustice inflicted on the Palestinian Arab people resulting in their dispersion and depriving them of their right to self-determination," the declaration recalled the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and UN General Assembly Resolution 181 as supporting the rights of Palestinians and Palestine. The declaration then proclaims a "State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory with its capital Jerusalem". The borders of the state are not specified. The population of the state was referred to by the statement: "The State of Palestine is the state of Palestinians wherever they may be". The state was defined as an Arab country by the statement: "The State of Palestine is an Arab state, an integral and indivisible part of the Arab nation".
Palestinian diaspora
The countries outside the Palestinian territories with significant Palestinian populations are:The majority of the estimated 100,000 Palestinians in the European Union (EU) are in the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Outside the EU is Norway and Switzerland. Germany's capital Berlin has one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Middle East with about 30,000-40,000 people of Palestinian origin residing in the city (~1% of the total population) .
State of Palestine
On 15 November 1988, Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in Algiers proclaimed the establishment of the State of Palestine. A year after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinian National Authority was formed to govern the areas A and B in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Gaza would later be ruled by Hamas in 2007, two years after the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Armenian Quarter
Palestinian leaders have publicly declared that they consider the Armenian Quarter to be a part of Palestine and will not relinquish it to Israel. Yasser Arafat, rejected the US proposal at the 2000 Camp David Summit for the Old City's division and stated: "The Armenian quarter belongs to us. We and Armenians are one people." He told Clinton, "My name is not Yasir Arafat, it is Yasir Arafatian," making his name sound Armenian. "I will not betray my Armenian brothers," Arafat said about leaving the Armenian Quarter under Israeli rule. Commenting on his statements, historians Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin wrote that "there was no reason to believe that the Armenians preferred his control [over Israeli control]." In a 2011, meeting with leaders of various Christian communities in Ramallah Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated: "The Palestinian leadership sticks to its position that considers the Armenian Quarter an integral part of east Jerusalem, the capital of the independent Palestinian state." According to the Palestine Papers, leaked by Al Jazeera in 2011, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat proposed a geographical division of the Old City at an October 2009 meeting, according to which Israel would acquire sovereignty over the entire Jewish Quarter and "part of the Armenian Quarter."
2001 Israeli prime ministerial election
In the Fall of 2000, talks were held at Camp David to reach a "final status" agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The summit collapsed after Yasser Arafat would not accept a proposal drafted by American and Israeli negotiators. Barak was prepared to offer the entire Gaza Strip, a Palestinian capital in a part of East Jerusalem, 73% of the West Bank (excluding eastern Jerusalem) raising to 90-94% after 10–25 years, and financial reparations for Palestinian refugees for peace. Israel would therefore have gained an additional 6-10% of the West Bank, including more of East Jerusalem than previously held, and Palestinian leaders would have had to give up the Right of Return. Arafat turned down the offer without making a counter-offer.
2000 Camp David Summit
Israel proposed that the Palestinians be granted "custodianship," though not sovereignty, on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), with Israel retaining control over the Western Wall, a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount itself. Israeli negotiators also proposed that the Palestinians be granted administration of, but not sovereignty over, the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old City, with the Jewish and Armenian Quarters remaining in Israeli hands. Palestinians would be granted administrative control over all Islamic and Christian holy sites, and would be allowed to raise the Palestinian flag over them. A passage linking northern Jerusalem to Islamic and Christian holy sites would be annexed by the Palestinian state. The Israeli team proposed annexing to Israeli Jerusalem settlements within the West Bank beyond the Green Line, such as Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, and Gush Etzion. Israel proposed that the Palestinians merge certain outer Arab villages and small cities that had been annexed to Jerusalem just after 1967 (such as Abu Dis, al-Eizariya, 'Anata, A-Ram, and eastern Sawahre) to create the city of Al-Quds, which would serve as the capital of Palestine. The historically important Arab neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and at-Tur would remain under Israeli sovereignty, while Palestinians would only have civilian autonomy. The Palestinians would exercise civil and administrative autonomy in the outer Arab neighborhoods. Israeli neighborhoods within East Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty. The holy places in the Old City would enjoy independent religious administration. In total, Israel demanded that Palestine's territory in East Jerusalem be reduced to eight sections including six small enclaves according to Palestine's delegation to the summit.
Palestinians objected to the lack of sovereignty and to the right of Israel to keep Jewish neighborhoods that it built over the Green Line in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claimed block the contiguity of the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian Democratic Union
FIDA took a more moderate stance than the main DFLP (led by Nayef Hawatmeh and based in Damascus, Syria) towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has tried to establish itself as a left-wing democratic alternative in Palestinian politics. It advocates a two-state solution based on the borders of 1967 and with East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state. A prominent FIDA leader, Mamduh Nofal, in 2002 signed an appeal to stop suicide bombings.
Palestine Papers
At the meeting in Jerusalem in November 2007, Tzipi Livni became visibly angry when asked about the demographic composition of the future Israeli state. She was quoted as saying, "Israel the state of the Jewish people—and I would like to emphasize the meaning of 'its people' is the Jewish people—with Jerusalem the united and undivided capital of Israel and of the Jewish people for 3,007 years". The Palestinians team then protested her position on Jerusalem. She responded by saying "Now I have to say, before we continue, in order to continue we have to put out Jerusalem from your statement and from our place. We have enough differences, without putting another one out there".
Benjamin Netanyahu
During President Obama's Cairo speech on 4 June 2009 in which Obama addressed the Muslim world, Obama stated, among other things, "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements." Following Obama's Cairo speech Netanyahu immediately called a special government meeting. On 14 June, ten days after Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he endorsed a "Demilitarized Palestinian State", though said that Jerusalem must remain the unified capital of Israel. Netanyahu stated that he would accept a Palestinian state if Jerusalem were to remain the united capital of Israel, the Palestinians would have no army, and the Palestinians would give up their demand for a right of return. He also argued the right for a "natural growth" in the existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank while their permanent status is up to further negotiation. Senior Palestinian official, Sereb Ereket, said that the speech had "closed the door to permanent status negotiations" due to Netanyahu's declarations on Jerusalem, refugees and settlements.
Status of Jerusalem
The Palestinian National Authority views East Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory, in line with UNSC Resolution 242. The PNA claims all of East Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, as the capital of the State of Palestine, and claims that West Jerusalem is also subject to final status negotiations, but is willing to consider alternative solutions, such as making Jerusalem an open city. In the Palestine Liberation Organization's Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988, Jerusalem is called the capital of the State of Palestine. In 2000 the Palestinian Authority passed a law designating the city as such, and in 2002 this law was ratified by Chairman Yasser Arafat. The official position of the PNA is that Jerusalem should be an open city, with no physical partition and that Palestine would guarantee freedom of worship, access and the protection of sites of religious significance.
Jerusalem Embassy Act
On December 5, 1949 the Israeli Cabinet, meeting in Tel Aviv, declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and on January 23, 1950, the First Knesset proclaimed that "Jerusalem was, and had always been, the capital of Israel." Moreover, on April 24, 1950, the Jordan House of Deputies and House of Notables, in a joint session, adopted a resolution annexing the West Bank and Jerusalem. Because the status of Jerusalem had been included previously in the UN Partition Plan, most countries did not accept this Israeli position, and most embassies have been located elsewhere.
Beit Hanina
An Israeli news site, Ynetnews.com, reported on February 27, 2014 on a report by the Palestinian newspaper "Al-Quds" that claimed that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry offered in his discussions with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, to make Beit Hanina the capital of a future Palestinian state. According to "Al-Quds," Kerry demanded Abbas to officially recognize Israel as a Jewish state and offered that Beit Hanina neighborhood will be declared as the Palestinian capital instead of the entire east Jerusalem area.
Israel–European Union relations
The EU has been more critical of Israel and more supportive of the Palestinians than the US. The general position of the EU is that a Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 borders with land swaps, Jerusalem should be divided and become the capital of both states, and a negotiated settlement be found for the Palestinian refugee issue, although member states have sometimes been divided on these issues. However, all EU states universally consider Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The EU has insisted that it will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders other than those agreed between the parties. Israel's settlement program has, thus, led to tensions. The most difficult of these issues, however, is Jerusalem. Israel has insisted that the city will remain its undivided capital, and is fiercely opposed to its re-division. Israel does not regard Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements, while the EU does. East Jerusalem has been a "de facto" part of Israel following Israel's unilateral annexation of the area, while the EU, along with the rest of the international community, regards it as occupied territory subject to negotiations. The EU has frequently criticized Jewish construction in East Jerusalem.
List of Catholic dioceses in Holy Land and Cyprus
There is an Apostolic Delegation to "Jerusalem and Palestine" as papal diplomatic representation (under embassy-level) in the Palestinian Territories (in contested Holy City Jerusalem), an Apostolic Nunciature (embassy-level) to the Hashemite kingdom of (Trans)Jordan (in the national capital Amman), an Apostolic Nunciature (embassy-level) to Cyprus (in national capital Nicosia) [no legation to Turkish Cyprus], an Apostolic Nunciature to Israel (at Old Jaffa, not in the government seat Tel Aviv or proclaimed capital Jerusalem).mostly transnational
TO CHECK/WIKIFY
Palestine–European Union relations
In December, the Council of the European Union endorsed a set of conclusions on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict which forms the basis of present EU policy. It reasserted the objective of a two-state solution, and stressed that the union "will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties." It recalled that the EU "has never recognised the annexation of East Jerusalem" and that the State of Palestine must have its capital in Jerusalem.
Al-Maqdisi
Al-Maqdisi also gave extensive overviews of Ramla and Tiberias, the capitals of the Palestine and Jordan districts, respectively. To a lesser extent, he described Acre, Beisan, Bayt Jibrin, Caesarea, Amman and Aila. In his descriptions of the aforementioned cities, al-Maqdisi noted their prosperity and stability and gave a general impression of Palestine as densely populated and wealthy, with numerous localities.
State of Palestine
Palestine ( '), officially the State of Palestine ( '), is a "de jure" sovereign state in Western Asia claiming the West Bank (bordering Israel and Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt) with Jerusalem as the designated capital, although its administrative center is currently located in Ramallah. The entirety of territory claimed by the State of Palestine has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestine has a population of 4,816,503 as of 2016, ranked 123rd in the world.
United Nations Special Committee on Palestine
The Report of the Committee dated 3 September 1947 supported the termination of the British mandate in Palestine. It contained a majority proposal for a Plan of Partition into two independent states with Economic Union (CHAPTER VI) and a minority proposal for a Plan for one Federal union with Jerusalem as its capital (CHAPTER VII).The Zionist side
accepted the Plan of Partition while the Arab side rejected both proposals.
History of the State of Palestine
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the United States, the European Union, and the Arab League, envision the establishment of a State of Palestine to include all or part of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, living in peace with Israel under a democratically elected and transparent government. The PNA, however, does not claim sovereignty over any territory and therefore is not the government of the State of Palestine proclaimed in 1988.
Referring to "the historical injustice inflicted on the Palestinian Arab people resulting in their dispersion and depriving them of their right to self-determination," the declaration recalled the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (1947 Partition Plan) as supporting the rights of Palestinians and Palestine. The declaration then proclaims a "State of Palestine on our Palestinian territory with its capital Jerusalem". The borders of the declared State of Palestine were not specified. The population of the state was referred to by the statement: "The State of Palestine is the state of Palestinians wherever they may be". The state was defined as an Arab country by the statement: "The State of Palestine is an Arab state, an integral and indivisible part of the Arab nation". The declaration was accompanied by a PNC call for multilateral negotiations on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 242. This call was later termed "the Historic Compromise", as it implied acceptance of the "two-state solution", namely that it no longer questioned the legitimacy of the State of Israel. The PNC's political communiqué accompanying the declaration called only for withdrawal from "Arab Jerusalem" and the other "Arab territories occupied." Arafat's statements in Geneva a month later were accepted by the United States as sufficient to remove the ambiguities it saw in the declaration and to fulfill the longheld conditions for open dialogue with the United States.
History of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
On November 25, 2009, Israel imposed a 10-month construction freeze on all of its settlements in the West Bank. Israel's decision was widely seen as due to pressure from the Obama administration, which urged the sides to seize the opportunity to resume talks. In his announcement Netanyahu called the move "a painful step that will encourage the peace process" and urged the Palestinians to respond. However, the Palestinians rejected the call and refused to enter negotiations, despite Israeli appeals to do so. Eventually, on September 2, United States launched direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Washington. Nevertheless, soon afterwards, when Israeli partial moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank was about to expire, the Palestinian leadership announced that they plan to leave the negotiations if the moratorium is not renewed. Israel state that it would not renew this gesture of goodwill and urged the Palestinian leadership to continue the negotiations. Later on Israel offered to renew the moratorium in exchange for a Palestinian Authority recognition of Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people. This request was rejected by the Palestinians leadership.
During September 2011 the Palestinian Authority led a diplomatic campaign aimed at getting recognition of the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, by the Sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. On September 23 President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a request to recognize the State of Palestine as the 194th UN member to the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Security Council has yet to vote on it. The decision was labeled by the Israeli government as a unilateral step.
Geneva Initiative (2003)
The plan has much similarity with the 2000 Camp David Summit and Taba Summit proposals, and Olmert's 2008 Napkin map. Only settlements along the Green Line would be annexed by Israel with mutual land swaps, including Ma'ale Adumim, Pisgat Ze'ev and Giv'at Ze'ev. In the Geneva Initiative, Ariel would be dismantled and the Palestinians be given more sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Jerusalem would be divided administratively, with East Jerusalem ("Al-Quds") serving as the capital of the Palestinian state and West Jerusalem ("Yerushalayim") as the capital of Israel. A Multinational Force would play an important role. In return for removing most of the Israeli settlements, the Palestinians would limit their "right of return" of refugees to Israel to a number specified by the Israeli government and will put an end to any further claims and demands from Israel.
Hamas
On August 16, 2009, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal stated that the organization is ready to open dialogue with the Obama administration because its policies are much better than those of former U.S. president George W. Bush: "As long as there's a new language, we welcome it, but we want to see not only a change of language, but also a change of policies on the ground. We have said that we are prepared to cooperate with the US or any other international party that would enable the Palestinians to get rid of occupation." Despite this, an August 30, 2009 speech during a visit to Jordan in which Mashal expressed support for the Palestinian right of return was interpreted by David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a sign that "Hamas has now clearly opted out of diplomacy." In an interview in May 2010, Mashal said that if a Palestinian state with real sovereignty was established under the conditions he set out, on the borders of 1967 with its capital Jerusalem and with the right of return, that will be the end of the Palestinian resistance, and then the nature of any subsequent ties with Israel would be decided democratically by the Palestinians. In July 2009, Khaled Mashal, Hamas's political bureau chief, stated Hamas's willingness to cooperate with a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which included a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, provided that Palestinian refugees be given the right to return to Israel and that East Jerusalem be recognized as the new state's capital.
Israel–United States relations
After capturing East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel annexed it and incorporated it into the Jerusalem Municipality, and has built neighborhoods and homes in Arab neighborhoods there, along with government offices. Israel has insisted that Jerusalem is its eternal and indivisible capital. The United States does not agree with this position and believes the permanent status of Jerusalem is still subject to negotiations. This is based on the UN's 1947 Partition plan for Palestine, which called for separate international administration of Jerusalem. This position was accepted at the time by most other countries and the Zionist leadership, but rejected by the Arab countries. Most countries had located their embassies in Tel Aviv before 1967; Jerusalem was also located on the contested border. The Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in September 1993 similarly state that it is a subject for permanent status negotiations. US administrations have consistently indicated, by keeping the Embassy of the United States in Israel in Tel Aviv, that Jerusalem's status is unresolved.
Abu Dis
Most of the Palestinian Authority's offices responsible for Jerusalem affairs are located in the town. In 2000, the construction of a Parliament Building to possibly house the Palestinian Legislative Council was started in Abu Dis, but the project was never finished. Israel has suggested to predestine the location as a substitute for East Jerusalem, the Palestinians' claimed capital. The separation barrier Israel built in Abu Dis runs just few meters from the location.
Palestinian territories
Consistent with its policy of Jerusalem as a united and indivisible capital of Israel, Israel does not publish exact figures of the number of settlers in East Jerusalem. Rather the figures of Israelis in Judea and Samaria District are given. Independently from the political composition of its subsequent governments, the number of settlers in the West Bank has grown rapidly and in a relatively straight line since 1967 (see graphics). The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counted about 341,000 settlers end 2012 in the Judea and Samaria District, which does not include Jerusalem.
Borders of Israel
Israel took control of West Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, while Jordan took control of East Jerusalem (including the walled Old City in which most holy places are located). During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel gained control of East Jerusalem, and shortly after extended Jerusalem’s municipality city limits and applied its laws, jurisdiction, and administration to East Jerusalem and the surrounding area. In 1980, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Law, declaring Jerusalem to be the "complete and united" capital of Israel. The Israeli government offered the Palestinian residents citizenship, most of whom refused, and are treated today as permanent residents under Israeli law. According to the Israeli rights organisation Hamoked, if these Palestinians live abroad for seven years, or gain citizenship or residency elsewhere, they lose their Israeli residency.
History of Palestine
The Nabateans roamed the Negev by the Roman Period, and by the Byzantine Period dominated the swath of sparsely populated deserts, from the Sinai to the Negev to the northwest coast of Arabia, the outlands that the Byzantines called the diocese of Palaestina Salutoris (meaning something like "near Palestine"). Its capital Petra was formally the capital of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea. The Nabateans also inhabited the outland of Jordan and southern Syria, improperly called the diocese of Arabia because its capital Bostra was within the northern extremity of the Roman province of Arabia Petrae. The origin of the Nabateans remains obscure, but they were Aramaic speakers, and the term "Nabatean" was the Arabic name for an Aramean of Syria and Iraq. By the 3rd century during the Late Roman Period, the Nabateans stopped writing in Aramaic and began writing in Greek, and by the Byzantine Period they converted to Christianity.
Mustafa Barghouti
Barghouti has consistently criticized the PLO and Palestinian Authority for corruption. He supports non-violent resistance as the most effective means of overcoming Israeli occupation. According to a Reuters report, Barghouti "supports peace with Israel based on two states with a Palestinian state in all territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, a capital in Arab East Jerusalem and rights for refugees." He has indicated that recognition of a right of return is a must, but that this could likely be implemented in a way mutually acceptable to both sides.
United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
The Jerusalem announcement inspired activist Ahmed Abu Artema to write a Facebook proposing the outlines of the Great March of Return protests. Multiple camps of Palestinians engaged in protest along the fenceline of the Gaza Strip as part of this effort in late March 2018, demanding the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to their former homes in Israel, and an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip, as well as rejecting recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem on May 14 coincided with a major escalation of the protests, resulting in the death of 64 protesters on that day.
Sayyid Ahmed Amiruddin
On February 26th, 2018, in response to the Conservative Party of Canada Leader Andrew Scheer's vow to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel if his party forms government in 2019, Sayyid called on the Government of Canada to join the international community, and officially also recognize Palestine as a sovereign and independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. According to Sayyid, "(Canadian) Recognition of the State of Palestine does not mean a denial of the State of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital, rather it simply recognizes the reality that Jerusalem will never be the exclusive capital of the State of Israel, rather it will always remain a shared holy capital of the Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Christians and Jews, of the State of Palestine and the State of Israel".
Palestine 194
On 16 September 2011, President Abbas announced that an application would be made for the admission to full membership to the United Nations for the State of Palestine, ending speculation about which route the government would take. Abbas submitted the application to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 September, immediately prior to delivering his address to the General Assembly. The territorial basis referred to were the 4 June 1967 borders, with al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital. The application stated that it was being submitted in line with "the Palestinian people's natural, legal and historic rights", citing the 1947 partition plan as well as the 1988 declaration of independence and its subsequent acknowledgement by General Assembly Resolution 43/177 of 15 December 1988. It also reaffirmed the state's commitment to the achievement of a "just, lasting and comprehensive resolution" to the conflict "based on the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security". The application was referred to the Security Council's committee on membership on 28 September.
History of Palestine
The Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphs renovated and visited the holy shrines and sanctuaries in Jerusalem, with Al-Mansur arranging in 758 the renovation of the Dome of the Rock that had collapsed in an earthquake and Al-Ma'mun arranging further renovations following a visit to Jerusalem in 813. The Abbasids continued to build up Ramle, which had become the capital of Jund Filastin. Coastal areas were fortified and developed and port cities like Acre, Haifa, Caesarea, Arsuf, Jaffa and Ashkelon received monies from the state treasury. However, the Abbasid caliphs visited the region less frequently than the Umayyads since their capital in Baghdad was a further east.
China–Palestine relations
China voted in favor of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlement building on the West Bank and typically takes positions sympathetic to the Palestinian cause at the United Nations. In early 2016, President Xi Jinping reasserted China's support for "the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital being eastern Jerusalem" in a meeting with the Arab League. Xi also announced an aid project of 50 million yuan ($7.6 million) for a solar power stations in the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian cuisine
The Arabs that conquered Syria and Palestine initially had simple culinary traditions primarily based on the use of rice, lamb, yogurt and dates. This cuisine did not advance for centuries until the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, that established Baghdad as its capital and integrated elements of Persian cuisine into the existing Arab cuisine. The Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi said this of Palestine's foods:
From Palestine comes olives, dried figs, raisins, the carob fruit... from Jerusalem comes cheeses and the celebrated raisins of the species known as "Ainuni" and "Duri", excellent apples... also pine nuts of the kind called 'Kuraish-bite', and their equal is not found elsewhere... from Sughar and Baysan come dates, the treacle called "Dibs".
Jerusalem
In 1517, Jerusalem and environs fell to the Ottoman Turks, who generally remained in control until 1917. Jerusalem enjoyed a prosperous period of renewal and peace under Suleiman the Magnificent—including the rebuilding of magnificent walls around the Old City. Throughout much of Ottoman rule, Jerusalem remained a provincial, if religiously important center, and did not straddle the main trade route between Damascus and Cairo. The English reference book "Modern history or the present state of all nations", written in 1744, stated that "Jerusalem is still reckoned the capital city of Palestine, though much fallen from its ancient grandeaur".
Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement
Dore Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, stated by looking at negotiation documents that the Palestinians always wanted to have East Jerusalem as their permanent, long-term capital and never intended to accept Abu Dis as a permanent substitute to Jerusalem. Abu Dis was merely meant to be the provisional, temporary Palestinian capital before the Palestinians acquired East Jerusalem in future negotiations.
India–Palestine relations
PNA President Mahmoud Abbas paid a state visit to India in September 2012, during which India pledged US$10 million as aid. Indian officials said it was the third such donation, adding that New Delhi was committed to helping other development projects. India also pledged support to Palestine's bid for full and equal membership of the UN. Three pacts – on building schools, on Information Technology and imparting vocational training – were signed between the two side after the talks. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "Support for the Palestinian cause has been a cornerstone of India's foreign policy. I reiterated India's firm support for the struggle of the Palestinian people to achieve a sovereign, independent, viable and united state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement
The Western part of the city, would be the capital of Israel, called "Yerushalayim"; the "Arab" Eastern part would be the capital of Palestine, called "al-Quds".