State of Palestine

State of Palestine دولة فلسطين
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Palestine, including areas occupied by Israel.
Capital	Jerusalem
Capital-in-exile	Ramallah
Largest city	Gaza City
Official languages	Arabic
Leaders
• President	Mahmoud Abbas
• Prime Minister	Mohammad Shtayyeh
History
• Declaration of Independence	15 November 1988

Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is an independent state in Western Asia that is partially occupied by Israel.

History

Medieval history

During the Mamluk Sultanate, the Palestinian city of Jenin was a central station for the postal service between Cairo and Damascus. The Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine for 401 years, starting in the 16th century.

Early Zionist settlement

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a movement known as Zionism was formed, advocating a homeland for Jewish people in the, then British occupied, land of Palestine. At the same time, the majority Arabic population, who had lived in Palestine for generations, desired independence from the British in the form of an independent Arabic state. In 1917 the British released the Balfour Declaration, which expressed full support to the Zionist movement. The Palestinian people, angered by the British completely ignoring their interests, began protests and rioting against Jewish occupation as early as 1920. These protests were largely led by Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.^{[citation needed]}

Arab Revolt (1936–1939)

Starting April 19, 1936, a mass strike against the British instatement of Zionism in the region was formulated. The strike was organized by the Arab Higher Committee, a Palestinian independence movement under the leadership of Amin al-Husseini. This strike eventually led to violent insurgency against British rule in the countryside. The British reacted to these strikes as any imperialist power would; through violent suppression. The British seized and searched property, often without warrants, tortured Palestinian prisoners, and deported Palestinian people from their homeland. There were also many violent encounters between Palestinian resistance, the British army, and Zionist paramilitary groups.

By the time it concluded in September 1939, more than 5,000 Arabs, over 300 Jews and 262 Britons had been killed, and at least 15,000 Arabs were wounded.^{[citation needed]}

Colonization of Palestine from 1947 to 2005

Green: Palestinian control
Red: Joint control
Blue and pink: Israeli control

Territory

Before 1948, Palestine consisted of all of the land on the land on the Sinai Peninsula outside of Egypt. In 1948, the area was partitioned into two states, Israel and Palestine. Israel was not satisfied with its territory and soon annexed 60% of Palestinian land in the Arab–Israeli War. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel invaded the rest of Palestine and annexed East Jerusalem. Most of the West Bank is now occupied by Israel.