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FactsaboutPalestineandIsrael
Presented by: World Islamic Network
Introduction
First of all, it is necessary to state that this booklet is presented only tohighlight the usurping activities of Israel in Palestine and our aim is notin anyway to hurt the feelings of the Jewish community. Through thissmall presentation we only wish highlight the plight and sufferings of Palestinians in their own homeland.Palestine is located on the East coast of the Mediterranean Sea, West of Jordan and to the south of Lebanon. Between 3000 and 1100 B.C thisarea was inhabited by Canaanites who remained in the Jerusalem hillsafter the Romans expelled the Jews in 2nd century A.D. The Arab invadersof the 7th century A.D. made Moslem converts of the natives, settleddown as residents, and intermarried with them, with the result that allare now so completely Arabized that we cannot tell where the Canaanitesleave off and the Arabs begin.
How long has Palestine been a specifically Arab country?
“Palestine became a predominately Arab and Islamic country by the endof the 7th century. Almost immediately thereafter its boundaries and itscharacteristics - including its name in Arabic, Filastin - became knownto the entire Islamic world. Following the war of 1948 this land wasdivided into three parts: the state of Israel, the West Bank and the GazaStrip.
Origin of Zionism
In the 19th century Jews began to develop a national consciousness, andmobilized to achieve national goals. Because Jews were spread acrossthe world (in diaspora), their national movement, Zionism, entailed theidentification of a place where Jews could come together through the process of immigration and settlement. They chose Palestine since itwas the site of Jewish origin. The Zionist movement began in 1882 withthe first wave of European Jewish immigration to Palestine.The World Zionist Organization, established in 1897, declared that theaim of Zionism was to establish “a national home for the Jewish peoplesecured by public law.” Zionism drew on Jewish religious attachment toJerusalem and the Land of Israel (Eretz Israel). But the politics of Zionismwas influenced by nationalist ideology, and by colonial ideas about
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