Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on May 7, 2015

The State of Palestine[i] (Arabic: Dawlat Filasn) is a de jure sovereign state in the Middle East.[14][15]Its independence was declared on 15 November 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Algiers as a government-in-exile. The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and Gaza Strip,[16] and has designated Jerusalem as its capital,[ii][3][4] with partial control of those areas assumed in 1994 as the Palestinian Authority. Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War.[7] The State of Palestine applied for United Nations (UN) membership in 2011[16] but in 2012 was granted a non-member observer state status.[14][15] The October 1974 Arab League summit designated the PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" and reaffirmed "their right to establish an independent state of urgency."[17] In November 1974, the PLO was recognized as competent on all matters concerning the question of Palestine by the UN General Assembly granting them observer status as a "non-state entity" at the UN.[18][19] After the 1988 Declaration of Independence, the UN General Assembly officially "acknowledged" the proclamation and decided to use the designation "Palestine" instead of "Palestine Liberation Organization" in the UN.[20][21] In spite of this decision, the PLO did not participate at the UN in its capacity of the State of Palestine's government.[22] In 1993, in the Oslo Accords, Israel acknowledged the PLO negotiating team as "representing the Palestinian people", in return for the PLO recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace, acceptance of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, and its rejection of "violence and terrorism".[23] As a result, in 1994 the PLO established the Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) territorial administration, that exercises some governmental functions[iii] in parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.[24][25] In 2007, the Hamas takeover of Gaza Strip politically and territorially divided the Palestinians, with Abbas's Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority,[26] while Hamas has secured its control over the Gaza Strip.

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State of Palestine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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