Palestina decmocratica

International Studies
Laura Barberis
Mr. Keeler
2nd hour
Palestine

Palestine, an area in the Middle East, is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Lebanon to the north, the Sinai desert to the south and the Jordan River to the east. It is occupied by two major religious groups, the Jews and the Palestinians, with the first occupying the Israeli territory, and the second locatedin the “occupied territories” of Israel (that consist of The West Bank located along the Mediterranean Sea and Gaza Strip along the Jordan River), Territories that are still disputed by these two nations. Jerusalem, 35°North 35° East, is not located in these territories, but was designated the official Capital of Palestine because of spiritual reasons; Meanwhile, Ram Allah is the effective capital.The Palestine territory, which covers around 10,435 square miles, is about 356 times smaller than the US territory, and is cataloged as one of the smallest nations in the Middle East. although a small territory, Palestine has a great diversity of nature and climate, ranging dry and deserts to fertile plains with considerable rain. It consists of different natural resources such as timber,potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays and sand. The coastal and inner plains of this territory are the most fertile, it is there where the Palestinian citrus grove once stood. Olives grow strong in the mountains and hills, while the vegetables are grown close to the Jordan valley.
The Palestine economy has been in constant but small growth, the main sector thatcontributes to the increasing of the economy is the agricultural one, but there are also some small scale industries. The Palestine economy is stronger in the area of West Bank, However, two thirds of it’s population is under the poverty line. The economy in Palestine has relied for many years upon using Israeli channels. High unemployment, has caused Palestine population, to work in Israel but to livein the occupied territories,
The population in Palestine has always been a controversial topic. The census has been carried out since the Ottoman Empire, when it was proclaimed not authentic. The population of the Palestinian territory has been divided into the two major occupied territories, Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The first consist of 2.5 millions inhabitants meanwhile the other 1.08million inhabitants live in Gaza strip where Palestine Arabs constitute 89% and Jews 11% of the population. Palestine has a population growth rate that varies from 2.9% –in the West Bank- to 3.7% -in Gaza Strip-; a birth rate of 33.00 per thousand population and a death rate of 3.8 deaths per thousand population. The literacy rate is very high in these two territories, 91.1% of the male populationand 93.9% of the female population, is able to read when over 15 years old. The main language is Arabic. With many different dialects, the one used by Palestinians resembles more closely the one from Syria and Lebanon.
Most Palestinians are Muslim but about 1.5% are Christian. In Israel close to 75% of the population is Jewish while other 19% is Muslim Arabic. The conflict between these two majorreligious groups, Muslim and Jews, recalls ancient times, and it reappeared after the Jewish migration.
The territory that had been inhabited by Palestinians and Jordanians population, was ruled by the United Kingdom before the Jewish migration. Late in the 19th century, a movement called Zionist advocated the creation of a homeland state -Israel- in the middle east, and the migration of Jewsfrom around the world to this state. The British government supported this project for a short time in the 1917. But in the 1930‘s, the Arabs in Palestine rebelled against these policies. The British government tried to stop the Jewish migration to the middle east, but it was too late. In an attempt to overcome conflicts, Britain proposed a two state solution, dividing Palestine into a Jewish...