Palestinian Refugees

Palestinian refugee children lining up to fill their water bottles in the Haifa Club (AFP)
 


Over view of a refugee camp
 

History in Brief:

For more than 7,000 years the Canaanites (Palestinians) lived continuously uninterrupted on the land of Palestine. During the 7,000 years more than 20 invading powers including the Jews occupied parts of Palestine but they were all defeated by the Palestinians or other invading powers the Palestinians never left the land through out history. The Jews came in 1186 BC and the last Jews left in 135 AD after being defeated by the Romans.

By the early 1900s illegal Jewish immigrants started arriving at the shores of Palestine and immediately they formed armed Jewish gangs terrorizing Palestinian citizens. In 1920, Palestine came under British mandate and more illegal Jewish immigrants were allowed in Palestine and more gangs were formed. May 15, 1948: The British rule in Palestine ended and Britain handed control over to Jewish gangs who attacked Palestinian towns and massacred whole families and they massacred all the inhabitants of the town of Deir Yasin in a clear attempt at ethnic cleansing*.

By 1949 more than 400 Palestinian towns were destroyed, thousands of Palestinians were massacred and 750,000 Palestinians fled to safety in neighboring countries. The Jews occupied 77% of the total land of Palestine. They changed the name of the country from Palestine to Israel. They refused to allow the Palestinians and their children to return to their towns and homes in Palestine. In 1967 Israel attacked and occupied the remaining 23% of Palestine. More Jews from all over the world came to occupy the land and homes of the Palestinians. Despite the UN Resolution giving the right of return to the Palestinian refugees, Israel continues to deny them that right. In the 1990s Israel brought in more than 1 million soviet Jews to occupy the homes and land of the Palestinian refugees it took in 1948 and 1967.

*The first attempt at ethnic cleansing in Palestine was in 1186 BC when the Hebrews (Jews) attacked Jericho and killed all the people living in the city, they went as far as killing the live stock in Jericho.

The Following is historical brief:

"Through out the following years the Canaanites/Palestinians never left the land they lived on"

6000 BC Arabian people settle Canaan (Palestine)

3600 BC The "Amori" Canaanite origin settle the land

1805 BC Prophet Abraham moves from Iraq to Canaan

1656 BC Descendents of Prophet Abraham move to Egypt

1570 BC Egyptians occupy parts of Canaan

1479 BC Solomon occupies parts of Canaan

1186 BC Hebrews attack city of Jericho in Canaan and massacre all of it's people and live stock

1184 BC "Palest" people arrive to southern and northern shores of Canaan

1016-936 BC David occupies Jerusalem and other areas with exception of the northern and southern parts that were Canaanite inhabited

732 BC Canaan came under Assyrian control

722 BC Israelite (Jews) kingdom ended

608 BC Egyptian rule comes back to Canaan

586 BC The Jewish kingdom ends

538 BC The Persians occupy Canaan

484-425 BC The Greeks rename Canaan to Palestine (the name sticks)

332 BC Alexander the Great occupies Palestine

63 BC The Romans occupy Palestine

40 BC The Persians retake Palestine

Birth of Jesus Christ(PBUH)

70 The Romans destroy Jerusalem

135 Jews revolt against the Romans and loose the battle and leave Palestine

395 Break up of the Roman Empire and Palestine came under the Byzantine rule

272 The Romans retake Palestine

614 Persians retake Palestine

636 Muslims take over Palestine

1099 Crusader take Palestine

1517 The Ottomans take over Palestine

1917 Great Britain takes over Palestine and Promises the Jews to give them the land of the Palestinians

1922 The League of Nations conspired with Britain against the Palestinian People by giving Britain a mandate to rule Palestine and to implement the [Belfour Declaration].

1948 The Jews take over 77% of Palestine and kick the Palestinians out of their homes and land

1967 The Jews (Israel) attacks remaining 23% of Palestinian land and occupies it, this puts the whole territory of Palestine under Israeli occupation

1967-2003 More than 6 million Palestinians are refugees living away from their homes, the rest which is about 2 million Palestinians live under Israeli Military occupation on the land of Palestine. *In the past two years the Israeli occupation forces have killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, about 700 of them are children, and they wounded more than 48,000 Palestinians, more than 15,000 of them are children.


Where are the Palestinian Refugees now:

The estimated number of Palestinian refugees around the world is as follows:

2,400,000 Live in and around refugee camps in Jordan

620,000 Live in and around refugee camps in the West Bank under military occupation by Israel.

800,000 Live in Gaza under military occupation by Israel.

200,000 Displaced by Israel inside Palestine Proper (Israel)

461,000 Live in and around refugee camps in Lebanon

461,000 Live in and around refugee camps in Syria

575,000 Live around Arab countries in refugee camps and with the general population on temporary bases.

575,000 Live scattered around the world

6,092,000 Total Estimated Palestinian Refugees