The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs (الفلسطينيون), are an Arabic-speaking people from Palestine. The total Palestinian population, including descendants, is estimated at approximately 10 million.
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About half of the world's Palestinian people (51% as of 2009) continue to live in the region of historic Palestine.[1] This region includes Israel, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and Jordan. Some Palestinians living in this region are refugees.
The rest of the world's Palestinian population became part of the Palestinian diaspora, during which millions of Palestinians left their homelands. Most are stateless refugees with no citizenship in any country.[2] Over two and a half million live in neighboring Jordan;[3] one million in Syria and Lebanon combined; a quarter million in Saudi Arabia; and half a million in Chile. Chile has the highest concentration of Palestinians outside the Arab world.[4]
Religion
Most Palestinians are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam. However, a significant minority of the world's Palestinians belong to various Christian denominations or smaller religious communities.
No matter what religion they follow, Palestinians share a common dialect of Arabic. Among those who are citizens of Israel (known as Arab Israelis), many are bilingual in Modern Hebrew.
Recent genetic research has showed that modern-day Palestinians and Bedouins in Palestine share genetics with the ancient Levantines.[5] It also shows that Palestinians descend from people who lived in Palestine beginning in prehistoric times. [6][7] The Arabian Muslim conquest caused Palestinians to acculturate and established Arabic as the area's official language. Arabic eventually became the primary language spoken by locals. Over time, most of these people converted to Islam from various prior faiths.
Name
The name "Palestinian" was in use before World War I, referring to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people who would include the local Arabic-speaking population of Palestine.[8] On 21 September 1921, the and the first demand for national independence was issued by the Syrian-Palestinian Congress issued the first demand for national independence.[9]
After the creation of Israel, the exodus of 1948, and the exodus of 1967, the definition of "Palestinian" came include a sense of shared past and future in the form of a Palestinian nation-state.[8]
National authorities
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) represents the Palestinian people before the international community.[10]
The Palestinian National Authority governs the Palestinian population centre in the West Bank, while the Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas.
Notable
Some well known Palestinians are:
- Yasser Arafat, Leader of PLO
- George Habash, Founder of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- Mahmoud Abbas, President of State of Palestine (West Bank)
- Ghassan Kanafani, Writer
- Mahmoud Darwish, Poet and Writer[11]
- Edward Said, philosopher and literary theorist
- Ibrahim Al Nabulsi, Commander of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
References
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