When we think of the Gaza Strip, where the buildings bombed over a year ago still lie in ruins and the ground – visibly or not – is still stained with blood, it’s easier to think of suffering than inspiration
In 1920, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Palestine fell under western occupation, political boundaries were forced upon the region for the first time in nearly 2,000 years under the British occupation, conveniently named "Mandate". Today this geographical area is divided into Israel (established in May 1948 over land carved out of historic Palestine by western powers using the UN all without consulting with the local Palestinian population), the West Bank (including eastern Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip (on the south western corner of the country bordering Egypt) both of which Israel occupied in 1967. The struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians is one of the longest and most enduring and explosive of all the world's conflicts. For the Palestinians the last 100 years have brought colonization, expulsion and military occupation, followed by a long and difficult search for self-determination. For the Jewish Israelis, they believe to be the land of their forefathers, after centuries of persecution around the world, the return to this self proclaimed "home land" has not brought peace or security.
The Palestinian Israeli conflict has generated the largest number of United Nations resolutions. The Palestinian problem has loomed large on the international scene, even though Palestine is a small territory, and the Palestinian People , a relatively small population. In 1967, the former Soviet bloc countries cut diplomatic ties with Israel as a consequence of the June War of that year. Indeed, many Third World governments expelled the Israeli diplomatic missions from their capitals and offered their premises to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), internationally recognized in 1974 as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Since the end of the cold war, most countries have restored diplomatic relations with Israel. New nations born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union fostered relations with Israel and the PLO alike.*
Show your support to the Palestinian people in their struggle to get what you and I have as a birth right, freedom, statehood, dignity, sovereignty and the right to live in their own homes. Support their rights to return to their homes. Help them free Palestine.
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