Country profile:

Palestinian territories

 

The division of the former British mandate of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in the years after the end of World War II have been at the heart of Middle Eastern conflicts for the past half century.


 

Overview

Much of the history of the region since that time has been one of conflict between Israel on one side and Palestinians, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and Israel's Arab neighbours, on the other. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced, and several wars were fought involving Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Palestinians in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, have lived under Israeli occupation since 1967. The settlements that Israel has built in the West Bank are home to around 400,000 people and are deemed to be illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Israel evacuated its settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and withdrew its forces, ending almost four decades of military occupation. However, after the militant Islamic group Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, Israel intensified its economic blockade of the Strip.

In 1979 Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement, but it wasn't until the early 1990s, after years of an uprising known as the intifada , that a peace process began with the Palestinians. Despite the handover of Gaza and parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control, a "final status" agreement has yet to be reached.

The main stumbling blocks include the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlements.

Jerusalem's Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif

LEADER

Palestinian leader: Mahmoud Abbas

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the candidate of the Fatah faction, won the January 2005 poll to replace the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Mahmoud Abbas was born in 1935 in Safed, a town in present-day northern Israel. He co-founded Fatah - the main political grouping within the PLO - with Yasser Arafat in the late 1950s.

He established contacts with left-wing Israelis in the 1970s and was the main Palestinian architect of the 1993 Oslo accords, which led to the foundation of the Palestinian Authority.

His brief stint as premier was plagued by power struggles with Mr Arafat over the control of the Palestinian security apparatus and over planned reforms. Mr Abbas resigned in September 2003.

The former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in a French hospital on 11 November 2004, aged 75.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA

 

Television is the key source for news and information in the Palestinian areas.

Official broadcasting is run by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) which operates Voice of Palestine radio and Palestine TV. These outlets came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian president in early 2006; the move was seen as an attempt to prevent the new Hamas-dominated government from exerting control over the official media.

There are dozens of private TV and radio stations. Jordanian TV is widely-watched in the West Bank. Pan-Arab satellite broadcasters, including Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV, are popular.

International watchdogs regard the media as being generally more independent than in much of the rest of the Arab world. However, journalists risk harassment, attack or arrest by the security services, armed activists or militant groups. Self-censorship is widespread.

Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in 2007 that Palestinian and foreign journalists were "victims of fierce clashes" between Hamas and Fatah.

The press

  • Al-Quds - private, Jerusalem-based, largest-circulation Palestinian daily
  • Al-Ayyam - private, Ramallah-based daily
  • Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah - Palestinian National Authority daily

Radio

Television

  • Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) - controlled by Palestinian leadership in Ramallah, operates Palestine TV and Palestine Satellite Channel
  • Al-Aqsa TV - Hamas-run station in Gaza, terrestrial and via satellite
  • Private stations include Al-Quds Educational TV, Al-Mahd TV, Al-Majd TV, Al-Nawras TV, Watan TV

News agencies

Internet
Around 243,000 people had internet access by 2006 (via Internet World Stats).