Changes

The term "Palestinian Arabs" refers to those [[Arabs]] who have traditionally lived in [[Palestine]], the area made up of the current state of [[Israel]], the [[Gaza Strip]], and the [[West Bank]]. Immigrant [[Jews]] created the state of Israel after a [[terrorist]] war against the [[British]] between 1944 and 1948. They immediately ejected most of the Palestinian Arabs, an estimated 3,000,000 of whom now live in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, [[Jordan]], and [[Lebanon]]. Those Palestinians who remained in the state created in 1948 are generally treated as second class citizens, largely due to Israel being a specifically Jewish religious state.

'''Palestinian Arabs''' refers to those [[Arabs]] who migrated into [[Israel]] beginning in the late 19th century, and who had no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from [[Syria]]ns, [[Lebanon|Lebanese]], and [[Jordan]]ians. The term "Palestinian" itself had referred to Israeli [[Judaism|Jews]] until the 1940s, but in subsequent years has been deconstructed and redefined to refer to the Arabs in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza]].

 

There is currently a debate about the creation of a specifically Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. While there is a nominal Government, there is a decreasing likelihood of a functional Palestinian state being set up, due largely to the continued occupation of the West Bank by Israel, the creation of many illegal Jewish settlements, and the so-called "[[apartheid]] wall" being built around the remaining Palestinian areas.

 

The Palestinians receive very little support from the international community. When the elections were held in 2007, and [[Hamas]] was democratically elected as the Palestinian Government, most of the international community immediately stopped all aid; thereby rendering the legitimate elections a farce. What the international community had demanded was a [[Fatah]] government that would be more supportive of the continued existence of Israel, and a friend of the USA, rather than Hamas, which demands that Israel as a specifically religious state should not exist.

 

It is unlikely that the Palestinian Arabs will achieve effective statehood in the near future. The Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948 is not recognised by the international community for what it is, a catastrophe for a whole people. Until action is taken to allow Jews, Arabs and Christians to live together in a secular state of Palestine, it is unlikely that there will be peace in the Middle East.