{{Country
|name =Palestinian National Authority <br/>السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية
|map =Palestinian National Authority.jpg
|flag =Flag of Palestine.jpg
|arms =Arms of Palestinian National Authority.png
|capital =
|capital-raw =Ramallah (de-facto)
East [[Jerusalem]] (claimed)
|government =
|government-raw =Semi-Presidential Republic ([[West Bank]])<ref>https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestinian-Authority</ref>
Islamist Dictatorship ([[Gaza Strip]])
|language =Arabic
|language2 =
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|governor general=
|governor general-raw=
|president =
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|chairman =
|general secretary=
|governor =
|governor-raw =
|premier =
|premier-raw =
|area =
|pop =5,100,000 (2020)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =
|gdp-pc =$3,000 (2018)
|currency =
|idd =
|tld =
}}
The '''Palestinian Authority''', officially known as the '''"State of Palestine"''', is the governmental unit that governs parts of the [[West Bank]] and claims [[Gaza Strip]]. was unilaterally declared on November 15, 1988 in [[Algiers]] at an extraordinary session in exile of the [[Palestine National Council]], the legislative arm of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]. Legal justification for this act was based on [[United Nations General Assembly]] Resolution 181 (II) of 29 November 1947, which provided for the termination and partition of the [[British Mandate for Palestine]] into two states.<ref>[http://unispal.un.org/unispal.nsf/0/7F0AF2BD897689B785256C330061D253 Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine] - United Nations</ref> It was established in May 1994 after the [[Oslo Accords]].<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-history-and-overview The Palestinian Authority: History & Overview]. ''Jewish Virtual Library''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestinian-Authority Palestinian Authority]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref> In January 2013 president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] signed a presidential decree which officially changed the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine".<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-pa-changes-name-to-palestine-1.5288367 Palestinian Authority Officially Changes Name to 'State of Palestine']. ''Haaretz''. Retrieved August 21, 2018.</ref>
At the time, the PLO did not have control over any part of "[[Palestine]]" (or any other territory), and therefore the "State of Palestine" failed to meet one of the main defining aspects of a real [[state]] - namely, occupying a territory. Today the state only controls parts of the [[West Bank]] not run by Israel since the [[Oslo Accords]] from the 90s. The Gaza Strip was taken over in a [[coup d'état]] by the terrorist organization [[Hamas]] in 2006 against the political organization [[Fatah]] which is the moderate wing of the Palestinian Politics and runs the National Authority Government.
Currently 136 [[United Nations]] member states have formally recognized "Palestine" as a state (see also: [[List of States which recognize Palestine as an independent state.]]), stretching from Africa to Asia, Europe to Latin America.. Around 150 countries maintain diplomatic relations with the "Palestinians" in one form or another...
In October, 2011, "Palestine" was granted full membership at the U.N. cultural organization, [[UNESCO]], in a diplomatic victory won despite stiff resistance from the United States and Israel.<ref>[http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/15/182782.html More than 100 countries recognize Palestine as a state.]</ref>
A pro-Arab website expresses the "Palestinian" view concerning the border of "Palestine" by declaring they want a border which existed prior to the [[Six-Day War]]:
<blockquote>
The value of a UN resolution recognizing an independent state for the Palestinian people, with its borders running exactly along the 1949 Armistice line, which was the border between Israel and the West Bank until June 4, 1967, should not be undermined.<ref>[http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/04/27/146903.html Obama, Netanyahu and the 'Palestinian state'.]</ref>
</blockquote>
The "State of Palestine" was recognized immediately by the [[Arab League]] and several other Islamic nations, at the expense of recognition of [[Israel]]. It maintains embassies in these countries (which are generally simply [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] delegations).
Pro-Israel advocates typically point out that Israel has repeatedly had to defend itself against attacks by neighboring Arab states and counter that reverting Israel's border to borders which existed before the Six-Day war would not allow Israel to have defensible borders.<ref>[http://www.defensibleborders.org/amidror.htm Defensible borders]</ref>
The Israeli government of Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] is openly opposed to the proposed "Palestinian" statehood and is threatening retaliatory action. US officials, notably Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] are also opposed.
In November 2012, "Palestine" was granted the status of a non-member observer state by the [[United Nations General Assembly]]. This move was applauded by the [[Holy See]].<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/29/vatican-palestinian-state_n_2215307.html?&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009]</ref>
==Criticism==
[[File:Palestinian.police.raised.hand.salute.Feb.1.2005.jpg|thumb|Palestinian police raised hand salute (Feb 1, 2005]]
[[File:Palestinian.Authority.on.infidels.June.2023.jpg|thumb|Palestinian Authority instructions to mosques on infidels (June 2023)<ref>Nan Jacques Zilberdik. [https://palwatch.org/page/34216 "The victory of Allah will come… in spite of the infidels” - PA Ministry of Religion’s instructions for mosque preachers], ''Palwatch'', Jun 23, 2023. [https://palwatch.org/Storage/Images/2023/Letter.jpg].<blockquote><small>Every week, the PA Ministry of Religious Affairs dictates talking points for all PA mosque preachers for the upcoming Friday sermon through a sheet of instructions. As Palestinian Media Watch has exposed, the preachers can’t freely choose their own subjects.
A recent example is the letter above. It instructs preachers to teach worshippers that "Almighty Allah?" will be victorious and “send His light in spite of the infidels.” The word "infidels" of course refers to the Jews in "Palestine" – which according to the PA includes all of the State of Israel... [PA Ministry of Religious Affairs, Facebook page, June 4, 2023].</small></blockquote></ref>]]
The '''Palestinian Authority''' is the governmental unit that governs the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]]. It was established in May 1994.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-authority-history-and-overview The Palestinian Authority: History & Overview]. ''Jewish Virtual Library''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestinian-Authority Palestinian Authority]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved August 20, 2018.</ref> In January 2013 president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] signed a presidential decree which officially changed the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "[[State of Palestine]]".<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-pa-changes-name-to-palestine-1.5288367 Palestinian Authority Officially Changes Name to 'State of Palestine']. ''Haaretz''. Retrieved August 21, 2018.</ref>
It has been noted (Aug/2021):<ref>Avi Kaner (@AviKaner) Tweeted:<blockquote>
==Christian minority==
[[File:Catholics in the West Bank.jpg|thumbnail|Catholics in the West Bank.]]
A large number of Christians are indigenous to "Palestine", and many of these are descended from the first Christians- the first Jews who chose to follow Christ and recognize him as the messiah. Also many Arameans, another Semitic group native to the area, accepted Christ very early on in the history of Christianity, and thus contribute a lot to the genetics of today's Christians in the Palestinian Authority, later joined over thousand years later by surviving European crusaders and their families after their defeat at the hands of the Islamic armies,<ref>http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2045/palestinian-christianity-myth</ref> when they blended into the native, Semitic Christian population.
There are Catholic and Orthodox Churches in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza]].
Many of the Christians have taken on "Palestinian" nationalism promoted by the nearby Arab states, regardless of the fact that "Palestinian" nationalism is heavily rooted in both Islamism and pan-Arabism, which reject human rights for Christians or recognition of the distinct non-Arab Semitic ethnicities, mainly Aramean or Jewish, to which most of them belong, mainly due to [[taqiyya]] or propaganda to advance an Islamic cause. Israel-hatred runs very deep for these Christians because of their loyalty to this Arab identity, and many of them even hate Jewish people as a whole regardless of the ethnic, and to a lesser extent, cultural, origins of many of their own. Additionally many of these Christians will take sides with people who express a deep hatred for their fellow Christians around the Middle East.<ref>[http://unitedwithisrael.org/poll-palestinians-greatest-supporters-of-isis-in-middle-east-2/ addref]</ref>
In many cases, the self-declared "Palestinian" government encourages demographic shifts in areas inhabited by minorities<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Christians#Persecutions</ref> (an example of this is the [[Samaritan Genocide]], a result of which only 300 [[Samaritans]] remain today in their traditional homeland in Samaria, the southern part of the West Bank) in one village (Kiryat Luza), in which there is an Israeli presence, responsible for protecting them from Arab ethnic cleansing. In [[Bethlehem]], Christians have become a small minority of the population under control of the Palestinian Authority.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem#Demographics</ref> In Israel, however, ethnic and religious minorities, in villages in which they historically formed the majority, have retained their status as the majority of the population in the vast majority of cases, a trend which shows no indication of changing in the future. Christians in Israel can even form their own political parties.<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/joseph-puder/israeli-christians-moving-in-a-new-direction/</ref>
Christy Anastas is a "Palestinian" Christian who speaks about persecution of Christians by the Palestinian Authority,<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzCAqXrBGtU</ref> an issue largely ignored by the western liberal media.
Though the Christians in the PA avoid saying so publicly, many of them fear – with good reason – that Muslim aggression against them will only escalate.<ref name=jp25dec2019/>
==See also==
*[[State Arab-Israeli conflict]]*[[Hamas]]*[[Israel]]*"[[Palestine]]", for the region*[[Palestinians]]*[[Yasser Arafat]]*[[Neturei Karta]]*[[List of States which recognize Palestine as an independent state.|List of states which recognize "Palestine" as an "independent state"]]
*[[Nazih Khatatba]]
*[[Palestinian child soldiers]]
[[Category:Palestine]]
[[Category:Disputed Territories]]
[[Category:Israeli Politics]]