Palestine

Palestine, 1988 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) declared independence in 1988. In 1993, the PLO signed the Oslo Accords with Israel, creating limited PLO governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through the Palestinian Authority (PA). In 2007, internal divisions between political factions led to a takeover of Gaza by Hamas. Since then, the West Bank has been governed in part by the Fatah-led PA, while the Gaza Strip has remained under the control of Hamas.

Seat of power: Jerusalem

Rulers

Yasser Arafat

president of the State of Palestine, 1989–2004

He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, President of Palestine from 1989 to 2004 and President of the Palestinian Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Arafat was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004.

Portrait of Yasser Arafat: Gideon Markowiz, CC BY 4.0, file

Mahmoud Abbas

president of the State of Palestine, 2005 to today

He has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) since 2005. Abbas was elected on 9 January 2005 to serve as President of the Palestinian National Authority until 15 January 2009, but extended his term until the next election (initially scheduled for 2010), citing the PLO constitution, and on 16 December 2009 was voted into office indefinitely by the PLO Central Council. As a result, Fatah's main rival, Hamas, initially announced that it would not recognize the extension or view Abbas as the rightful president.

Portrait of Mahmoud Abbas: kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, file

Culture

Palestine is a permanent non-member observer state at the United Nations (UN) and is recognized as a sovereign state by 157 of the UN's 193 member states.
The questions of Palestine's borders, legal and diplomatic status of Jerusalem, and the right of return of Palestinian refugees remain unsolved.
Arabic is the official language of the country. While the majority of Palestinians practice Islam, Christianity also has a presence.
Palestine is also a member of several international organizations, including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, UNESCO, and a delegation of parliamentarians sit at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Picture

The Church of the Nativity, or Basilica of the Nativity, is a basilica located in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine.

Image: Neil Ward, CC BY 2.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.