Israel
destroyed this Palestinian boy's
home. He now is a refugee and lives in a refugee camp.
Click on the picture to read his story.
Before W.W.I
many countries now in the
Middle East were one country called the Ottoman Empire. After W.W.I,
many
smaller countries were formed and all of them gained independence
except for Palestine, which became a British territory.
After that, many Jewish people from Europe started moving to
Palestine because Hitler was chasing them out of Europe and
Palestine was
historically the place the Jewish culture came from. At first,
everybody was
happy because it looked like the Jewish people could have their own
country. However, there was one problem. There was already a country
there. It was called Palestine and the people are called
'Palestinians.'.
Soon, there were so many people from Europe that the
Palestinians were unhappy and wanted to have their own separate
country. They rebelled against England in 1937, but weren't able to
gain independence. After W.W.II, more European Jewish people came
to Palestine, many strait from the concentration camps. In 1948,
the Jewish people from Europe fought and formed their own country
calling it 'Israel'. Israel took about 80 percent of the land, so many
of
the Palestinians had to become refugees and go to other countries to
live.
It was very hard for them to survive. Ever since
then, the new country made by the people from Europe, Israel, and the
people who lived their first, the Palestinians, have been fighting.
It
is a very complicated problem. On the one hand, the Palestinian
refugees living in nearby countries and the ones who stayed have the
right to their own country with their own government. On the
other hand, Israel and the Jewish people also have a right to live
there and cannot simply give away land and cities to a new Palestinian
country. At present, many of the Palestinians live in a special area
with other Palestinians, but work in the cities of Israel. In this way,
they are dependent on each other.
Separating would be very difficult even if everybody agreed.
Many people say this problem has caused all the other
problems in the Middle East. Many people even say this problem is the
real cause of many problems far away from the Middle East, including
the attacks of 9/11.
What happened the other 20 percent of the land in 1948? It
still
doesn't have a name. Some
people call it 'The Occupied Territories' Some people call it
'Palestine'.
"
'The Occupied Territories' are actually two different areas: the
large area on the east
called 'The West Bank', and the small area next to the Mediterranean
Sea called 'The Gaza Strip'.
The marks are checkpoints inside the occupied territories. If a Palestinian person wants to
travel to another city, they must have permission from the Israeli Army
guards.
