The Palestinians
When people talk about the “Palestinians” today, they are usually referring to the population of the West Bank and Gaza. These are the two territories which, according to UN Resolution 181 II of 1947, are to form their own state.
However, the UN resolution does not refer to a “Palestinian state”, but to an “Arab state” – in contrast to the “Jewish state”, which was also agreed in the partition plan of Resolution 181 II. It is no coincidence that the UN chose the term “Arab state”. In the past, “Palestine” included not only Gaza and the West Bank but also present-day Israel and parts of present-day Jordan, where Palestinians also make up a large part of the population. Since 2011, “Palestine” has been a member of the UN sub-organization UNESCO, and the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO, which administers West Jordan, has enjoyed observer status in the UN General Assembly since 2012. However, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state has so far failed due to the unsuccessful negotiations with Israel that began in 1993.
The various Palestinian and other Arab terrorist organizations, which deny Israel’s right to exist and fight Israel with terrorist means, are a decisive obstacle on the path to peaceful coexistence between the Arab and Jewish states agreed by the UN in 1947. The search for a solution for a Palestinian state has also been made more difficult, especially recently, by the increasing number of settlers in the West Bank who have settled there with the support of right-wing nationalist and ultra-Orthodox government circles.
