About Palestine

Palestine is a wonderful place. The people are warm and friendly, the hospitality second to none, the landscape beautiful, the history fascinating, and the food - well, delicious! Friendship and twinning for these reasons alone would be understandable. But there is particular significance for British people and groups who want to build friendship links with Palestinians - Britain has had a historic role in shaping the place and conflict we know today.

Britain’s historical role in Palestine

Britain was active in Palestine – mainly commercially –during the 400 years of Ottoman rule. British interest became more acute during World War 1. On 2 November 1917 the British Government promised to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, without consulting the indigenous Arab Palestinians, at that time around 90% of the population.  After WW1,  Britain acquired the League of Nations Mandate, and became responsible for the "welfare and development" of the Palestinian Arab people, which meant guiding them to independence. This was "a sacred trust of civilisation" incumbent on Britain under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Britain also inserted the Balfour Declaration into the Mandate. For a period, the British Government encouraged Jewish immigration into Palestine. From the beginning, the Palestinian majority struggled against the denial by Britain of representative government and their increasing dispossession. Between 1936-1939 many participated in a national uprising which British troops suppressed.  By the end of the revolt 10% of the adult male Palestinian population had been killed, injured, imprisoned or sent into exile.  Britain abandoned Palestine in 1948 in a state of chaos and civil war between Palestinians and Jews, handing the crisis to the United Nations.  The Palestinian Arabs lacked organisation,  trained men and arms. By contrast, with tacit British Government support,  a strong Jewish military force had been created. This was instrumental in enabling Israel to declare its independence and win the war which followed, when the armies of neighbouring Arab states intervened. That intervention was intended to help the Palestinian Arabs, but these states were militarily weak and had conflicting agendas. The Israeli army also expelled from their new state  about 750,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes, who have not yet been able to return. 

After the State of Israel was established in 1948, successive Israeli governments, in contravention of international law and without effective pressure from Britain and other countries to do otherwise, prevented these refugees from returning home. There are now more than 7 million Palestinian refugees in camps or living in exile around the world.  In 1967, Israel occupied what remained of Mandate Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem) and has, to date, transferred 650,000 of its own population into illegal settlements on Palestinian land, in breach of international law and without Britain or other countries doing anything to prevent this. Although successive British governments have condemned Israel’s actions, none has taken significant action to address these breaches of international law or the continued violation of Palestinian rights.

Today - how friendship and twinning in Palestine helps

By building friendship and twinning links with communities and groups in Palestine, British people create personal ties, and have the option to express solidarity and work to right a historical wrong. Friendship and twinning enableBritish communities and groups to forge long lasting friendships and learn more about the lives of Palestinians living under occupation.  

For their part,  Palestinians can tell their own stories in their own words. They can share their personal experiences of the continued theft of their land and water, of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons, of the 13 year continuing siege of Gaza and the restrictions the Israeli occupation places on their freedom of movement. They are also able to share the happy and momentous occasions in their lives, and their rich culture and heritage, with people here who may not otherwise get to learn of it. The knowledge we gain from our friendships with Palestinian communities equips us to raise awareness in our own communities of how we can help to alleviatethe Palestinian plight.

You can find more information, reading and learning resources about all aspects of life in Palestine below. By clicking each heading you’ll see a list of different websites, resources and groups. Anything in bold type is a weblink. We don’t want to reinvent the brilliant work that so many organisations and people are doing - instead we hope you find the lists useful as a reference, or as starting place for anyone wanting to learn more about Palestine, its people, culture and history. Please contact us if there’s a link or resource you’d like to add to the lists below.