Documenting Palestine’s
history, geography, culture, and society
Scholars believe the name “Palestine” originally comes from the word “Philistia,” which refers to the Philistines who occupied part of the region in the 12th century B.C.
Throughout history, Palestine has been ruled by numerous groups, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Fatimids, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Egyptians, Mamelukes and Islamists.
From about 1517 to 1917, the Ottoman Empire ruled much of the region.
When World War I ended in 1918, the British took control of Palestine. The League of Nations issued a British mandate for Palestine—a document that gave Britain the responsibility of establishing a Jewish national homeland in Palestine—which went into effect in 1923.
Important Links
- About 1948. Lest We Forget
- Adalah
- Al Aqsa Foundation
- Alawda Mag
- Arab HRA
- Middle East Monitor
- Right Of Return Congress (ROR)
- Palestinian Return Centre (PRC)
- Palestine Remembered
- Al-Awda: The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition
- Badil
- Arabs 48
- United Nations Information System On the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL)
- Pengon: Friends of the Earth – Palestine
- Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA-OPT)
- Ittijah – Union of Arab Community Based Organizations
- Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
- Palestine Center – The Jerusalem Fund
- Palestine Chronicle
- Electronic Intifada
- Zochrot (“Remembering”)
- Stop The Wall Campaign
- Palestine Land Society
- Palestinian Journeys | timeline

































































