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The term "Palestinian territories" -- as used by mainstream Western journalists -- is short for Palestinian non-sovereign territories, i.e., parts of the region of Palestine that have no recognized sovereignty, such as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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Some nationalists seek to found a new nation-state in these non-sovereign areas. They are chiefly Arabs indigenous to the region, and are either called "Palestinian Arabs" or (for short) Palestinians.
- Note: some writers dislike using the term Palestinians for the stateless Palestinian Arab nationalists referred to above, as they feel it connotes the view that Jewish, Christian, Druze, Bedouin and other residents of Palestine aren't "real Palestinians" (see usage of the term Palestinian ).
Because nearly all of these nationalists and their sympathizers, as well as the bulk of the United Nations Organization, consider these territiories to be under occupation by Israel, they frequently refer to them as the occupied Palestinian territories. This term connotes much more than a definition, but a host of related propositions that amount to an argument about the disposition of the land:
- that these territories are under military control of a nation that does not have sovereignty over them
- that the nation in control of these territories, i.e., Israel, is thus obliged (as a matter of right as well as by international law) to "return" these territories to their rightful owners
- that these territories belong by right to "the Palestinians", i.e., the stateless indigenous Arabs of the region of Palestine
The term Palestinian territories, used in a more general sense, simply refers to areas within the geographic region known from ancient times as " Palestine" (see definitions of Palestine).
See Arab-Israeli conflict.
1 Meanings of the term
Not all users of the term intend to convey the same meaning, which can lead to confusion. The term "Palestinian territory" is often obfuscated for political reasons--centrally that Israel naturally does not want to unilaterally compromise its own interests, by politically legitimizing any Palestinian claims to land within the boundaries of Israel. At times, the term "Israeli territory" will include the very land where Palestinian refugees currently live. Thus not all users of the term intend to convey the same meaning, which can lead to confusion:
- Many advocates use the term Palestinian territories to imply that these ought to belong to the Palestinian people -- or that they already do, either by right or by international law. In particular, the Palestine Liberation Organization has declared West Bank and Gaza Strip as such territories, following the Oslo Accords.
- Some journalists use the term merely to indicates lands where Palestinian ArabThere are three factors which may assist to varying degrees in determining whether someone is considered Arab or not: Political: whether they live in a country which is a member of the Arab League (or, more vaguely, the Arab World); this definition coverss dwell, outside the "green line," or Israel's border prior to 1967.
- Some Palestinian nationalists consider the land within Israel's de facto boundaries to be de jure part of " Palestine". Some advocates have claimed that maps used in schools under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority depict "Palestine" as consisting of all the territory between the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon, Syria, the Jordan River and Egypt -- including Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- though it has been argued that the maps referred to are geological and historical maps (which show regions and geographical features), rather than political maps (which show countries).
Often people refer to non-sovereign lands that are within the traditional boundaries of " Palestine", but outside the generally recognized borders of Jordan and Israel, as being "Palestinian territories". As mentioned above, since the late 1990s, this has included most of the Gaza Strip and large sections of the West Bank.
- This usage tends to convey a complex of ideas, chiefly the view that (1) there exists a Palestinian people who (2) deserve their own homeland which (3) ought to include Gaza and West Bank.
