The recent history of Palestinians, especially since the 1940s, has been marked by confrontations, enforced segregation, overcrowding and massive geographic displacement throughout several Middle East regions.
Many Palestinians have emigrated to countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and several states of the Persian Gulf region in search of better living conditions. Victims of discrimination and police surveillance, few have been granted citizenship in these countries.
Their history has been different in Jordan, where they make up two-thirds of the total population. In the late1940s, the Jordanian monarchy granted them citizenship, in order to carry out its expansionist goals. There were serious confrontations with the recently created state of Israel, which occupied the West Bank and exerted its control over this Palestinian region. The Jordanian authorities carried out a policy of influence and control to manage the political future of the Palestinians. This Jordan to became the alleged spokesperson of the Palestinian cause.
In May 1950, the United Nations, which had already set up an agency to assist Palestinian refugees, reported the existence of 53 refugee camps in Jordan, the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon. Over 600,000 refugees lived there in difficult conditions, in tents shared by several families, receiving some basic services like water, health and education, but unable to overcome poverty.
The limited avenues of employment open to them depended on the efforts of the United Nations' agency, which attempted to integrate them in countries of the region.
The government of Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip from 1948 to 1967 with repressive and violent policies, denying citizen status to the Palestinians and only granting them a small share of power in the local administration. However, Palestinians were not prevented from attending Egyptian universities.
Presently, most of the territory's inhabitants live in poverty. The area is regarded as one of the most densely populated in the world. The unemployment rate is very high and the refugee camps are overcrowded. The land is depleted due to over-cropping and is completely useless for agricultural purposes.
Arab Israelis - some 150,000 people who, in 1948, chose not to emigrate from the newly created state of Israel - account for one-eighth of the Palestinian diaspora. Since many of their lands had been confiscated, they had to move to towns in Western Galilee and were forced to became unskilled workers - most had been farmers - hired by Israeli construction companies and industries.
In the Sixties, Palestinians witnessed the erosion of some of their traditions due to the exodus towards urban areas. The social system based on a clan led by an elder could not survive these changes.
Palestinians living in Israel were subject to the restraints of a military jurisdiction since 1966. They live under a very severe regime of restrictions which not only hampers political activity, but also harms civil rights and freedom of worship.
Even under these conditions, a number of Palestinians are politically neutral, while others accept the situation taking part in elections, education and the economy. Israeli policies have been aimed at preventing the development of a Palestinian national identity.
