49 Fun Facts About Palestine

Which black-and-white checkered headdress, worn by Yasser Arafat, became a symbol of Palestinian identity?

The keffiyeh spread during the 1936–39 Arab Revolt, when rebel leaders ordered all men to wear it so the authorities couldn't pick out the fighters.

Which city serves as the de facto administrative centre of the Palestinian government?

Ramallah's Mukataa compound, where Israeli forces confined Yasser Arafat for more than two and a half years, became his burial place in 2004.

Which ancient manuscripts did Bedouin shepherds find in caves at Qumran, in the West Bank?

In 1954 four Dead Sea Scrolls were offered for sale in a Wall Street Journal advertisement, and Yigael Yadin secretly bought them for Israel through a middleman.

Which Greek historian gave the earliest surviving written use of 'Palestine' as a region, in the 5th century BCE?

Herodotus wrote Palaistine; after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE, Rome renamed its province of Judaea as Syria Palaestina.

Which Palestinian-American literary critic wrote Orientalism, the influential 1978 study of how the West portrayed the East?

Edward Said, an accomplished pianist, co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with conductor Daniel Barenboim in 1999, uniting young Israeli and Arab musicians.

Which West Bank city, lying about 250 metres below sea level, is among the lowest cities on Earth?

Jericho grew beside the copious spring of 'Ain es-Sultan, and by about 8000 BCE its settlers had built a massive wall and tower around the town.

Which tree do many Palestinians see as a symbol of their connection to the land?

Olive: at the UN in 1974, Yasser Arafat told delegates he had come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun, and urged them not to let the branch fall.

Which street artist opened the Walled Off Hotel in 2017, directly facing Israel's separation barrier?

Banksy described it as having 'the worst view of any hotel in the world'; it closed after the 7 October 2023 attacks and reopened in December 2025.

What do Palestinians call the mass displacement and dispossession they suffered during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war?

The Nakba means 'catastrophe' in Arabic, and in December 1948 the UN General Assembly's Resolution 194 called for the refugees' return and compensation.

Which West Bank desert gorge is home to the cliff-hanging Monastery of St George?

Wadi Qelt's Monastery of St George was destroyed by the Persians in 614, abandoned after the Crusaders left, and restored by Greek monks in the late 19th century.

Which fruit became a Palestinian protest symbol, used in place of the national flag?

Watermelon: when Israeli authorities shut an art gallery in 1980, an officer warned the artists that even a watermelon painted in the flag's colours would be confiscated.

Which 1917 letter to Lord Rothschild pledged support for 'a national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine?

The Balfour Declaration was written into the League of Nations' 1922 Mandate for Palestine, turning a wartime pledge into a duty of the ruling mandatory power.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which country occupied and later annexed the West Bank?

Transjordan, renamed Jordan in 1949, annexed the West Bank in 1950, but in 1988 Jordan severed its ties with the territory and gave up its claim.

Where did the PLO move its headquarters after leaving Beirut in 1982?

Tunis: in October 1985 Israeli jets struck PLO headquarters near the city, and the UN Security Council condemned the raid as armed aggression against Tunisia.

Which Palestinian poet wrote the 1988 declaration proclaiming the State of Palestine?

Mahmoud Darwish joined the PLO's executive committee in 1987 but resigned in 1993 in opposition to the Oslo Accords.

Which Israeli politician's September 2000 visit to the Temple Mount was followed by riots that grew into the Second Intifada?

Ariel Sharon, long a champion of Israeli settlements, became prime minister in 2001 and in 2005 pulled Israeli settlers and troops out of the Gaza Strip.

Which Israeli prime minister signed the Oslo II Accord with Yasser Arafat in 1995?

Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated weeks later, in November 1995, by Yigal Amir, an Israeli who opposed the Oslo Accords on religious grounds.

Which UN agency, created in 1949, runs schools and health clinics for Palestinian refugees?

UNRWA was meant as a temporary relief agency, but because no political solution for the refugees came, its mandate grew into education and health care.

On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly upgraded Palestine to what status?

After gaining non-member observer state status, Palestine joined the International Criminal Court in 2015; Israel is not a party to the court and disputes its jurisdiction.

In May 2024, which EU country recognised the State of Palestine jointly with Spain and Norway?

Ireland's recognition was announced jointly with Spain and Norway, and Israel responded by recalling its ambassadors to all three countries for consultations.

Which secular party, co-founded by Yasser Arafat, led the Palestinian Authority from its creation in 1994?

Fatah lost its parliamentary majority to Hamas in 2006, and in June 2007 Hamas fighters took complete control of the Gaza Strip.

Who became president of the State of Palestine in 2005?

Mahmoud Abbas's presidential term expired in 2009, yet in 2021 he postponed what would have been the first national elections in 15 years.

Which West Bank city is home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, believed to hold the tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

Hebron was split by the 1997 Hebron Protocol, which handed most of the city to Palestinian control while Israeli authorities kept the rest.

Which court ruled in a 2004 advisory opinion that Israel's West Bank barrier breaks international law?

The International Court of Justice said Israel must stop building the barrier, dismantle its parts inside occupied territory and pay reparation.

In which South American country does Club Deportivo Palestino, founded by Palestinian immigrants in 1920, play top-flight football?

Chile's football federation banned Palestino's shirts and fined the club in 2014, after the number 1 was reshaped into a map of pre-1948 Palestine.

Which West Bank city, funded largely by Qatar, was the first planned city built for Palestinians?

Rawabi's first 650 apartments were sold but stood empty for over a year while water talks stalled, until Israel agreed to a water connection in 2015.

Which tiny religious community regards Mount Gerizim, in the West Bank, as its holiest site?

Samaritans often marry within their extended families, so to widen a small gene pool some men have been allowed to marry women from outside the community.

Which church did Palestinian gunmen shelter in during a 39-day Israeli siege in 2002?

The Church of the Nativity standoff ended when 13 of the wanted men were flown into exile in Europe and 26 others were sent to Gaza.

What is the Arabic name for Palestinian embroidery, added to UNESCO's heritage list in 2021?

Tatreez turned political in the First Intifada: with the Palestinian flag banned in public, women stitched its colours and symbols into 'intifada dresses'.

Which line dance, danced to the mijwiz and tablah, is a fixture of Palestinian weddings?

Dabke's stamping, legend says, began as roof repair: villagers linked hands in a line and stomped a cracked mud roof back into place.

Which Palestinian singer won Arab Idol and became known for renditions of traditional songs?

Mohammed Assaf, stuck at Egypt's Rafah crossing, reportedly arrived after auditions had closed, jumped over the wall, and was handed another Palestinian contestant's slot.

Which stringed instrument, alongside the qanun zither, is central to traditional Palestinian music?

The oud's Arabic name, al-'ud, meaning 'the wood', passed through Old French to give English its word 'lute'.

Which 2005 film follows two Palestinian childhood friends recruited for a suicide attack in Tel Aviv?

Paradise Now's location manager was kidnapped by a Palestinian group during filming and was freed after Yasser Arafat's office stepped in.

Which cartoonist created Handala, the barefoot refugee boy?

Naji al-Ali was shot outside a London newspaper office in 1987, and in 2017 the Metropolitan Police reopened the unsolved murder with a fresh appeal.

In January 2024, Palestine's men's football team reached which tournament's knockout stage for the first time?

The AFC Asian Cup run came in wartime: unable to host games, Palestine had played its home World Cup qualifier against Australia in Kuwait.

Which chicken dish, roasted over taboon bread with onions, sumac and pine nuts, comes from the Jenin area?

Musakhan means 'reheated', a name said to come from farmers warming stale taboon bread under the chicken so none went to waste.

The cheese-filled knafeh served all over the Middle East originated in which Palestinian city?

Nablus fills its knafeh with the city's white nabulsi cheese, while Gaza's nut-and-spice rival is rarely found outside the strip, since Israel restricts its exports.

Which spice blend of dried wild herbs, toasted sesame and sumac is a Palestinian breakfast staple?

Za'atar has a folk reputation as brain food, so Palestinian children are often urged to eat it at breakfast before school or exams.

Palestinian tea is usually flavoured with mint or which other herb?

Sage is maramiyya in Arabic, a name said to honour the Virgin Mary, who in legend rested by a sage bush while fleeing King Herod.

Which folded pancake dessert is sold by street vendors across Palestinian towns during Ramadan?

Qatayef-making becomes a seasonal trade in Gaza each Ramadan, as hundreds of Palestinians short of work under the blockade sell the pancakes for extra income.

Which Bedouin-rooted lamb-and-rice dish topped with jameed yogurt is cooked for West Bank weddings and holidays?

Mansaf is said to have begun as meat and broth poured over bread, because imported rice was once a luxury unknown to the Bedouin.

Which Muslim leader's 1187 conquest ended almost a century of Crusader control of Jerusalem?

Saladin let Jerusalem's Christians ransom themselves instead of massacring them, enslaving those who could not pay, and the city's fall set off the Third Crusade.

At which 1260 battle did the Mamluks push back the first Mongol advance into Palestine?

The Mongol raiders were led by the Nestorian Christian general Kitbuqa.

Which animal at Qalqilya Zoo died after panicking at gunfire during the second intifada, and was later stuffed?

The giraffe hit its head and fell, and his pregnant mate miscarried; vet Sami Khadr, a self-taught taxidermist, stuffed the giraffe.

Under the Oslo II Accord, which zone covers most of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control?

Area C, about 60 percent of the West Bank, was meant to pass gradually to Palestinian jurisdiction under the accord, but that transfer never happened.

Which company discovered the offshore Gaza Marine field in 2000?

British Gas Group made the find, but Shell, which inherited its stake by buying BG, gave the rights up in 2018 with the field still undeveloped.

Which US president landed at Gaza International Airport weeks after it opened?

Bill Clinton's 1998 landing was hailed as a step toward statehood, but the airport shut after the second intifada began, and Israeli bulldozers tore up its runway in 2001.

What agreement with Israel bars the Palestinian Authority from issuing its own currency?

The Paris Protocol also has Israel collect import taxes on the Palestinian Authority's behalf, money Israel has frozen in disputes.

Which Palestinian village's ancient farming terraces became an endangered World Heritage Site in 2014?

Battir's eight main families still share water from a Roman-era irrigation system, and the listing came as Israel's separation barrier was set to cross the valley.