Palestine,
currently under
occupation, is located on the East coast of the
Miditerannean Sea, West of Jordan and to the south of
Lebanon. The territory of Palestine covers around 10,435
square miles (almost same size as the state of Vermont in
the USA - that is, pretty small.)
Out of this territory, there are 10,163 square miles of
land area. The rest is water: half of the area of the Dead
Sea (al-BaHr al-Mayyit), Huleh Lake (BuHayrat al-Huuleh)
which was dried by the occupation and Tiberias Lake (BuHayrat
Tabariyyah) which is also known as the Sea of Galilee (BaHr
al-jaliil).
Topography and Terrain:
Palestine can be divided into four main distinct regions:
- Coastal and Inner Plains:
These are among the best fertile land in Palestine and
elsewhere, with adequate resources of irrigation (from
rainfall and underground water). They are where most
of the Palestinian citrus groves used to stand. The
coastal stretch is divided by Jabal al-Karmel (Mount
Carmel) into the plain of Akka (Acre) and the plain of
Palestine (also called Saruunah). The inner part
consists, largely, of Marj bin 3aamir. This one is
triangular in shape, with Jenin and Nazareth (An-NaaSirah)
as its base and the SE edge of the Akka plain as its
sharp corner.
- The Mountains and Hills:
This part is largely rocky but has terraces which make
it suitable for a number of trees. Olives is one of
the most planted trees in these regions. There are
almonds, apples and others. Also, there are patches of
plains scattered around in this region and these are
fully utilized: they are planted wheat, barely,
lentils .. in Winter and vegetables during the Summer
(mostly tomatoes, melons, maize and other vegetation
that stands the hot weather). Mountains are located in
al-Jaliil (Galilee), al-Karmel, Nablus and Hebron
areas.
- The Jordan Valley and Ghawr:
This is well below sea level, hence the name ghawr,
with very good soil but very little water resources.
Agriculture there depends on irrigation either from
local streams or the Jordan River. Due to its climate,
that region used to produce summer vegetables in late
Winter stretching the availability of fresh produce
before electricity and refregerators. The two lakes
are at the northern edge of this region.
- The Southern Desert:
This region comprises almost half of the land of
Palestine. It is also triangular in shape. The base is
fertile and the rest, with its apex near the town of
Aqaba, is poor with scattered patches of regions
suitable for cultivation. Bi'r as-Sab' (renamed
Beersheba by the occupation) is the main town in that
region.
Population:
There has never been an accurate official census in
Palestine since the roots of the recent aggression. Hadawi
states that at the end of 1918 (WW1), there were 700,000
people living in Palestine. These were divided into
574,000 Muslims, 70,000
Christians and 56,000 Jews. Almost
all the Palestinian Christians are Arabs and most of the
Jews as well (up to around 1900 AD). These numbers check
positively with the estimate that only 6% to 7% of the
total Palestinian population was Jewish right after the
first Zionist congress in Basel. It is also consistent
with what David Newman's statement that: between 1800 and 1945, The Jewish Population of
Palestine increased from approximately 25,000 to
600,000,
eventually comprising some 33 per cent of the country's
population. |
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