Palestinian Maps Omitting Israel

The maps of “Palestine” distributed by the Palestinian Authority and other PA elements are an important and tangible method of instilling fundamentally negative messages relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These include ignoring the existence of the State of Israel, and denying the bond between the Jewish people and the Holy Land; the obligation to fulfill the Palestinian “right of return”; the continuation of the “armed struggle” for the “liberation” of all of “Palestine”, and perpetuating hatred of the State of Israel. Hence, significant changes in the maps of “Palestine” would be an important indicator of a real willingness by the Palestinians to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state and to arrive at a negotiated settlement based on the existence of two states, Israel and Palestine, as envisaged by President George W. Bush in the Road Map.

No Green Lines

Below are examples of maps depicting “Palestine” as a single entity without marking the “green line,” (as well as examples of omitting Israel and referring to “Palestine” as a single entity in Palestinian textbooks) which were circulated by various bodies.

“Al-Tarbiyah al-Wataniyyah” (“National Education”) for the 3rd grade,
page 49, academic year 2002-2003

“The Geography of Palestine” for 7th grade, academic year 2001-2002

A map of “Palestine” circulated by Hamas. Data regarding the Palestinian diaspora and the refugee camps current for 2000 appears on the right. This same map was seen hanging in the home of the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (CNN, 6 September 2003).

Instilling political messages through art: an embroidered map of “Palestine” found during Operation Defensive Shield

The Palestinian traditional costume map based on a 1945 map of “Palestine.”
This map was published in 2001 by “the Center for Palestinian Heritage” in Bethlehem led by Maha Al-Saqa

 

Green Line Without Israel

The following maps of “Palestine” are unusual because the “green line” is marked, but there is no mention of Israel's name. The cities appearing in the area west of the “green line” omit Jewish-Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Rishon Le'Zion, Natanya, Hadera, Holon, Bat Yam, and Eilat. The cities mentioned in Israeli territory west of the “green line” are those that up until 1948 were distinctly Arab-Palestinian (namely Acre, Nazareth, Beit She'an, Lod, Ramla, Jaffa, Beersheba) or cities that have a mixed Jewish-Arabic population. Especially notable is the fact that Tel Aviv is not mentioned at all and Jaffa is referenced instead. These are common characteristics of maps disseminated throughout the PA areas.

The map appears on page 4 of a book published by
the PA Central Bureau of Statistics , Ramallah, June 2001

“Al-Tarbiyah Al-Wataniyyah” (“Natioal Education”) 3rd-grade textbook,
2002-2003 academic year, page 3.

 

The Palestinian Flag

The messages regarding the right of the Palestinian people to all of “Palestine” are disseminated through icons. To demonstrate the message of “Palestine” as a single Palestinian entity extending from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean sea, miniature maps of Palestine adorned with the colors of the Palestinian flag or bound by it, are circulated throughout the PA areas and beyond. Following are some examples.

A map of “Palestine” integrated into the Palestinian flag appearing on a plaque awarded to the student Raba Al-Masri from A-Najah University in Nablus by the “Islamic Bloc” (the Hamas student movement). She was awarded the plaque on the occasion of her graduation from the department of journalism in the faculty of Humanities. The plaque was captured during Operation Defensive Shield (a documentary photographed by CNN, 6 September 2003,- depicts Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the Hamas leader, sitting in his office against the background of a map of Palestine in the colors of the Palestinian flag.)

A map of “Palestine” integrated into the Palestinian flag on a plaque awarded to Yihyeh (Hasan Abdallah) Yakhluf (1999), the deputy (head) of the Palestinian Culture Ministry, in appreciation of his “unique” support of the PA and UNRWA summer camps. The plaque was awarded to him by the “Jerusalem and Jericho areas summer-camps-and-schools supervising committee” (on the left). On the right hand side: the UNRWA logo.

 

The flag of “Palestine” next to a rifle emerging from the word “Hamas” Source: Hamas magazine “ Filisteen Almuslima ” (currently printed in Lebanon and circulated from the U.K.), December 1993 issue. The map was attached to the above magazine to mark the entry to the seventh anniversary of both the first Intifada and the establishment of the Hamas.

 

The Refugees

Maps of “Palestine” that include names of Arab villages abandoned during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, data concerning Palestinian refugees in the “diaspora,” and the administrative division of Palestine during the British mandate period, play a tangible role in inculcating the value of the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees, and in intensifying hatred towards Israel. These maps are published by the PA, the Hamas Movement, academic institutions, and entities and associations operating in the PA areas. Messages instilling the “right of return” are also incorporated into the curriculum of the PA education system.

The map was published by Bir Zeit University - “Palestinian Society Studies and
Documentation Center” in cooperation with the PA “Ministry of Planning and
International Cooperation”, 1999; second and revised edition; scale: 1:300,000

The map was drawn by Mundhir Khaled Mustafa Abu Khidhr,
(a Palestinian cartographer working with the “Palestinian Geographic Center” of the
PA Ministry of Transportation.) Year of publication – 2001, scale: 1:250,000.

A second edition of a map distributed by the “Arab Studies Society”
in Jerusalem, an association belonging to the “Orient House”
(the second edition was issued in 1990; the first in 1988).

 

Source: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S)