Palestine

Originally, palestine was a geographical term describing an ever-shifting area between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River Valley. First controlled by the Romans, it was then ruled by successive empires. By the time of Ottoman control, Palestine was no longer a distinct territory. Palestine reemerged during World War I, denoting an area similar to historic Palestine that was seized from the Ottoman Empire and occupied by Britain in 1917. In 1920, Britain was given the Mandate for Palestine, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration promising the area to both the Jewish people and Palestinians. In the void left by the 1948 British withdrawal, the state of Israel was declared, and subsequent political and military events effectively ended Palestine's existence as a geographically defined entity. Although various ...