The History of
Palestine: From Ancient
Roots to the Nakba

The earliest documented history of Palestine begins with the Canaanite civilization (c. 3000 BCE), a Semitic people who built city-states across the region. Their language is the ancestor of both Hebrew and Arabic, and their descendants are the indigenous population of today’s Palestine.

Canaanite Cities

Major Canaanite city-states included Jericho (one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, 10,000+ years), Gaza, Ashkelon, Megiddo, and Shechem (modern Nablus). DNA studies confirm that today’s Palestinians are the direct genetic descendants of these ancient inhabitants.

The Name “Palestine”

The name derives from the Philistines, an Aegean-origin people who settled the coastal plain in the 12th century BCE. In 135 CE, after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed the province “Syria Palaestina” — officially replacing “Judea” and cementing the name Palestine in history.

Roman & Byzantine Periods (63 BCE – 637 CE)

Under Roman rule, Palestine was a province of strategic importance. The Second Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. After the Christianization of the Roman Empire, Palestine became a center of pilgrimage, with the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (4th century) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem among the earliest Christian structures ever built.

In 637 CE, Hazrat Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) received the peaceful surrender of Jerusalem. His covenant guaranteed Christians full religious rights — a model of tolerance that stood in stark contrast to the Roman and Crusader eras.

Islamic Golden Age (637 – 1099)

The Umayyad Caliphate built the Dome of the Rock (691 CE) — the oldest surviving Islamic monument in the world — and expanded Al-Aqsa Mosque. Under Abbasid and Fatimid rule, Palestinian cities flourished as centers of trade, scholarship, and pilgrimage.

Crusader Period (1099 – 1187)

In 1099, European Crusaders massacred the entire population of Jerusalem — Muslims, Jews, and even Eastern Christians. For 88 years, Palestine was under brutal Crusader rule. In 1187, Salahuddin Ayyubi liberated Jerusalem after the Battle of Hattin, offering the defeated Crusaders safe passage — a striking contrast to the earlier slaughter.

Ottoman Period (1517 – 1917)

For 400 years, Palestine was administered by the Ottoman Empire, divided into the districts of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. The population remained predominantly Arab Muslim (85–90%), with significant Christian communities and a small Jewish minority (3–5% in the 1800s) who were fully integrated into local life. Ottoman land reforms in the late 19th century inadvertently facilitated Zionist land purchases.

The British Mandate period is where the great betrayal unfolded. Britain made contradictory promises to Arabs and Zionists, setting the stage for the Palestinian catastrophe that followed.

The Balfour Declaration (1917)

On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent a letter promising “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The declaration referred to the native Arab population (92% of inhabitants) merely as “existing non-Jewish communities” with only “civil and religious rights” — no political or national rights whatsoever.

The Double Betrayal

• 1915–16 Hussein-McMahon Correspondence: Britain promised Arab independence, including Palestine.
• 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement: Secret British-French deal dividing Ottoman territories — Palestine under international control.
• 1917 Balfour Declaration: Britain promised Palestine to Zionists.
• 1922 League of Nations Mandate: Balfour Declaration legally enshrined, Jewish immigration facilitated.

The 1936–39 Arab Revolt

Palestinians launched the Great Arab Revolt — a six-month general strike (the longest in Arab history) demanding an end to Zionist immigration and land transfers. Britain crushed the revolt with overwhelming force: 5,000+ Palestinians killed, 10,000+ wounded, and the Palestinian leadership decimated through execution, imprisonment, and exile.

In 1947, exhausted Britain handed the Palestine question to the United Nations. The result was UN Resolution 181 — a partition plan that allocated the majority of Palestinian land to a minority Jewish population, igniting a civil war that would culminate in the Nakba.

UN Partition Plan — The Numbers

India was among the 13 countries that voted against partition, advocating instead for a federal, unified Palestine with equal rights for all citizens.

Plan Dalet & Ethnic Cleansing

In March 1948, the Haganah (main Zionist militia) adopted Plan Dalet — a systematic military plan to capture Palestinian villages, expel their inhabitants, and destroy them to prevent return. Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has documented this as a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing.

The Deir Yassin Massacre (9 April 1948)

Zionist militias (Irgun and Lehi) attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing 107–254 unarmed villagers — men, women, and children. Survivors were paraded through Jerusalem. The massacre triggered mass panic, causing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee. Zionist radio stations deliberately amplified the horror to accelerate the exodus.

“Nakba” means “Catastrophe” in Arabic. In 1948, more than half of Palestine’s Arab population was forcibly displaced, their villages systematically destroyed, and their property confiscated. The Nakba is not a single event — it is the ongoing process of Palestinian dispossession.

The Scale of Displacement

Key Massacres (1947–1948)

Massacre	Date	Estimated Victims
Deir Yassin	9 Apr 1948	107–254
Al-Tantura	22 May 1948	40–200
Lydda (Lod)	11 Jul 1948	250+
Al-Dawayima	29 Oct 1948	80–200
Safsaf	29 Oct 1948	50–70
Saliha	30 Oct 1948	60–94

Lydda Death March (July 1948)

Future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin executed the expulsion order for 50,000–70,000 residents of Lydda and Ramle. Families were forced to march in July heat without food, water, or shelter. Rabin later acknowledged in his autobiography that Ben-Gurion’s order was simply: “Expel them!”

UN Resolution 194 — Right of Return

In December 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194, affirming that refugees “wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.” Israel has refused to implement this resolution for over 75 years. Today, 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees continue to await justice.

The 1967 Six-Day War (known in Arabic as “Naksa” — the “Setback”) resulted in Israel’s occupation of the remaining Palestinian territories: the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, along with Syria’s Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai. This occupation continues today and has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.

Timeline Since 1967

• 1967 Naksa (Six-Day War): Israel seizes West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Golan Heights, and Sinai. 400,000+ additional Palestinians displaced.
• 1967–present Settlement Expansion: 700,000+ Israeli settlers now live illegally in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
• 1987–1993 First Intifada: Palestinian mass uprising against occupation — stones, strikes, and grassroots resistance.
• 1993 Oslo Accords: PLO recognizes Israel; Palestinian Authority established; final status issues deferred indefinitely.
• 2000–2005 Second Intifada: 3,000+ Palestinians and 1,000+ Israelis killed after Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to Al-Aqsa.
• 2005 Gaza “Disengagement”: Israel removes 8,000 settlers from Gaza but retains full control of borders, airspace, and sea.
• 2007–present Gaza Blockade: Complete Israeli-Egyptian closure — 2.3 million people trapped in an “open-air prison.”
• 2008–2025 Wars on Gaza: Five major military offensives — 50,000+ Palestinians killed in 2023–25 alone.
• 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion: Israel’s occupation ruled illegal; settlements must be evacuated; reparations owed.
• 2024 ICC Arrest Warrants: Issued for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Peace Process That Never Was

The Oslo Accords (1993–1995) were presented as a path to peace, but instead they institutionalized Israeli control. The West Bank was divided into Areas A (18%, Palestinian administration), B (22%, joint), and C (60%, full Israeli control). Settlement expansion doubled after Oslo. The “peace process” became a mechanism for managing occupation rather than ending it.

The Ongoing Nakba

For Palestinians, the Nakba never ended. It continues through settlement expansion, home demolitions, land confiscation, administrative detention, and the siege of Gaza. Yet Palestinians have responded with Sumud — steadfastness. Over 14 million Palestinians worldwide maintain their identity, culture, and unbroken connection to their homeland.