 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The Flag of Palestine. Colors: Red, Black, White and Green. Sharif Hussein deigned the current flag as the flag of the Arab revolt on June 10th,1916. The Palestinian people raised it as the flag the Arab national movement in 1917. In 1947, the Arab Ba'ath Party interpreted the flag as a symbol of the liberation and unity of the Arab nation. The Palestinian people re-adopted the flag at the Palestinian conference in Gaza in 1948. The flag was recognized by the Arab league as the flag of the Palestinian People. Further endorsed by the Palestinian Liberation Army in 1964 at the Palestinian conference in Jerusalem. BLACK The Prophet Muhammad, 570-632 In the 7th century, with the rise of Islam and subsequent liberation of Mecca, two flags -one white, one black - were carried. On the white flag was written, "There is no God but God (Allah) and Muhammad is the Prophet of God." In pre-Islamic times the color black was worn into battle as a sign of revenge. Both black and White were placed in the Mosque during Friday prayers. The Abbasid dynasty (750-1258), ruling from Baghdad, took black as a symbol of mourning for the assassination of relatives of the Prophet and in remembrance of the Battle of Karbala. WHITE The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750), Damascus The Umayyads ruled for ninety years, taking white as there symbolic color as a reminder of the Prophet's first battle at Badr, and to distinguish themselves from the Abbasids , by using white, rather than black, as there color of mourning. Mu'awia Ibn Abi-Sufian (661-680), founder of the Umayyad state, proclaimed himself Caliph of Jerusalem. GREEN The Fatimid Dynasty (909-1171), North Africa The Fatmid dynasty was founded in Morocco by Adbullah al-Mahdi, and went on to rule all of North Africa. They took green as their color, to symbolize their allegiance to Ali, the prophet's cousin, who was once wrapped in a green coverlet in place of the Prophet in order to thwart an assassination attempt. Green was used continuously until the rule of Salah al-Din (Saladin) al-Ayoubi, who briefly used yellow during the confrontation with the crusaders. RED Andalusia (756-1355) The Khawarij were the first Islamic group to emerge after the assignation of Caliph Uthman III, forming the first republican party in the early days of Islam. Their symbol was the red flag. Arab tribes that participated in the conquest of North Africa and Andalusia carried the red flag, which became the symbol of the Islamic rulers of Andalusia (756-1355). In Modern times, red symbolizes the Ashrafs of the Hijaz and the Hashemites, descendants of the Prophet. |
 |
 |
| Jerusalem {juh-roo'-suh-lem} (Arabic:Baitul-Maqdis), the capital of Palestine, is 55 km (35 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea. Jerusalem is the third holiest place in Islam due to the Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques (seen above dominating the city view and leaving a strong Islamic identity.) The first inhabitants of the city were Arab Canaanites, about 5,000 years ago. In 638, Jerusalem was brought peacefully under Muslim control at the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Khalifa of the Muslims. The Islamic ruling was welcomed by Jews and Christians who had formerly been living under the tyrannical Byzantine yoke. In 1099, European Christendom launched the Crusade wars. Crusaders occupied the city. During the occupation massacres and great injustices were committed against the Muslim, Jewish and native Christian residents of the area. After 88 years, the Muslims under the leadership of Salah al-Din Al-Ayyubi, a Kurd, brought the city again under Islamic control, and it remained so until the year 1917 when the British occupied Jerusalem. It became the capital of mandated PALESTINE from 1923 until 1948. In 1967, the Jews occupied the entire city with the help of the British, and since then Jerusalem has been under the Zionist occupation. |
| Al Quds - Jerusalem |
 |
|
|
|
| Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet |
 |
|