MEPC provides free, highly acclaimed, non-partisan workshops on the Middle East and Islam across the U.S. Our education director Barbara Petzen will come to your school, organization or conference with innovative strategies for teaching these complex topics. We tailor workshops to your specific needs
Arab Culture & Civilization
Explore this exemplary library of articles and resources on Arab societies and culture. This site was originally created by the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE).
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have lived under Israeli occupation since 1967. The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 under the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The agreement gave the P.A. control over security and civilian matters in urban areas and only civilian control in rural areas, although in practice Israel is able to interfere in any of these areas if it feels there is a security threat. There are 400,000 Israelis living in settlements in the West Bank that have been declared illegal under international law, although Israel refuses to recognize these rulings.
The economic disruption resulting from the continuing conflict with Israel, Israeli restrictions on economic activity, and the internal conflict between proponents of the PLO's Fatah and the Islamist Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank, creates a situation in which the Palestinian economy is almost entirely dependent on aid from foreign governments. The average yearly income, as estimated by the World Bank in 2007, is only $1230. (For comparison, the average annual income of an Israeli is around $26,000, according to the CIA World Factbook.) The territories' main export remains citrus.
