History
Background
- See also: Slavery in Palestine, Trans-Saharan slave trade, Red Sea slave trade and Indian Ocean slave trade
By the 9th century, it is estimated that some three million Africans had been resettled as enslaved people in the Middle East, working as soldiers and labourers in the riverine plantation economies. [1] As is illustrated by the life of Mansa Musa, King of the medieval kingdom of Mali, pilgrimage by African converts to Islam became an established practice, though regular pilgrimage only became commonplace in the 15th century, as the Islamic faith spread beyond the narrow confines of sultanate courts to the people at large. [1] There are some Palestinian communities that trace their origins to pilgrims from Sudan and Central Africa (mainly Chad) who are said to have reached Palestine as early as the 12th century. Their initial aim was to take part in the Hajj and reach Mecca, after which they visited Jerusalem to visit the al-Aqsa Mosque. [3] Many Afro-Palestinians also hail from forefathers who came to Palestine enslaved in service to the Ottomans. [6]
People whose ancestors came from Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal and Chad make up most of the community, and most of these came to Palestine during the British Mandate. [7] Many, according to Abraham Milligram, came as conscripted labourers during General Edmund Allenby's campaign against the Turks in the latter stages of WW1. [8] [4] Another group trace their lineage to the Arab Salvation Army who fought on the Arab side of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. [9]
The Jerusalem community of Afro-Palestinians, 50 families [10] now numbering some 350 (or 450) [3] members, reside in two compounds outside the Ḥaram ash-Sharīf (west of the Inspector's Gate): Ribat al-Mansuri and Ribat of Aladdin (Ribat al-Baseri/Ribat Aladdin al-Bassir/Ribat Al'a ad-Deen Busari). [4] [11] [3] They were built between 1267 and 1382 [3] and served as ribats (hostels for visiting Muslim pilgrims) under the Mamluks. This distinctive enclave has been called Jerusalem's Little Harlem. [12] During the Arab Revolt of WW1, the Ottomans converted the compounds into jails — one known as 'the Blood Prison' and the other as 'the hanging prison' — where prisoners were detained and executed. [13] The community has restructured part of this former prison to create a mosque. [14] Until the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, they were employed as guards at the Ḥaram ash-Sharīf, a function now taken over by Israeli soldiers. [11]
These have close links with similar communities in Acre and Jericho, established when Africans came to work in the Umayyad sugar industry. [15] The community in northern Jericho have often been called "the slaves of Duyuk" even in modern times. [16]
Modern times
Following Ottoman rule, the ribats became a part of the religious trust (waqf). [13] The Palestinian leader and mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Amin al-Husseini rented out these compounds to Palestinians of African background, [3] in gratitude for their loyalty as protectors of the al-Aqsa Mosque after one of the African guards, Jibril Tahruri, took a bullet aimed at the mufti. [17] The rent remains largely nominal. [4] [18] Afro-Palestinians whose connection to Jerusalem predates 1947 found themselves in one of the most troubled areas in the region. [3] Falling in love with the city of Jerusalem [19] and with deep ties to Islam, [20] they married Palestinians and continue to identify as Palestinians. [10]
The African Palestinians who now live in the two compounds near al-Aqsa mosque have called the area home since 1930. [13] They have experienced prejudice, with some Palestinian Arabs [21] referring to them as "slaves" ( abeed ) and to their neighbourhood as the "slaves' prison" (habs al-abeed). [10] [4] In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, standard usage prefers the word sumr (dark colour) over sawd, which has an uncouth connotation. [22] In a 1997 interview, community members described their origins as "Sudan" as a reference to the Arabic phrase for "place of the Black people." In recent decades, "African community" (al-jaliyya al-Afriqiyya) has become more standard. [2]
After 1948, in particular, black Palestinian men married women coming from the peasant fellahin society, but never Bedouin women. [23] According to Mousa Qous, director of the African Community Society and a former member of the PFLP, "Sometimes when a black Palestinian wants to marry a white Palestinian woman, some members of her family might object." Interracial marriage with Afro-Palestinians has become more common in recent years. [9]
Ali Jiddah, a tour guide and also a former member of the PFLP, has stated that he personally never experienced prejudice over his skin colour from Palestinian Arabs, claiming Afro-Palestinians enjoy a special status for their contributions to the Palestinian struggle. [4] [21] Fatima Barnawi, of mixed Nigerian-Palestinian descent, was the first Palestinian woman to be arrested on terrorism charges for attempting to bomb a movie theater in downtown Jerusalem in 1967. Although the bomb failed to explode, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison, ultimately serving only ten. [21] Jiddah placed four grenades on Strauss Street in a 1968 attack in downtown Jerusalem, wounding nine Israeli civilians. His cousin Mahmoud likewise committed a similar attack. Both men served 17 years in prison before being released in a prisoner swap in 1985. [4]
According to Jiddah, any racism by Palestinian Arabs could be blamed on ignorance, [10] claiming that he had experienced similar prejudice from Israelis. "We Afro-Palestinians are dually oppressed, as Palestinians and because of our color the Israelis call us 'kushis.'" [21] According to Mahmoud, Israeli police are the main perpetrators of racism against the community. [21] In 2022, Mohammed Firawi was released from prison after five years for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli police. The community celebrated his return to the African Quarter, which was cited as cause for his subsequent re-arrest and week-long expulsion from Jerusalem. [24]
Afro-Palestinians also experience bureaucratic obstacles in travel and identification cards. Qous (also spelled Qaws) is not an Israeli citizen, cannot apply for a Chadian passport without surrendering Jerusalem residency, and is also ineligible for French or Jordanian papers. In addition, checkpoints have increased around Bab al-Majlis and effectively seal off the neighborhood. As a result, the community experiences greater harassment from security and has also experienced significant economic loss without tourist traffic. [2]
The African Community Society (ACS) was established in 1983 as an off-shoot of the former Sudanese Welfare Club, which disbanded following Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem. ACS organizes social activities, sports, mutual aid, and other means to empower Afro-Palestinians in Jerusalem. [24]
As more of the community moves to suburbs, connections are strengthening with Ethiopian Christians and Black Hebrews. There are no relations with Ethiopian Jews due to their service in the Israel Defense Forces. [2]
The Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or simply al-Aqsa, and sometimes as Jerusalem's holyesplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years, including in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel, is the main congregational mosque or prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also named al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, but this name primarily applies to the whole compound in which the building sits, which is itself also known as "Al-Aqsa Mosque". The wider compound is known as Al-Aqsa or Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf.
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in the southern Levant region of West Asia. It encompasses two disconnected territories — the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as the Palestinian territories — within the larger region of Palestine. The country shares its borders with Israel to north, west and south, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It has a combined land area of 6,020 square kilometres (2,320 sq mi) while its population exceeds five million people. Its proclaimed capital is Jerusalem while Ramallah serves as its administrative center and Rafah is currently its largest city. Arabic is the official language. The majority of Palestinians practice Islam while Christianity also has a significant presence.
Tulkarm or Tulkarem is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities of Nablus and Jenin to the east. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2017 Tulkarm had a population of 64,532. Tulkarm is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority.
Sunni Islam is a major religion in Palestine, being the religion of the majority of the Palestinian population. Muslims comprise 85% of the population of the West Bank, when including Israeli settlers, and 99% of the population of the Gaza Strip. The largest denomination among Palestinian Muslims are Sunnis, comprising 98–99% of the total Muslim population.
Freedom of religion is the freedom to practice religion, change one's religion, mix religions, or to be irreligious. Religion in the State of Palestine plays a strong role in society, including in the legal system and the educational system.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the State of Palestine:
A number of archaeological excavations at the Temple Mount—a celebrated and contentious religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem—have taken place over the last 150 years. Excavations in the area represent one of the more sensitive areas of all archaeological excavations in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, also known as the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian Waqf or simply the Waqf, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which includes the Dome of the Rock. The Jerusalem Waqf is guided by a council composed of 18 members and headed by a director, all appointed by Jordan. The current director of the Waqf, since 2005, is Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib.
Temple denial is the claim that the successive Temples in Jerusalem either did not exist or they did exist but were not constructed on the site of the Temple Mount, a claim which has been advanced by Islamic political leaders, religious figures, intellectuals, and authors.
In 2009, clashes between Muslim Palestinians and Israeli police erupted on September 27, 2009, and continued to late October. Violence spread through East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank, and included throwing of Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli security forces and civilians. Israeli police responded with arrests of rioters and sporadic age-based restriction of access to the Temple Mount. Several dozen rioters, police and Israeli civilians have been injured.
Racism in the Palestinian territories encompasses all forms and manifestations of racism experienced in the Palestinian Territories, of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, irrespective of the religion, colour, creed, or ethnic origin of the perpetrator and victim, or their citizenship, residency, or visitor status. It may refer to Jewish settler attitudes regarding Palestinians as well as Palestinian attitudes to Jews and the settlement enterprise undertaken in their name.
The Islamization of Jerusalem refers to the process through which Jerusalem and its Old City acquired an Islamic character and, eventually, a significant Muslim presence. The foundation for Jerusalem's Islamization was laid by the Muslim conquest of the Levant, and began shortly after the city was besieged and captured in 638 CE by the Rashidun Caliphate under Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Rashidun caliph. The second wave of Islamization occurred after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Christian state that was established after the First Crusade, at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. The eventual fall of the Crusader states by 1291 led to a period of almost-uninterrupted Muslim rule that lasted for seven centuries, and a dominant Islamic culture was consolidated in the region during the Ayyubid, Mamluk and early Ottoman periods. Beginning in the late Ottoman era, Jerusalem’s demographics turned increasingly multicultural, and regained a Jewish-majority character during the late-19th and early-20th centuries that had not been seen since the Roman period, which largely ended the Jewish presence in the region.
The Inspector's Gate is one of the gates of the al-Aqsa Compound. It is the second-northernmost gates in the compound's west wall, after the Bani Ghanim Gate. It is north of the Iron Gate.
Events in the year 2021 in the State of Palestine.
On 15 April 2022, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli Security Forces on the Al-Aqsa Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, the clashes began when Palestinians threw stones, firecrackers, and other heavy objects at Israeli police officers. The policemen used tear gas shells, stun grenades and police batons against the Palestinians. Some Palestinians afterwards barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and proceeded to throw stones at the officers. In response, police raided the mosque, arresting those who had barricaded themselves inside. In addition, some damage was done to the mosque's structure.
"Al-Aqsa is in danger" is an Islamic political slogan that has been used in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict. Referring to the Temple Mount, which is known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, it is a rallying call for Muslims to oppose the presence of Jews and Israelis at the compound under the pretext that they are seeking to take it over for the construction of the Third Temple. It also opposes archaeological investigations at the site, which are perceived as undermining the structural foundations of the area; many biblical excavations, particularly by Christian organizations, have sought to unearth more evidence of the Temple in Jerusalem and the true site of Jesus' crucifixion, among others. Many fundamentalist Jewish organizations, such as the Jerusalem-based Temple Mount Faithful, have attempted to contest Muslim hegemony on the Temple Mount, sometimes in close coordination with their Christian counterparts.
Al-Aqsa has been the site of frequent clashes between Palestinian Arab visitors and both Israeli security forces and Israeli groups, beginning with the 1990 Temple Mount killings, or Al-Aqsa Massacre, and most recently culminating in the 2023 Al-Aqsa clashes.
The Ribat of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, or simply al-Ribat al-Mansuri or al-Mansuriyya. It is a ribat that was given by (Waqf) the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt Al-Mansur Qalawun to the poor and visitors of Jerusalem in the year 681 AH / 1282 AD, as can be seen from an inscription above the door of the ribat. Alaa al-Din Al-Basir supervised its construction. It is one of the few royal institutions built outside Al-Aqsa Mosque. A number of sheikhs supervised it.
