Palestinians

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of the Palestinian territories|Demographics of Israel|Demographics of Jordan}}
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="width: 20em;"
|-
! Country or region
! Population
|-
| Palestinian Territories (Gaza Strip and West Bank including East Jerusalem) || style="text-align:right" | 4,420,549<ref name=PCBS>{{cite web|title=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics|url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_Rainbow/Documents/gover_e.htm|publisher=Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics|access-date=28 December 2013|archive-date=8 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608204943/http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_Rainbow/Documents/gover_e.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Jordan]] || style="text-align:right" | 2,700,000<ref name=Cordesman>Cordesman, 2005, p. 54. The figure is based on an estimate for 2005, extrapolating from a population 2.3&nbsp;million in 2001.</ref>
|-
| [[Israel]] || style="text-align:right" | 1,318,000<ref name=drummond/>
|-
| [[Chile]] || style="text-align:right" | 500,000 (largest [[palestinians in Chile|community]] outside the Middle East)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.soitu.es/soitu/2009/10/16/info/1255724848_222341.html|title=Comunidad palestina en Chile acusa "campaña de terror" tras nuevas pintadas &#124; soitu.es|website=www.soitu.es|access-date=17 February 2010|archive-date=19 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519121616/http://www.soitu.es/soitu/2009/10/16/info/1255724848_222341.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2050534508|title=Chile: Palestinian refugees arrive to warm welcome – Adnkronos Culture And Media|access-date=17 February 2010|archive-date=24 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124194143/http://www1.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2050534508|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{in lang|es}} [http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 500,000 descendientes de primera y segunda generación de palestinos en Chile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722073846/http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 |date=22 July 2009 }}</ref>
|-
| Syria || style="text-align:right" | 434,896<ref name=UNRWA>{{cite web|title=Table 1.0: Total Registered Refugees per Country per Area |publisher=UNRWA |url=https://www.un.org/unrwa/publications/pdf/rr_countryandarea.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723174310/http://www.un.org/unrwa/publications/pdf/rr_countryandarea.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2008 }}</ref>
|-
|Lebanon || style="text-align:right" | 405,425<ref name=UNRWA/>
|-
| Saudi Arabia || style="text-align:right" | 327,000<ref name=drummond>Drummond, 2004, p. 50.</ref>
|-
| The [[Americas]] || style="text-align:right" | 225,000<ref name=cambridge>Cohen, 1995, p. 415.</ref>
|-
| Egypt || style="text-align:right" | 44,200<ref name=cambridge/>
|-
| Kuwait || style="text-align:right" |(approx) 40,000<ref name=drummond/>
|-
| Other [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf states]] || style="text-align:right" | 159,000<ref name=drummond/>
|-
| Other Arab states || style="text-align:right" | 153,000<ref name=drummond/>
|-
| Other countries || style="text-align:right" | 308,000<ref name=drummond/>
|-
| '''TOTAL''' || style="text-align:right" | 10,574,521
|}

In the absence of a comprehensive census including all Palestinian diaspora populations, and those that have remained within what was [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate Palestine]], exact population figures are difficult to determine. The [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS) announced at the end of 2015 that the number of Palestinians worldwide at the end of 2015 was 12.37&nbsp;million of which the number still residing within historic Palestine was 6.22&nbsp;million.<ref name="Maan1116">{{cite news |title=Palestinian population to exceed Jewish population by 2020 |url=http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769606 |access-date=18 August 2022 |agency=[[Ma'an News Agency]] |date=1 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071126/http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769606 |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> In 2022, [[Arnon Soffer]] estimated that in the territory of former Mandatory Palestine (now encompassing Israel and the Palestinian territories of the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]]), there's a Palestinian population of 7.503 million, making up 51.16% of the total population.<ref>Meron Rapaport, [https://www.972mag.com/israeli-right-minority-left-palestinians/ 'The Israeli right is the minority — the left need only realize it,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609210425/https://www.972mag.com/israeli-right-minority-left-palestinians/ |date=9 June 2023 }} [[+972 magazine]] 12 January 2023</ref><ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-now-a-minority-in-israel-and-the-territories-demographer-says/ "Jews now a 47% minority in Israel and the territories, demographer says"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231123153449/https://www.timesofisrael.com/jews-now-a-minority-in-israel-and-the-territories-demographer-says/ |date=23 November 2023 }}, ''[[The Times of Israel]]'' 30 August 2022.</ref> Within Israel proper, Palestinians constitute almost 21 percent of the population as part of its [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab citizens]].<ref name="critical" />

In 2005, a critical review of the PCBS figures and methodology was conducted by the American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG).<ref>[http://www.pademographics.com/ American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015072828/http://www.pademographics.com/ |date=15 October 2011 }}, is led by Bennett Zimmerman, Yoram Ettinger, Roberta Seid, and Michael L. Wise</ref> In their report,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Million Person Gap: The Arab Population in the West Bank and Gaza|author1=Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid|author2=Michael L. Wise|name-list-style=amp|publisher=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies|url=http://www.biu.ac.il/Besa/MSPS65.pdf|access-date=20 February 2007|archive-date=2 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202061847/http://www.biu.ac.il/Besa/MSPS65.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> they claimed that several errors in the PCBS methodology and assumptions artificially inflated the numbers by a total of 1.3&nbsp;million. The PCBS numbers were cross-checked against a variety of other sources (e.g., asserted [[birth rates]] based on [[fertility]] rate assumptions for a given year were checked against Palestinian Ministry of Health figures as well as Ministry of Education school enrollment figures six years later; immigration numbers were checked against numbers collected at border crossings, etc.). The errors claimed in their analysis included: birth rate errors (308,000), immigration & emigration errors (310,000), failure to account for migration to Israel (105,000), double-counting [[Jerusalem]] Arabs (210,000), counting former residents now living abroad (325,000) and other discrepancies (82,000). The results of their research was also presented before the [[United States House of Representatives]] on 8 March 2006.<ref>Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid, and Michael L. Wise, [http://www.azure.org.il/article.php?id=130 "Voodoo Demographics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104115016/http://www.azure.org.il/article.php?id=130 |date=4 January 2021 }}, ''[[Azure (journal)|Azure]]'', Summer 5766/2006, No. 25.</ref>

The study was criticised by [[Sergio DellaPergola]], a demographer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.<ref name="Azure">[[Sergio DellaPergola]], Letter to the editor, ''Azure'', 2007, No. 27, [https://web.archive.org/web/20210621182830/http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=29] {{cite web |title=Correspondence |url=http://www.azure.co.il/download/magazine/AZ%2027%20letters.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930220135/http://www.azure.co.il/download/magazine/AZ%2027%20letters.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2011 |access-date=21 June 2011}}</ref> DellaPergola accused the authors of the AIDRG report of misunderstanding basic principles of demography on account of their lack of expertise in the subject, but he also acknowledged that he did not take into account the emigration of Palestinians and thinks it has to be examined, as well as the birth and mortality statistics of the Palestinian Authority.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/general/you-can-count-on-them-1.148439|title=You can count on them|author=Aluf Benn|work=Haaretz.com|date=28 January 2005|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010100350/https://www.haaretz.com/general/you-can-count-on-them-1.148439|url-status=live}}</ref>
He also accused AIDRG of selective use of data and multiple systematic errors in their analysis, claiming that the authors assumed the Palestinian Electoral registry to be complete even though registration is voluntary, and they used an unrealistically low Total Fertility Ratio (a statistical abstraction of births per woman) to reanalyse that data in a "typical circular mistake." DellaPergola estimated the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza at the end of 2005 as 3.33&nbsp;million, or 3.57&nbsp;million if East Jerusalem is included. These figures are only slightly lower than the official Palestinian figures.<ref name=Azure/> The [[Israeli Civil Administration]] put the number of Palestinians in the West Bank at 2,657,029 as of May 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.molad.org/en/articles/articlePrint.php?id=295|title=Molad Analysis – Wrong Number|website=www.molad.org|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=24 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041400/http://www.molad.org/en/articles/articlePrint.php?id=295|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.532703|title=How Many Palestinians Actually Live in the West Bank? – Diplomacy & Defense – Haaretz|work=Haaretz.com|date=30 June 2013|last1=Hasson|first1=Nir|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=1 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101200545/http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.532703|url-status=live}}</ref>

The AIDRG study was also criticized by [[Ian Lustick]], who accused its authors of multiple methodological errors and a political agenda.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Ian Lustick |url=https://www.sas.upenn.edu/polisci/sites/www.sas.upenn.edu.polisci/files/Lustick_MEJ_What%20Counts%20Is%20the%20Counting.pdf |title=What Counts is the Counting: Statistical Manipulation as a Solution to Israel's "Demographic Problem"|journal=Middle East Journal|volume=67|number=2 |date=Spring 2013|pages=185–205|doi=10.3751/67.2.12|s2cid=143466620|access-date=12 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113000611/https://www.sas.upenn.edu/polisci/sites/www.sas.upenn.edu.polisci/files/Lustick_MEJ_What%20Counts%20Is%20the%20Counting.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2009, at the request of the PLO, "Jordan revoked the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians to keep them from remaining permanently in the country."<ref>[http://jta.org/news/article/2009/07/21/1006669/jordan-revokes-palestinians-citizenships#When:11:42:00Z "Jordan revokes Palestinians' citizenships"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116195249/http://jta.org/news/article/2009/07/21/1006669/jordan-revokes-palestinians-citizenships#When:11:42:00Z |date=16 January 2013 }}. [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency|JTA]]. 21 July 2009.</ref>

Many Palestinians have settled in the United States, particularly in the Chicago area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chicago's Arab American Community: An Introduction|author=Ray Hanania|url=http://www.hanania.com/profiles/aaintro.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324095745/http://www.hanania.com/profiles/aaintro.htm|archive-date=24 March 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Palestinians|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/946.html|access-date=7 April 2006|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126055747/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/946.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In total, an estimated 600,000 Palestinians are thought to reside in the Americas. Palestinian [[emigration]] to [[South America]] began for economic reasons that pre-dated the Arab-Israeli conflict, but continued to grow thereafter.<ref>Farsoun, 2004, p. 84.</ref> Many emigrants were from the [[Bethlehem]] area. Those emigrating to Latin America were mainly Christian. Half of those of Palestinian origin in [[Latin America]] live in [[Palestinians in Chile|Chile]].<ref name=laventana1>{{cite web|url=http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 |title=La Ventana&nbsp;– Littin: "Quiero que esta película sea una contribución a la paz" |publisher=Laventana.casa.cult.cu |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722073846/http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 |archive-date=22 July 2009 }}</ref> [[El Salvador]]<ref>{{cite news|title=El Salvador: Central American Palestine of the West?|author=Matthew Ziegler|newspaper=The Daily Star|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=2854|access-date=7 April 2006|archive-date=8 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108034800/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=2854|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Honduras]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Honduras: Palestinian Success Story|author=Larry Lexner|publisher=Lexner News Inc.|url=http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=639|access-date=25 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516190901/http://www.luxner.com/cgi-bin/view_article.cgi?articleID=639|archive-date=16 May 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> also have substantial Palestinian populations. These two countries have had presidents of Palestinian [[ancestry]] ([[Antonio Saca]] in El Salvador and [[Carlos Roberto Flores]] in Honduras). [[Belize]], which has a smaller Palestinian population, has a Palestinian [[Minister (government)|minister]]&nbsp;– [[Said Musa]].<ref>Guzmán, 2000, p. 85.</ref> [[Schafik Jorge Handal]], [[El Salvador|Salvadoran]] politician and former [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] leader, was the son of Palestinian immigrants.<ref name=Mendez>{{cite news|title=Obituary; Shafik Handal; leader of El Salvador's leftist party; 75|author=Diego Mendez|agency=Associated Press|date=30 January 2006|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060130/news_1m30handal.html|access-date=10 February 2008|archive-date=13 September 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913224718/http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060130/news_1m30handal.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Refugees===
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In 2006, there were 4,255,120 Palestinians registered as [[Palestinian refugees|refugees]] with the [[United Nations Relief and Works Agency]] (UNRWA). This number includes the [[Kinship|descendants]] of refugees who fled or were expelled during the 1948 war, but excludes those who have since then emigrated to areas outside of UNRWA's remit.<ref name="UNRWA" /> Based on these figures, almost half of all Palestinians are registered refugees. The 993,818 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and 705,207 Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, who hail from towns and villages now located within the borders of Israel, are included in these figures.<ref>{{cite web|title=Publications and Statistics |publisher=[[UNRWA]] |date=31 March 2006 |access-date=30 May 2007 |url=https://www.un.org/unrwa/publications/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080713042517/http://www.un.org/unrwa/publications/index.html |archive-date=13 July 2008 }}</ref>[[File:Palestinian refugees.jpg|thumb|left|Palestinian refugees in 1948]]UNRWA figures do not include some 274,000 people, or 1 in 5.5 of all Arab residents of Israel, who are [[Internally Displaced Palestinians|internally displaced Palestinian]] refugees.<ref name=Badil>{{cite web|url=http://www.badil.org/Publications/Monographs/Palestinian.IDPs.pdf |title=Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041214203922/http://www.badil.org/Publications/Monographs/Palestinian.IDPs.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2004 }}</ref><ref name=IDMC>{{cite web|author=Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) – Norwegian Refugee Council |url=http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/F11200E8ECD83F71802570B8005A7276?OpenDocument |title=Internal Displacement Monitoring Center |publisher=Internal-displacement.org |access-date=22 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903022121/http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/%28httpEnvelopes%29/F11200E8ECD83F71802570B8005A7276?OpenDocument |archive-date=3 September 2006 }}</ref>

Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank are organized according to a refugee family's village or place of origin. Among the first things that children born in the camps learn is the name of their village of origin. David McDowall writes that, "[...] a yearning for Palestine permeates the whole refugee community and is most ardently espoused by the younger refugees, for whom home exists only in the imagination."<ref name=McDowall90>McDowall, 1989, p. 90.</ref>

Israeli policy to prevent the refugees from returning to their homes was initially formulated by David Ben Gurion and [[Joseph Weitz]], director of the [[Jewish National Fund]] was formally adopted by the Israeli cabinet in June 1948.<ref>Randa F arah, "The Marginalizastion of Palestinian Refugees", Niklaus Steiner, Mark Gibney, Gil Loescher (eds.) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HeLVLaS9yjUC&pg=PA161 Problems of Protection: The UNHCR, Refugees, and Human Rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129193737/https://books.google.com/books?id=HeLVLaS9yjUC&pg=PA161#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=29 November 2023 }}'', Psychology Press, 2003 pp.155–178 p.161.</ref> In December of that year the UN adopted [[resolution 194]], which resolved "that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."<ref>UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (III), "Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator", U.N. Doc.
A/RES/194 (11 December 1948), para. 11, cited Leila Hilal, ''[https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Brookings-Displacement-Palestine-CaseStudy-2012-English.pdf Transitional Justice Responses to Palestinian Dispossession: Focus on Restitution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305224813/https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Brookings-Displacement-Palestine-CaseStudy-2012-English.pdf |date=5 March 2023 }}'', Brookings Institution/LSE August 2012 p.8.</ref><ref name=MG>{{cite book|last=Gibney|first=Mathew|title=Immigration and Asylum: From 1900 to the Present|year=2005|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|isbn=9781576077962|pages=[https://archive.org/details/immigrationasylu00matt/page/469 469]–470|url=https://archive.org/details/immigrationasylu00matt|url-access=registration|quote=Israel refused to allow refugees to return to their homes 242.}}</ref><ref name=MM>{{cite book|last=Muslih|first=Muhammad|title=The Middle East in 2015 The Impact of Regional Trends on U.S. Strategic Planning|year=2002|publisher=Diane Publishing reprint. Originally published by National Defense University Press|pages=104–105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KzHXkqcz6jAC&q=Israel%20refused%20to%20allow%20refugees%20to%20return%20to%20their%20homes%20242&pg=PA104|isbn=9781428961005|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129193621/https://books.google.com/books?id=KzHXkqcz6jAC&q=Israel%20refused%20to%20allow%20refugees%20to%20return%20to%20their%20homes%20242&pg=PA104#v=snippet&q=Israel%20refused%20to%20allow%20refugees%20to%20return%20to%20their%20homes%20242&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite much of the international community, including the US President Harry Truman, insisting that the repatriation of Palestinian refugees was essential, Israel refused to accept the principle.<ref name=MM/> In the intervening years Israel has consistently refused to change its position and has introduced further legislation to hinder Palestinians refugees from returning and reclaiming their land and confiscated property.<ref name=MG/><ref name=MM/>

In keeping with an Arab League resolution in 1965, most Arab countries have refused to grant citizenship to Palestinians, arguing that it would be a threat to their [[Palestinian right of return|right of return]] to their homes in Palestine.<ref name=MG/><ref name=Jpost287479/> In 2012, Egypt deviated from this practice by granting citizenship to 50,000 Palestinians, mostly from the Gaza Strip.<ref name=Jpost287479>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=287479|title=Egypt grants citizenship to 50,000 Palestinians|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=30 January 2011 |access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=7 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207131653/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=287479|url-status=live}}</ref>

Palestinians living in Lebanon are deprived of basic civil rights. They cannot own homes or land and are barred from becoming lawyers, engineers and doctors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/24/palestinian-refugees-lebanon-rights|title=Mired in poverty: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon see little hope in new law|newspaper=the Guardian|date=24 August 2010|last1=Hall|first1=Richard|access-date=29 November 2023|archive-date=13 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913230253/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/24/palestinian-refugees-lebanon-rights|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{see also|Religion in the State of Palestine}}
The majority of Palestinians are Muslim,<ref>{{cite web|title=Are all Palestinians Muslim?|url=http://imeu.net/news/article0042.shtml|work=[[Institute for Middle East Understanding]]|access-date=16 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142345/http://imeu.net/news/article0042.shtml|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref> the vast majority of whom are followers of the [[Sunni]] branch of [[Islam]],<ref>Lybarger, 2007, p. 114.</ref> with a small minority of [[Ahmadiyya]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137789#.U1vh-_ldUdk |title=PA's Moderate Muslims Face Threats |date=31 May 2010 |access-date=26 April 2014 |publisher=Israel National News |archive-date=14 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814235136/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137789#.U1vh-_ldUdk |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Palestinian Christians]] represent a significant minority of 6%, and belong to several denominations, followed by much smaller religious communities, including [[Druze]] and [[Samaritans]]. [[Palestinian Jews]]&nbsp;– considered Palestinian by the [[Palestinian National Charter]] adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) which defined them as those "Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the [[Zionism|Zionist]] invasion"&nbsp;– today identify as Israelis<ref>''Palestinians and Israel'' {{ISBN|0-470-35211-6}} p. 53</ref> (with the exception of a very few individuals). Palestinian Jews almost universally abandoned any such identity after the establishment of Israel and their incorporation into the [[Demographics of Israel|Israeli Jewish]] population, which was originally composed of [[Aliyah|Jewish immigrants]] from around the world.[[File:PikiWiki Israel 29872 Cities in Israel.jpg|thumb|Silhouette of [[East Jerusalem]]]]Until the end of the 19th century, cross-cultural [[syncretism]] between Islamic and Christian symbols and figures in religious practice was common in the Palestinian countryside, where most villages did not have local mosques or churches.<ref name="Qleibo">{{cite web |author=Ali Qleibo |date=28 July 2007 |title=Palestinian Cave Dwellers and Holy Shrines: The Passing of Traditional Society |url=http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2208&ed=144&edid=144These |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927122856/http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2208&ed=144&edid=144These |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=17 August 2007 |publisher=This Week in Palestine}}</ref> Popular feast days, such as [[Thursday of the Dead]], were celebrated by both Muslims and Christians and shared prophets and saints include [[Jonah]], who is venerated in [[Halhul]] as both a Biblical and Islamic prophet, and [[St. George]], who is known in Arabic as [[Khidr|al-Khdir]]. Villagers would pay tribute to local patron saints at [[Maqam (shrine)|maqams]]&nbsp;–  domed single rooms often placed in the shadow of an ancient [[carob]] or [[Oak|oak tree]]; many of them are rooted in Jewish, Samaritan, Christian and sometimes pagan traditions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=R. Conder |first=Claude |date=1877 |title=The Moslem Mukams |url=https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme09pale/page/n100/mode/1up?view=theater |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=89–91 |doi=10.1179/peq.1877.9.2.89 |issn=0031-0328 |quote="In their religious observances and sanctuaries we find, as in their language, the true history of the country. On a basis of polytheistic faith which most probably dates back to pre-Israelite times, we find a growth of the most heterogeneous description: Christian tradition, Moslem history and foreign worship are mingled so as often to be entirely indistinguishable, and the so-called Moslem is found worshipping at shrines consecrated to Jewish, Samaritan, Christian, and often Pagan memories. It is in worship at these shrines that the religion of the peasantry consists. Moslem by profession, they often spend their lives without entering a mosque, and attach more importance to the favour and protection of the village Mukam than to Allah himself, or to Mohammed his prophet... The reverence shown for these sacred spots is unbounded. Every fallen stone from the building, every withered branch of the tree, is carefully preserved."}}</ref> Saints, taboo by the standards of orthodox Islam, mediated between man and God, and shrines to saints and holy men dotted the Palestinian landscape.<ref name=Qleibo/> Ali Qleibo, a Palestinian [[anthropologist]], states that this built evidence constitutes "an architectural testimony to Christian/Moslem Palestinian religious sensibility and its roots in [[ancient Semitic religion]]s."<ref name=Qleibo/>

Religion as constitutive of individual identity was accorded a minor role within Palestinian social structure until the latter half of the 19th century.<ref name=Qleibo/> Jean Moretain, a priest writing in 1848, wrote that a Christian in Palestine was "distinguished only by the fact that he belonged to a particular clan. If a certain tribe was Christian, then an individual would be Christian, but without knowledge of what distinguished his faith from that of a Muslim."<ref name=Qleibo/>
[[File:Christians from Gaza.jpg|left|thumb|Christians from [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]]]]
The concessions granted to [[France]] and other Western powers by the Ottoman Sultanate in the aftermath of the [[Crimean War]] had a significant impact on contemporary Palestinian religious cultural identity.<ref name=Qleibo/> Religion was transformed into an element "constituting the individual/collective identity in conformity with orthodox precepts", and formed a major building block in the political development of Palestinian nationalism.<ref name=Qleibo/>

The [[1922 census of Palestine|British census of 1922]] registered 752,048 inhabitants in Palestine, consisting of 660,641 Palestinian Arabs (Muslim and Christian Arabs), 83,790 Palestinian Jews, and 7,617 persons belonging to other groups. The corresponding percentage breakdown is 87% Muslim and Christian Arab and 11% Jewish.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Demographic War for Palestine|author=Janet Abu-Lughod|publisher=Americans for Middle East Understanding|url=http://www.ameu.org/getattachment/0ac57681-cb8e-44cd-af80-36a90f4520b1/The-Demographic-War-for-Palestine.aspx|access-date=30 November 2013|archive-date=13 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113195853/http://ameu.org/getattachment/0ac57681-cb8e-44cd-af80-36a90f4520b1/The-Demographic-War-for-Palestine.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:דרוזיות אופות פיתות-JNF022334.jpeg|thumb|Palestinian [[Druze]] family making bread 1920]]
Bernard Sabella of [[Bethlehem University]] estimates that 6% of the Palestinian population worldwide is Christian and that 56% of them live outside of historic Palestine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Palestinian Christians: Challenges and Hopes|author=Bernard Sabella|publisher=Bethlehem University|url=http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm|access-date=25 April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415005256/http://www.al-bushra.org/holyland/sabella.htm|archive-date=15 April 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the [[Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs]], the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian. The vast majority of the [[Palestinian community in Chile]] follow Christianity, largely [[Eastern Orthodox]] and some [[Roman Catholic]], and in fact the number of Palestinian Christians in [[Palestinian diaspora|the diaspora]] in Chile alone exceeds the number of those who have remained in their homeland.<ref name=Holston>{{citation|periodical=Américas |last=Holston |first=Mark |date=1 November 2005 |access-date=29 July 2009 |url=http://www.articlearchives.com/south-america/chile-santiago-chile/914068-1.html |issn=0379-0975 |title=Orgullosos palestinos de Chile |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505135845/http://www.articlearchives.com/south-america/chile-santiago-chile/914068-1.html |archive-date=5 May 2012 }}</ref> Saint George is the patron saint of the Palestinian Christians.<ref>{{cite book|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations|first=J. Gordon|last=Melton|year=2021| isbn=9781598842050| page=334|publisher=ABC-CLIO|quote=He is also the patron saint of the Palestinian Christian community.}}</ref>

The [[Druze]] became Israeli citizens and Druze males serve in the [[Israel Defense Forces]], though some individuals identify as "Palestinian Druze".<ref>{{cite news|title=Balad's MK-to-be: 'Anti-Israelization' Conscientious Objector|author1=Yoav Stern|author2=Jack Khoury|name-list-style=amp|newspaper=[[Haaretz]]|date=2 May 2007|access-date=29 July 2007|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/854636.html|archive-date=2 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802032505/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/854636.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to Salih al-Shaykh, most Druze do not consider themselves to be Palestinian: "their Arab identity emanates in the main from the common language and their socio-cultural background, but is detached from any national political conception. It is not directed at Arab countries or Arab nationality or the Palestinian people, and does not express sharing any fate with them. From this point of view, their identity is Israel, and this identity is stronger than their Arab identity".<ref>Nissim Dana, ''The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status'', Sussex Academic Press, 2003, p. 201.</ref>

There are also about 350 [[Samaritans]] who carry Palestinian identity cards and live in the West Bank while a roughly equal number live in [[Holon]] and carry Israeli citizenship.<ref name=Amid>{{cite news|author=Dana Rosenblatt|title=Amid conflict, Samaritans keep unique identity|publisher=CNN|date=14 October 2002|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/08/samaritans/|access-date=30 May 2007|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120095213/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/08/samaritans/|url-status=live}}</ref> Those who live in the West Bank also are represented in the legislature for the Palestinian National Authority.<ref name=Amid/> They are commonly referred to among Palestinians as the "Jews of Palestine", and maintain their own unique cultural identity.<ref name=Amid/>

Jews who identify as Palestinian Jews are few, but include Israeli Jews who are part of the [[Neturei Karta]] group,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Jews against Zion: Israeli Jewish Anti-Zionism|author=Charles Glass|volume=5| issue=1/2|year=1975|pages=56–81|jstor=2535683|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|doi=10.2307/2535683}}</ref> and [[Uri Davis]], an Israeli citizen and self-described Palestinian Jew (who converted to Islam in 2008 in order to marry Miyassar Abu Ali) who serves as an observer member in the [[Palestine National Council]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Apartheid Israel: A Critical Reading of the Draft Permanent Agreement, known as the "Geneva Accords"|author=Uri Davis|publisher=The Association for One Democratic State in Palestine-Israel|date=December 2013|access-date=11 January 2014|url=http://odspi.org/articles/davis%27.html|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428105914/http://odspi.org/articles/davis%27.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Bahá'u'lláh]], founder of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] spent his last years in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], then part of the Ottoman Empire. He remained there for 24 years, where a [[Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh|shrine]] was erected in his honor.<ref>http://www.bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/47-0715.htm{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=PSmith26>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Peter |title=An Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith |page=26 |year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86251-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110003959/https://books.google.com/books?id=z7zdDFTzNr0C |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Exterior of the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem2.jpg|The [[Dome of the Rock]] in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]]
File:The Church of the Holy Sepulchre-Jerusalem.JPG|The [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Christianity
File:Palestinian Christian Scouts Nativity Church in Bethlehem Christmas Eve 2006.jpg|Palestinian Christian Scouts on Christmas Eve in front of the Nativity Church in [[Bethlehem]], 2006
File:Hebron001.JPG|[[Cave of the Patriarchs]] in [[Hebron]]
File:Ben Zakai.jpg|Palestinian Jews in Ben Zakai house of prayer, Jerusalem, 1893
File:PikiWiki Israel 6935 In the holy place of jethro.jpg|Tomb of [[Shuaib]] in [[Hittin]]
File:1840 jer salat.jpg|Palestinian Muslims pray in Jerusalem, 1840. By [[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]], in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]''
File:Ramallah-Family-1905.jpg|A Palestinian Christian family in [[Ramallah]], 1905
File:Orthodox priest family.jpg|Palestinian [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] priest from Jerusalem with his family of three generations, circa 1893
</gallery>

===Current demographics===
According to the PCBS, there are an estimated 4,816,503 Palestinians in the Palestinian territories {{As of|2016|lc=y}}, of whom 2,935,368 live in the West Bank and 1,881,135 in the Gaza Strip.<ref name=PCBS/> According to the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]], there were 1,658,000 Arab citizens of Israel as of 2013.<ref name=ICBS2013>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/www/hodaot2013n/11_13_097e.pdf |title=65th Independence Day – More than 8 Million Residents in the State of Israel |publisher=[[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] |date=14 April 2013 |access-date=18 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128173944/http://www.cbs.gov.il/www/hodaot2013n/11_13_097e.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both figures include Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

In 2008, Minority Rights Group International estimated the number of Palestinians in Jordan to be about 3&nbsp;million.<ref name=MRPal>{{cite web |url=http://minorityrights.org/minorities/palestinians-2/ |title=World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Jordan – Palestinians |work=[[Minority Rights Group International]] |date=2008 |access-date=24 January 2016 |archive-date=27 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127231848/http://minorityrights.org/minorities/palestinians-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[UNRWA]] put their number at 2.1&nbsp;million as of December 2015.<ref name=unjo/>