The Culture of Palestine

Palestinian culture is comprised of a blend of Eastern Mediterranean influences. Being Levantines, Palestinians share commonalities with nearby Levantine Arabs (Lebanese, Syrians, and Jordanians). Palestinians, although Arabized today, are genetically an indigenous Semitic (non-Arab) people which descended from the native Canaanites/Phoenicians and thereby mixed with their conquerers (Philistines, Hebrews, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks).

Over half of Palestinians are in diaspora, and found outside of Palestine. The population of Jordan is 2/3 of Palestinian heritage. Most Palestinian refugees can be found other Middle Eastern countries, and North and South America. Many are also in Europe.

Language: Arabic (official), Aramaic, Hebrew, and Armenian. Most Palestinians speak Levantine Arabic, a dialect of Arabic spoken in Syria, Palestine, western Jordan and Lebanon. Palestinian rural dialects exhibit several distinctive features (particularly the pronunciation of qaaf as kaaf) which distinguish them from other Arabic varieties, but Palestinian urban dialects more closely resemble northern Levantine dialects, i.e., those of Syria and Lebanon.

The Bedouins of Palestine, however, are more securely known to be Arab by ancestry as well as by culture; their distinctively conservative dialects and pronunciation of qaaf as gaaf group them with other Bedouin across the Arab world and confirm their separate history.

In a number of villages in the Galilee (e.g. Maghar), and particularly, though not exclusively among the Druze, the qāf is actually pronounced qaaf as in Classical Arabic.

Religion: Currently, no reliable data are available for the worldwide Palestinian population. But an estimated percentage suggests 60% Muslim (mainly Sunni, but also a few Sufis), 30% Christian (predominantly Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and others) and 10% Other (i.e. Druze, Baha'i, Jewish, Samaritan, etc).

However, within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, the (non-Jewish) Palestinian population is 97% Muslim and 3% Christian; there are also about 350 Samaritans and a few thousand Jews.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• palestine
• palestinian
• culture
• heritage
• mediterranean
• folk
• dabkeh
• dabke
• dabka
• debka
• christian
• muslim
• israeli
• occupation

[NIKDAGREEK27]

free palestine.i hope you will be free and in peace soon in your land.greetings from greece.we love our philistin brothers!

[Pal4Ever80]

great video. thnx for the good work. viva.

[oranaise311318]

47 jealous israeli passed by here!! dead in their anger!

free Palestine

[liyantina]

FREE PALISTINE! its in my heart! we all love it and maybe soon ill upload a video about palistine so u guys can keep checkin tell i do one with cool stuff :D

<2 ya alll ..............

[bebegim94872821]

Does anyone know the name of this song?

[shadowofears]

God bless Palestine..Respect and blessings from Pakistan!

[mohalishaf]

We are the People:).. We are all united One.. We Love♥ you Palestine.. Resistance is your Strength.. to Free yourselves from any enslavement or imprisonment.. Humanity will always purify itself.. to clear Path from any corrupted or polluted system.. Free..Free PALESTINE!!

[20maher]

Very nice video ..... Palestine the most beautiful country in the world

[Barbituranek]

Israel = Ashkenazi Reich

Israel should be wiped of the map!!!

Viva Palestine Viva Iran

[SAMSAL10]

Allah o Falasteen

[irishxxkelt]

The Syrians Lebanesed and Jordanians are also of the same mix as the Palestinians.

[Mahat70]

love the song!!