Zimbabwe Immigration Declaration: Fill & Download for Free

Copied from a previous incarnation of this question that’s since been deleted.1. When was the country of 'Palestine' founded and by whom?The State of Palestine was declared on 15 November 1988 by Yasser Arafat, in a statement written by the poet Mahmoud Darwish and adopted by the Palestinian National Council. By mid-December, Palestine was recognised by 75 states and acknowledged by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177. In 2012, Palestine became a non-member observer state at the UN (like the Holy See, and like Switzerland had been until 2002). It is currently recognised by 136 UN members, 70% of the 193 member states. Since its original declaration, over 30 other countries have successfully declared independence, so Palestine is hardly the new kid on the block.Prior to its declaration of independence, the name Palestine had long been used to refer to a geographic region in Western Asia: there are geographically unambiguous references by Greek writers such as Herodotus and Aristotle, as well as vaguer Egyptian and Assyrian references that date as far back as 1150BC. A number of historical polities also bore the name: Syria Palaestina (Roman province), Palaestina I and II (Byzantine provinces), Jund Filastin (Ummayad and Abbasid military district), Mandatory Palestine (British mandate). During the Ottoman period, the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was popularly known as Filastin.2. What were its borders?While the original declaration only mentioned "Palestinian territory", subsequent statements have clarified that Palestine claims only the Gaza Strip and West Bank (including East but not West Jerusalem). Resolutions 43/177 and 67/19 recognise Palestinian sovereignty in those areas, as do some of the statements of recognition by other countries.Historically the region of Palestine also referred to Israel and parts of western Jordan. This is not unlike Macedonia, Luxembourg and Mongolia, all of which also refer to regions significantly larger than the countries.3. What was its capital?As stated in the declaration of independence, Palestine's capital is Jerusalem (specifically Eastern Jerusalem). Since the Palestinian Authority has no control over the city, the de facto administrative capital is Ramallah.Jerusalem is also the capital of Israel.4. What were its major cities?Major Palestinian cities include Gaza City, East Jerusalem, Hebron (above), Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Historically significant cities include Jericho, Rafah, Lajjun and Shomron.5. Name at least one 'Palestinian leader' before Arafat.Arafat was the first president of the State of Palestine. (By comparison, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Eritrea and South Sudan have both only ever had one president in their history.)Prior to independence, Arafat was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, in which role he was preceded by Ahmad Shukeiri (above) and Yahya Hammuda.Between 1948 and 1959, Egyptian-controlled Gaza was administered as a client state claiming sovereignty over all of Palestine, with Ahmed Hilmi Pasha as its Prime Minister. Under Jordanian occupation, meanwhile, the West Bank was ruled by appointed military governors, many of them Palestinians such as Aref al-Aref.6. What was the language of the 'country of Palestine'?The official language of Palestine is Arabic, which is spoken by the vast majority of the population. The main spoken varieties are South Levantine, with regional differences as well as a distinction between urban and rural dialects. Additionally, Bedawi Arabic is spoken by Bedouins.Other native languages include Armenian, Domari ("Syrian Gypsy") and Levantine Arabic Sign Language. Historically significant languages include Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.English is the most spoken second language, though a significant minority speak Hebrew.7. What was the prevalent religion of the 'ancient country of Palestine'?Over 90% of population of (modern, not ancient) Palestine are Muslims, and most of the rest are Christians. The vast majority of the Muslims are Sunni, though there is also small Ahmadi community. There used to be a number of Palestinian Shi'ite (Metawali) villages in what is now Northern Israel, but they were depopulated following the 1948 War with Israel, with their population fleeing to Lebanon.The Christian population belong to multiple denominations, though around half are Eastern Orthodox, while a significant proportion of the rest follow Eastern or Western rites Catholicism. There is also a small number of Samaritans and Druze living in the West Bank.Historically significant religions in the region include Semitic paganism, Judaism, Samaritanism and Hellenic paganism.8. What was the name of its currency?As part of the Oslo Accords, Palestine is barred from issuing its own currency. As a result, Palestine uses a combination of Israeli Shekels, Jordanian Dinars and Egyptian Pounds. That said, the postage stamps issued by the PNA use the currency designation mils, a subdivision of the Palestinian Pound previously used in Mandatory Palestine. Due to pressure from Israel, these were for a while reissued with an overprint of Jordanian fils, but Palestinian officials consider the Palestine pound to be a still-existent, if dormant, currency.Palestine is not the only state to not issue its own currency: Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, East Timor, Marshall Islands and Palau all use the US Dollar; Montenegro and Kosovo use the Euro; and Zimbabwe uses a combination of foreign currencies.9. Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the 'Palestinian' monetary unit against the US Dollar, German Mark, GB Pound, Japanese Yen, or Chinese Yuan on that date.As mentioned above, the State of Palestine does not issue its own currency. The Palestine Pound, used in Mandatory Palestine from 1927 and 1948 and in Israel until 1952, was equal in value to one pound sterling (GBP).As an aside, I'd be curious to find out what the exchange rate of the Masada or Bar Kokhba Shekels were against the "US Dollar, German Mark, GB Pound, Japanese Yen, or Chinese Yuan".10. Since there is no such country of 'Palestine' today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?As noted above, the premise of this question is incorrect. That said, while the State of Palestine was only declared in 1988, the aftermath of 1948 Arab-Israeli War (including the exodus of Palestinian refugees, and the Egyptian and Jordanian occupations) prevented an earlier declaration of a Palestinian state inside Mandatory Palestine. Egypt did initially support the creation of an All-Palestine Government, but disbanded it in 1959.11. Why did 'the Palestinians' never try to become independent until after the devastating defeat of invading Arab states in the 1967 Six Day War?Nationalism is essentially a modern concept, developed in Europe during the 19th century. It's worth mentioning that Zionism, a type of Jewish nationalism, only arose during this period, even though Jewish migration to Palestine was possible for hundreds of years prior to that (the Old Yishuv period). The formative event of Palestinian nationalism was the 1834 Peasants’ Revolt against Egypt, though the galvanising factor was Zionist immigration in the interwar period, followed by the 1948 Palestinian exodus (the Nakba). By the outbreak of the 1967 war, a Palestinian national identity was well established: Fatah was founded in 1959, the PLO in 1964.

They didn’t.Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was granted white-minority self government in 1923, but by the 1960s wanted full independence.The British government, along with the Commonwealth, insisted that Rhodesia could not have independence before majority rule.The white government in Salisbury (Harare) issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965.This was not recognised internationally, it was not recognised by the Commonwealth, and it was not recognised by Britain.The Zimbabwe Bush War (also called Second Chimurenga, and the Zimbabwe War of Independence) ran from 1964 until 1979.There were three main groups involved, the white regime led by Ian Smith, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union, and Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army.The British were not involved in this fighting.The reason for the ‘people’s’ victory are complex. But essentially it came down to numbers. The white population of Rhodesia had always been transient, with most immigrants leaving again a few years after arriving. Emigration accelerated as the security situation worsened. The economy declined steadily, as did morale.Meanwhile, the rebels were recruiting ever more soldiers to their cause. The technological advantage that Smith’s troops had was mitigated by aid from the Soviets, including the SA-7 missiles used to shoot down two civilian airliners.In 1978, the government reached a power-sharing agreement with moderate black leaders that left 1/3 of parliamentary seats and control of the security apparatus in white hands. Bishop Abel Muzorewa became the country’s first black prime minister. This was not accepted by the rebel groups, which continued to fight.However, the Rhodesian army was not defeated. The war ended in a stalemate which led to a political settlement. Mugabe himself told the NY Times: "We did not win a military victory... We reached a political settlement... A compromise."A peace conference organised by newly elected British PM Margaret Thatcher in 1979 led to the Lancaster House Agreement, which reduced the political influence of whites, led to the ending of international sanctions, and allowed the Mugabe and Nkomo factions to contest the election.The country briefly returned to British control while elections were organised and held. Mugabe won.

Q “Did the Arabs effectively relinquish their claim to Israel/Palestine when they rejected the 1948 partition plan, since they did not declare a state?”No. UNGAR 181 was simply a recommendation for the two parties to agree to a split of the country as a way forward. The UN has no authority to split up any country against the wishes of the people who live there. The recommendation was doomed to failure because not only did it suggest a forceful claim by recent immigrants be rewarded at the expense of the people who had been living there for generations but it very cheekily suggested that 33% of the population, who were mostly immigrants who forced their way in against strong opposition from the locals, be given 55.5% of the land. It was not very short of insane.In the wake of the expected failure of UNGAR 181 Zionists grabbed control over the 55.5% of Palestine in May of 1948, renamed it Israel and unilaterally declared it a new independent country. This was a UDI, a unilateral declaration of independence. UDI is how white supremacists racists grabbed control of Southern Rhodesia. However, in that case real democracy eventually won the day and the country became known as Zimbabwe.