This map is a modification, suggested as a replacement for the one uploaded by ChrisO at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Israel_and_occupied_territories_map.png

which is used in the Wikipedia article "Palestine," under the History subheading Current Status.

My modification shows "facts on the ground" which are essential to any understanding of the situation in Palestine today. The geographic facts are not in dispute. They have been widely published in print and on the internet.

Both my map and the ChrisO map are modifications of a 2004 United Nations map of Israel:

http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf

(public domain) in which the three Occupied Territories, the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan, are given the same brown color as Israel's neighboring countries: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. ChrisO colors the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan light green and renames the map "Israel and the Occupied Territories." However Golan is Syrian, not Palestinian. For an article on Palestine, attention should be on the West Bank and Gaza.

My modification crops out Golan and the Negev desert to focus in on the West Bank and Gaza. It also incorporates information from several published sources to show the land and resources actually available to Palestinian people in these two territories, the West Bank in particular.

The main source of information on barriers and land distribution comes from a map by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/OCHAoPt_ClsrMp_WB0106_En.pdf archive copy at the Wayback Machine

supplemented by two more United Nations maps:

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/WB_Barrier_Projections_July06.pdf archive copy at the Wayback Machine

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/WB_Closure_Access_revised_CAP_June06.pdf archive copy at the Wayback Machine

Two Israeli organizations have published similar maps:

http://www.btselem.org/Download/Separation_Barrier_Map_Eng.pdf

http://www.icahd.org/eng/images/articles/the-matrix-of-control.gif archive copy at the Wayback Machine

And finally, the Washington Post published all this information on a full-page newspaper map:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/05/30/GR2006053000018.html

Each of these maps is much too detailed to illustrate a Wikipedia article. My modification simplifies the information for use on a map similar in scale to the other maps in the article on Palestine.

Similar maps with locations of Israeli settlements are posted at:

Image:Palestine_Map_2007_(Settlements).gif

Image:West_Bank_&_Gaza_Map_2007_(Settlements).gif

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.