By "overwhelming popular demand" (at least 2 XUNICEF colleagues !) I revert to my column on philatelic materials related to the UN ,UNICEF and other Agencies.
This week the subject of the SOLI_loquy is SOLI-darity with the children of Gaza as well as those of other Palestinians. While we have all been horrified with the events of the past weeks, especially the unfolding tragedies suffered by children and other civilians, we are heartened by the small steps of humanitarian aid and exchange of prisoners that came about just recently and hope that more long-term and permanent truces will follow.
The 29th of November is the date declared by the UN General Assembly as the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People". It was on this day in 1947 when the General Assembly under pressure from the US abrogated the "right of self determination" of the UN Charter by voting to partition Palestine to give 55% of the country to a "Jewish state" when the Jews were less than 30% of the population, and most of these colonial settlers, while only 5% were native Jews.The resolution also specifically called for an economic union and no ethnic cleansing. This year such celebration is mitigated by the unfortunate events of the past few weeks whereby the number of Palestinians killed and injured has reached record proportions, especially civilians, and particularly innocent children.
The selection of materials this week is mostly from Egypt (UAR) which had the responsibility for administering Gaza after the 1948 conflict that created Israel, while Jordan was responsible for the West Bank. Both Egypt and Jordan issued philatelic materials for the occupied areas of Palestine under their respective control with the name of "Palestine" over-printed in Arabic and English on their own stamps.To round up the subject I have also included a few stamps from the early days of Palestine under the British Mandate as well as some more recent materials from the Palestine Authority.
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From the same set as above this FFHC stamp shows two ears of grain in the middle of the UN and FAO Emblems.
These two stamps commemorate the Centennial of the Red Cross, 1863-1963.One stamp shows the Red Crescent wit the Eternal Flame and a cereal grain , while the other shows the world globe, the UN wreath in addition to the Red Crescent and the Eternal Flame.
A year later, in 1995 the above souvenir sheet was re-issued but this time it commemorated the fact that Arafat, Rabin and Shimon Perez had won the Nobel Peace Prize for that year.
Fouad
The 29th of November is the date declared by the UN General Assembly as the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People". It was on this day in 1947 when the General Assembly under pressure from the US abrogated the "right of self determination" of the UN Charter by voting to partition Palestine to give 55% of the country to a "Jewish state" when the Jews were less than 30% of the population, and most of these colonial settlers, while only 5% were native Jews.The resolution also specifically called for an economic union and no ethnic cleansing. This year such celebration is mitigated by the unfortunate events of the past few weeks whereby the number of Palestinians killed and injured has reached record proportions, especially civilians, and particularly innocent children.
The selection of materials this week is mostly from Egypt (UAR) which had the responsibility for administering Gaza after the 1948 conflict that created Israel, while Jordan was responsible for the West Bank. Both Egypt and Jordan issued philatelic materials for the occupied areas of Palestine under their respective control with the name of "Palestine" over-printed in Arabic and English on their own stamps.To round up the subject I have also included a few stamps from the early days of Palestine under the British Mandate as well as some more recent materials from the Palestine Authority.
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Issued on 15 May 1948 this stamp from Egypt shows King Farouk and a line of soldiers marching towards Gaza in Palestine.
Another stamp issued in 1949 shows a larger map of Gaza with the main towns of Gaza City, Deir el Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, with the slogan "Gaza, Part of the Arab Nation".
This stamp was issued in 1958 as Egypt became the United Arab Republic when it joined with Syria. The stamp commemorates the "Struggle of Peoples and Individuals for Freedom", which was the widespread movement of decolonization that was occuring in many parts of the world for much of the 1960's.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN (1948-1958), this stamp shows the UN Emblem and the Eternal Flame around the photo of Dr. Mahmoud Azmy, a leader and activist for human rights in Egypt.
5635: 1960 was designated by the UN as " World Refugee Year." This set of two stamps shows the Emblem for Refugees with a mother and her child pointing towards the map of Palestine which had been their homeland.
WHO's World Health Day in 1961 was commemorated by Egypt with the theme of Braille writing for the blind. We see the WHO Emblem and two hands reading a document in Braille.
Egypt commemorated its national Education Day of 1961 with this stamp issued by the Survey Department showing various elements of teaching such as a book, triangle, microscope, music symbol, a painting palette, surrounding an atom in the middle.
This stamp commemorates the Week of Meetings of the Arab League at its HQ in Cairo in 1962
The two stamp set was issued by Egypt in conjunction with the 1962 WHO Campaign for the Eradication of Malaria. The Logo of the campaign is shown next to the slogan "The World United Against Malaria". These two stamps were issued for Palestine (Gaza) while identical stamps of different colors were issued for the UAR itself.
Egypt commemorated the one year passing of SG Dag Hammarsjkold in 1962 with this three stamp set, showing his face and the UN Emblem .Note the error in the spelling of his name where an "S" was added to his surname.
In 1963 the FAO launched the "Freedom From Hunger Camnpaign" to combat malnutrition and under-nourishment in the world. Here is the stamp from Egypt showing the UN and FAO Emblems with a cow as the centre-piece.
For the fifteenth Anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration, 1948-1963, Egypt issued these two stamps showing the UN Emblem and Scales of Justice.
For World Health Day in 1964, Egypt issued this stamp showing the WHO Emblem and the symbol of the international effort at combating Tuberculosis.
The following year, 1965, the theme for WHO's World Health Day was the fight to eradicate smallpox. Here we see the Red Crescent around the WHO Emblem.
Another UN Specialized Agency , the ITU ,celebrated its Centenary , 1865-1965, with these three stamps from Egypt showing various elements of global communications systems.
This stamp was issued in 1966 to commemorate the creation of UNRWA , the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, in 1949.
Here I change the topic slightly to feature stamps issued by Palestine itself. For the serious philatelist Palestine is a special case in that until 1948 only TWO sets of stamps were issued from the state of Palestine. The first set used stamps from the British Expeditionary Force in Egypt overprinted with the name of "Palestine". Only in 1927 did the country, which was under the British Mandate, issue its own definitive stamps. Here I feature the complete 22 stamps set with views of Rachel's Tomb, the Dome of the Rock, the Jerusalem Citadel and views from the Galilee. The country's name "Palestine" is indicated in Arabic, English and Hebrew. Since this set was used continuously from 1927 to 1948 the stamps were re-printed a number of times and as a result there are many interesting variations of colours, of perforations and other minor changes depending on the presses used, the paper, the dyes etc.
This is a Cinderella stamp, ie. it was not issued for regular postage. It shows the start of the Palestinian Resistance movement with the creation of Al-Fatah, an arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Fast-forward to 1993 when the Oslo Accords created the Palestine Authority. Here is one of the earlier stamps issued by the PA showing the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
An historic event was the signing of the Gaza-Jericho Peace Agreement and the famous hand shake between Chairman Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin with President Bill Clinton as the intermediary.This souvenir sheet issued in 1994 shows a photo of the event with the two flags of Palestine and Israel.
A year later, in 1995 the above souvenir sheet was re-issued but this time it commemorated the fact that Arafat, Rabin and Shimon Perez had won the Nobel Peace Prize for that year.
I conclude this week's series with a complete sheet of 15 stamps issued to commemorate the fifth Anniversary (1965-1970) of the Fateh organization among the Palestinian resistance groups. It is also a Cinderella stamp.
_______________________Fouad
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