Stamps of the Palestinian Authority

Abstract

Stamps inscribed Palestine reappeared on the world scene in August 1994 after a 27-year absence as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) assumed direct administrative control over territories in the West Bank and Gaza Strip assigned to it by the Israeli government. The newly created Palestinian Authority (PA) was granted authority to operate a postal service and issue stamps but with restrictions as to the name of the issuer (only Palestinian Authority), the currency (only those in circulation in Jordan or Israel), and content (the PA was to abstain from “hostile propaganda”). Between 1995 and 2013, after initial efforts to assert national identity which were blocked by the Israeli government, the PA focused on cultural identity with stamps depicting cultural symbols, traditions, and events, promoting its ties to the wider world, and publicizing the natural wonders of the territories under its administration, all the while adhering to the restrictions imposed on it by Israeli occupation authorities. However, by 2013, as a result of the changed relationship between the PLO and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which took control of the Gaza Strip and began issuing its own stamps, international agreements granting greater postal autonomy, and United Nations recognition of the existence of a Palestinian state, Palestinian stamps began to focus more on Palestinian national and political identity and resistance to Israeli occupation.