Figure 1.--This 1947 wire servivevphoto show Arab Boy Scouts in Jerusalem. The caption read, "Good Friday rememberance in Holy Land.bbPilgrims, led by an Arab Boy Scout group carrying a symbolic cross, walk along the street of the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem on Good Friday, April 4, 1947, and approach the Sixth Station of the Cross which is under Arch in the foreground. Here, it is told, A Roman woman named Veronica wiped the bleeding face of Jesus. From this, it is said, originated Veronica's Veil showing the suffering face of Jesus on a linen cloth."

Scouting was founded in Palestine (1912) while it was still part of the Ottoman Empire. We have no information on early Palestinian Scouting. I think that it was largely Christian Arabs who were involved, but I do not have a lot of informstion at this time. Palestine became a British League of Nations Mandate after World War I (1914-18). We have no details on Scouting during the inter-war era. The Palestinian Scout Association was recognized by the World Scout Bureau in 1945. I am not sure about the religious make up of the Palestinian Scouts at the time. The post-War situation deteriorated as violence escalated between Jews ans Arabs, leasing to the First Isreali-Arab War (1948-49). The World Scout Bureau withdrew recognition (1949). Official recognition was restored by the World Scout Conference (1996). The Palestinian Scout Association serves youth throughout the Palestinian Authority. The headquarters is in Ramallah in the West Bank. We are not sure about the status of Scouting in Gaza.