The establishment of the Palestinian Authority post

Dr. Josef Wallach [ Hebrew Website ]

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Chapter 5 : The Palestine Authority Stamps

Introduction


Discussions held during the months of April and May 1994 between representatives of Israel and the PLO , formulated an agreement of delegation of powers to the Pal. Auth. , including provisions of postal services . In this agreement , inter alia , number of clauses which deal with thee issuance of postage stamps . It was determined that the Pal. Auth. may issue stamps and postmarks subject to the following provisions :
( see original document [Link 1] )


1. The stamps will include only the term " Palestine Authority” , denomination and subject .
2. The currency will appear only with one which is currently used in the Gaza Strip and Jericho .
In this section , will be presented stamps issued in the early years of the P.A. , with emphasis on the controversial stamps which caused friction and disputes between the sides

The first printed stamps

. In light of the agreement with Israel , the Pal. Auth. examined number of European agents about the option to print the stamps , and chose the German Proposal . During Aug.-Oct. 1994 several series of stamps were printed in Germany .
The Flag stamp series - 15.Aug.1994



The eagles (official) stamp series - 15.Aug.1994



The Landscapes stamp series - 1. Sep.1994



Gaza and Jericho Peace agreement s/s - 7.Oct.1994



The postage stamps ordered by the Pal. Auth. , contradicted certain clauses of the agreement reached with Israel . The currency on all stamps was expressed in " Mils” - a currency not existing since the end of the British Mandate in 1948 in Palestine . The printing aimed at presenting a false image of the Pal. Auth. as a continuous state of the " Palestine” Mandate . In addition , on the eagles series of stamps , the word "Palestine” appeared instead of "Pal Auth. " which was again against the agreement . Israel protested against the violations , and did not approve the use of these stamps .

Matching the stamps with the spirit of the agreement

In response to the Pal. Auth. appeal , Mr. Y. Rabin ,Prime minister ,
promised Yasser Arafat to legitimate the problematic stamps if the currency will be changed from
Mils to Fils by an overprint
( see original document [Link 2] )
. As a result , the Pal. Auth. ordered in Germany ,
a reprint of the early series of stamps with the appropriate overprint .
Thus the Mils was hidden under Fils overprint . The new series of stamps appeared on 10.Apr. 1995

The Flag " Fils” set of stamps





The Landscapes "Fils” set of stamps



The Gaza-Jericho S/S peace agreement Fils block



The "Jericho Locals"


As a safety measure , in case the revised Series of " Fils” stamps
will not arrive in time , the Pal. Auth . prepared a small rubber
cachet with the word "Fils” . The intention was , to mark the existing stock of stamps ,
manually and thus overcome the currency problem . Eventually , the the revised "Fils: stamps appeared in time and No neccesity was for the rubber cachet .
The manager of Jericho used the "Fils:” rubber cachet as a gesture
and applied it certain sets of the Mils” issues .
Part of them were used to frank envelopes which were posted at various posts offices
in Jericho and Gaza strip . The "Fils” cacheted stamps appear in three colors :
violet , red, and black All originate from Jericho and thus called " Jericho Locals " .
They were accepted for postage by all sides , on posted covers from P.A. Territory
and those which went outside the area.

(see detailed description of the stamps [Link 3])








Posted covers, carrying the local Jericho stamps


Other deviation of issued stamps

On May 17.1995 Pal. Auth. issued another set of three stamps dedicated to the theme "stamp on stamp” .
They depict the pre 1948 Palestine Mandate stamps . . As they carry the word "Palestine” ,
Israel refused to approve them , and banned their use . .



Sale of partial sets at P.A post counters

The P.A. stamps which were printed in Germany , could be purchased from
the German Agent who represented the P.A. printing press and
at P.A. post office counters . However , the second option was not always possible .
For some reason , not all the stamps were available for sale e at the post offices

( details in Article [Link 4] )




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