Israel has occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the June 1967 war, and Palestinian resistance against the Israeli presenceon their land has been fiercever since. The most common and visible acts of resistance are demonstrations by students and school children, sit-ins, and strikes in protest against the occupation and its policies. Sometimes, methods of armed struggle are employed such as shooting occupation soldiers or Israeli settlers.
Punishment for joining the national resistance is harsh. For instance, a Palestinian arrested for throwing a stone at an Israeli vehicle can expect twenty years imprisonment (Military Order No. 1108), although, to date the military courts have meted out no more than one and one-half years for such an offense. The sentences of Palestinian prisoners are commonly based on an accusation that they are "members of illegal organizations" (meaning the PLO), planning or taking part in sabotage against Israelis, or raising a Palestinian flag. In addition to imprisonment, Israeli authorities use administrative measures to punish and control: town and house arrest, administrative detention, deportation, and house demolition or sealing. In one year, from August 1985 to the end of July 1986, 65 residences were either estroyed or sealed, 145 people were placed under administrative detention, 35 were deported, and 35 restriction orders were imposed in the West Bank area.
It is impossible to estimate the number of Palestinians from the occupied territories who paticipate in national resistance whether as prisoners, in political exile, or as fighters. For young people living in conditions of foreign occupation, participation in the national struggle has always been a natural choice, and the Palestinians are no exception. Thus, a rather common fate for a young man and sometimes for a young woman living in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip is to experience detention and the interrogation methods of occupiers. According to a report by the International Red Cross, there have been some 500,000 detentions or arrests fro security reasons. This means that of the one and a half million Palestinian Arabs residing in the occupied territories, a third has been detained by the Israelis in the twenty years of military occupation. Some lawyers' reports have also revealed that every third Palestinian living under Israeli occupation has been detained for security reasons.