A Short Introduction To The Philately Of Palestine

The Stamps of Palestine 1994

All stamps in "Mils" could only be used for internal mail within the liberated areas of Palestine. Foreign mail was allowed from 7 or 8.11.1995 only. Israel judged these stamps as invalid and returned such franked letters. In order that the letters be allowed through Israel, Palestinian postmasters then affixed small labels stating "Palestinian Authority / Postage Paid". Some senders used for this period Israeli stamps, which were still sold by Palestinian post offices.

Israel not only objected to the used of currency "Mils" (like on the "Views" series), but also to the name "Palestine" that appears in the graphics on the "Mandate Stamps" series. 		nablus_cachet01det (16K)
postwar_01 (44K) postwar_02 (46K)
Registered letter from Nablus to Spain, returned. Five stamps for a total of 470 Fils: 3 "Views" overprinted (Mi-Nr. 21, 22, 24 at 5, 10 and 30f, one original "View" (Mi-Nr. 12, 75m) and "Mandate stamps" (Mi-Nr. 31, 350f), covered with blank label and cachet "Palestinian Authority / Postage Paid". Postmark: Nablus 1, 27.03.1996 (no. 78, type IIc); on reverse "Certificado" mark Barcelona, 19.04.1996. Manual registration mark Nablus 4483 (type X). Same handwiring on this registered express letter: from Yatta 8.06.1997 (no. 108, type IIIa) to New Zealand, then returned. Registration label Yatta 000142 (type B2).

Image courtesy Dieter Becker.

External Link: Dieter Becker's German website on Postal Wars de (1K).

The Postmaster of Jericho, according to reports, produced an unauthorized local overprint: with a small rubber handstamp he obliterated "Mils" with "Fils". These overpints are known in (greenish) black, red and (blueish) purple.
I have not seen these stamps on letter myself, although reports suggest they were apparently accepted by Israel. Unless they were sanctioned by the Minstry these are not official stamps, though may be worth collecting—preferrably on letter! (see below)

 jerloc_1 (6K) jerloc_2 (6K) jerloc_3 (6K)
007_LOC1 (10K)
007_LOC2 (10K) 		014_block_loc (22K)

Images of the overprint details and Block 1: Rolf Wernecke.

jerloc_951022 (39K) jerloc_951108 (30K)
Letter from Burage (Gaza-Strip) to Australia. Failed to reach addressee at various postcodes.
Postmark: ELBURAIJ / 22.10.95 (type SZ IId). On reverse: Jericho arrival postmark 24.01.1996 (insert).
Likely of philatelic origin: 20m historic sites paired with 200m official (!) stamp, used far away from Jericho, at a time when regular stamps in Fils were already available. 		Another returned letter, this time from Gaza to Argentina.
Postmark: GAZA / 1 / 08.11.95 (type SZ IIb).
Again of philatelic origin: note the identical handwriting! Here the sender paired two stamps from the flag series: a 125f regular stamp (10.04.1995) with a 150m stamp (15.08.1994) bearing the Jericho handstamp.
Images of both covers courtesy of Thomas Schubert.
001FDC_rafah (24K) 001-4FDC (28K)
"First Day" cover from Rafah, featuring stamp MiNr. 1: 125m Flags. Officially issed in Jericho on 15.08.1994, I'm not aware when exactly they came into use in the Gaza strip; probably 1.01.1995 was the first day of use there!?

Image courtesy of Thomas Schubert.

 For comparision: official FDC as issued in 1994 and sold through the philatelic trade. I assume that all such official FDCs were produced by or directly for the German Bundesdruckerei GmbH Berlin, but at least blank copies of such illustrated covers made their way to Palestine and were used there, although only by philatelists, it seems.
001 (19K) 002 (18K)
003 (22K) 004 (21K)
005 (29K)
006 (20K) 007 (21K)
008 (20K) 009 (21K)
010 (21K) 011 (21K)
012 (21K)
013 (30K)
014_block (82K)

Official Stamps 1994
D001 (13K) D002 (15K) D003 (15K)
D004 (15K) D005 (15K) D006 (15K)
MTIT Michel Issued Description Total Value Print Printer
1 1-5 15.08.94 Definitives: National Flag 1325 Mils Offs. Bundesdruckerei Berlin
Michel Value Design Size Perf. Sheet
1 125 Mils a I (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
2 150 Mils a I (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
3 250 Mils a II 46x27.32 K 14 10 (2x5)
4 300 Mils a II 46x27.32 K 14 10 (2x5)
5 500 Mils a III 55x32.8 K 14 10 (2x5)
3 6-13 1.09.94 Definitives: Historic Sites 1230 Mils Offs. Bundesdruckerei Berlin
Michel Value Design Size Perf. Sheet
6 5 Mils b (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
7 10 Mils b (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
8 20 Mils b (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
9 30 Mils c (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
10 40 Mils c (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
11 50 Mils c (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
12 75 Mils c (43.75x26.25) K 14 10 (2x5)
13 1000 Mils d 55x32.8 K 14 10 (2x5)
4 Bl. 1 7.10.94 Gaza-Jericho Peace Agreement 1000 Mils Offs. Bundesdruckerei Berlin
Michel Value Design Size Perf. Sheet
14 750 + 250 Mils e 105x70 Ks 13.75 Block (1)
2 D1-6 7.10.94 Official Stamps: Eagle 1125 Mils Offs. Bundesdruckerei Berlin
Michel Value Design Size Perf. Sheet
D1 50 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)
D2 100 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)
D3 125 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)
D4 200 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)
D5 250 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)
D6 400 Mils D a (28x33.5) K 14 25 (5x5)

Back to the Introduction

Back to the Zobbel Homepage

[Created 13.09.2004, last revised 12.10.2007]
[www.zobbel.de – Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz – all rights reserved]