I. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME “PALESTINE”
In Hebrew “p” and “ph” are the same letter. Originally Arabic had no letter “p.” Biblical Hebrew had no vowels, so in Hebrew “Philistia” (the Philistines homeland) and “Palestine” are the same word. In Hebrew Palestinian is pronounced Philistinian. According to the Bible, from the time of Abraham to near the time of the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem, Philistines (descendants of Noah’s son Ham, Genesis 10:6, 13-14 and I Chronicles 1:11-12 lived on the Mediterranean Coast north of Egypt, including part of the area now known as the Gaza. About the time the Babylonian Empire destroyed the temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings Ch.25) and took leading men of Judea into captivity in 586 BC, Philistines disappeared from history. “Wail, O gate; cry, O city; all Philistia, you are dissolved” (Isaiah 14:31a).
2. WHEN AND WHY WAS THE HOLY LAND FIRST CALLED PALESTINE?
During the Bar Kokhba rebellion (132AD-135AD), Rome killed almost 600,000 Jews and plowed Jerusalem, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 26:18, “Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become ruins.” Some 90% of Jewish people fled from Israel as prophesied by Moses, “the Lord will scatter you among the peoples” (Deut. 4:27; 28:64).
However, Isaiah prophesied that a remnant of Jewish people would remain in the Holy Land; “The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Yet a tenth {of the children of Israel} will be in it. . . like an oak whose stump remains when it is felled; the holy seed is its stump” (Isaiah 6:12-13). Moses and Isaiah’s prophecies came true; Israel was scattered, the population dwindled, and the land became desolate. However, from the time the Children of Israel returned to the Promised Land from Egypt in 1476 BC until today (some 3,500 years), there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the Holy Land.
In 135AD, Rome renamed the Holy Land Syria-Palaestinae for the Philistines, who had disappeared from history some 700 years earlier. The Holy Land was called Palestine from 135AD until 1948. During WW1, British officials promised Faisal Hussein (of Arabia) the throne of Syria in exchange for supporting a Jewish State in Palestine. In March 1920, the General Syrian Congress confirmed Faisal as King. In April 1920, the League of Nations gave mandates to France over Syria, and to Britain over Palestine and Iraq. In July 1920, France ordered King Faisal and his Muslim forces out of Syria. To appease Faisal, the British removed Faisal’s brother Abdullah from the throne of Iraq and made Faisal King. Abdullah gathered forces to take Syria from the French. To prevent Abdullah from attacking the French, England gave Abdullah all of Palestine east of the Jordan River (78%). The United Nations voted to divide what remained of Palestine between Jews and Arabs. Arabs turned it down. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared an independent state and immediately U.S. President Truman recognized Israel as a sovereign nation. After 2000 years, Israel was a nation again in the Land promised to them by God. When God keeps promises to Israel, we know that He will keep His promises to us.
Immediately, 6 Arab nations attacked Israel. Jordan captured East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (the mountains of Israel), killing and driving out all Jews, taking their homes and land, renaming the heartland of Israel the “West Bank.” Egypt captured the Gaza strip.
3. THE HISTORY OF PALESTINE 1917 TO 1967AD
IN 1917 General Allenby and Allied Forces of World War I took Jerusalem. In 1920 the League of Nations voted to establish a homeland for Jews in Palestine, (a.k.a. the Holy Land and the Land of Israel).
IN 1922, to appease Abdullah for deposing him as King of Iraq the British gave him all of Palestine east of the Jordan River (78% of the land the League of Nations had authorized as a homeland for the Jews), forbidding Jews to live there, leaving only 22% of Palestine (the part west of the Jordan River) for a Jewish homeland.
IN 1947 The UN voted to divide the remaining 22% of the Jewish homeland between Jews and Arabs. The Arabs turned down the offer, and on May 1948, Israel declared independence.
IN 1948 Arab armies from six Muslim nations attacked Israel. Israel survived as a nation, but Egypt occupied Gaza and Jordan occupied the Old City of Jerusalem and much of Judea and Samaria (the heart of the homeland of the Jews), calling it the “West Bank” because it was west of the Jordan River. Egypt and Jordan deported all Jewish people from Gaza and the West Bank, confiscated their homes and businesses.
IN 1967 Arabs attacked Israel again. Israel won, returning Jewish-owned land in the West Bank and Gaza.
4. FOREIGN OCCUPIERS OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL (A.K.A. THE HOLY LAND & PROMISED LAND)
1476BC Israel returns to the Promised Land from Egypt (This is an approximate date)
1000BC Kingdom of Israel ruled by King David
960BC Israel divided into two Kingdoms, Judah (South) & Israel (North)
722BC Assyrian Empire (occupier) deported the Northern Kingdom of Israel and forced
Jerusalem to pay tribute (2Kings 18:13-16). The Assyrian King took Manasseh of
Judah into exile (2 Chronicles 33:11).
604BC Babylonian Empire (occupier) conquered Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
586BC Note: Philistines disappeared from history.
539BC Persian Empire (occupier)
322BC Alexander’s Empire (occupier)
319BC Seleucid Empire (occupier)
63BC Roman Empire (occupier)
135AD Note: Rome renamed Israel “Palestinae” after extinct Philistines
614AD Sassanian Empire (occupier)
638AD Islamic Empire (occupier)
1095AD Note: European Knights (occupied Jerusalem to protect Christians)
1150AD Islamic Empire (occupier)
1920AD British Empire (occupier)
1948 AD SOVEREIGN STATE OF ISRAEL RE-ESTABLISHED
5. A BRILLIANT DECEPTION
After the Islamic Empire lost two wars with Israel (1948 and 1956), failing to drive Israel out of the Holy Land, Islamic leaders formed a brilliant deception. As we said, Jews living in the Holy Land, who had been called Palestinians from 135 to 1948AD, won their independence and formed the State of Israel. “Palestine” ceased to exist in 1948!
The public has a short memory. So in 1964, 16 years AFTER ‘PALESTINE’ CEASED TO EXIST, Arabs of the Arab League created an organization called the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Although Arabs rejected the name Palestinian when the Holy Land was called Palestine, now 16 years later having failed to take Israel’s land in war, the Arab League chose to assume the name “Palestinian.”
On May 28 1964, the Arab League founded The National Covenant of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, creating the impression that Arabs are indigenous to Palestine. However, it was also important to reassure other Arabs that they were not abandoning the Arab Nation. In Article 11 of the PLO’s National Covenant they assured their brother Arabs that they continue to see themselves as members of the “Arab Nation” and that “at this stage of the struggle” their “Palestinian personality” is a “role” they are playing.
Article 11 of the National Covenant of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) says, “The Palestinian people firmly believe in Arab unity, and in order to ‘play its role’ in realizing this goal, it must , ‘at this stage of its struggle,’ preserve its Palestinian personality and all of its constituents. It must strengthen the consciousness of its existence and stand against any attempt or plan that may weaken or disintegrate its personality.” In other words, they wanted their brother Arabs to know that in order to add the Holy Land to the Islamic Empire they need to PRETEND to be Palestinians until all Israel is under Islamic domination!
6. A TANGLED WEB
In 1964 when Arabs BEGAN to call themselves “Palestinians,” most young Arab teens and adults did not remember the miraculous war of 1948, when Israel defeated the Islamic Empire, nor did they remember that Jews in the Holy Land were called “Palestinians” and Arabs were not. Thousands of Arabs too young to remember the facts sincerely believe themselves to be Palestinians. However, Hafez al-Assad, Arabic Muslim President of Syria [1971-2000], said to Yasser Arafat, then head of the PLO, “Don’t forget one thing—there is no Palestinian people and there is no Palestinian entity.” While Assad’s statement is the opposite of what is commonly believed, his words match the facts of history.
German Chancellor Adolph Hitler, who murdered 6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust (1942-1945), wrote, “The broad masses of a nation. . . more readily fall victims to the BIG LIE than the small lie, since they themselves often tell lies in little matters, but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts, which prove this to be so, may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.” From Mein Kampf, dictated by Adolph Hitler to fellow prisoner Rudolph Hess in the Landsberg Prison in 1923, released in 1925, published by Reynal & Hitchcock, 1939.
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