Israel: A Chosen People In A Promised Land - Part 7

The Issue Of Palestine

            A discussion of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs cannot be fully fleshed out without an investigation of the historical accounts and aspects of the region called ‘Palestine’ and its inhabitants – both past and present. In this section the history of ‘Palestine’ as a geographical region will be explored, so to the historical heritage of the ‘Palestinian’ people. Because this topic encompasses and intersects with the history of Israel, both biblical and historical considerations will be made and discussed.

HISTORY OF PALESTINE AND ITS PEOPLE:

            One of the most significant claims that is being made by the Palestinians and their supporters is that Israel is an occupying force and a colonising nation, that the land the nation of Israel currently includes rightfully belongs to them. To examine that claim the history of the name ‘Palestine’ and the history of the region as it has been known historically and biblically.

            The word ‘Palestine’ in the English language stems from both Greek and Latin words. The Greeks the term ‘Philistine’ to describe a group of people who historically had come from Crete and possibly the south-eastern Greek isles – these people were from the Minoan civilisation^[1]. There were a people group who finally settled in the region that is now known as the Gaza Strip – this can be seen in the map below^[2].

            In the biblical narrative, the Philistines were noted to be violent people (with multiple battles from the time of Joshua to their defeat by King David and Solomon), including the kidnapping of women and children for slavery (as seen in 1 Samuel 30), for their idolatry (found in Judges 16). By the time of the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles of the Jewish people the Philistine culture and people had almost ceased to exist – and they were certainly overtaken by surrounding cultures and empires by the time of Jesus in the 1^st Century AD – therefore the current ‘Palestinian’ people group is not of Philistine descent.

            As mentioned in previous sections the region was controlled and ruled by a number of empires and kingdoms leading up to the Roman Empire who by the time of Jesus controlled most of the Mediterranean region, including what was known as Judea during the 1^st Century AD (the time of Jesus).

In 70AD the Romans brutally put down a Jewish revolt leading to the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem as a city – causing over a million death of the Jewish residents, and around 100,000 to be taken into slavery^[3]. After 70AD the population of Jews in the region was still significant with nearly two-thirds of the Galilean population and one-third of the coastal population still being made up of Jewish people^[4].

Nearly 70 years later another Jewish revolt formed against the Roman oppressors. This was known as the Bar Kokhba revolt. The result was that a further half a million Jews were either killed or died due to starvation and disease – the remnant of the Jewish population resided in the region of the Galilee^[5]. Combined with the destruction of the Judean population was a severe restriction of extreme limitations placed on Jews who wanted to visit or live in and around Jerusalem – this was in place for several hundred years^[6].

            Hadrian the Roman Caesar after the defeat of the Bar Kokhba Revolt wanted to make a statement about the authority and power of the Roman Empire and began to turn Jerusalem into a Greco-Roman site, with temples to their own deities, architecture and the like. As part of this, Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitalina – or the capital of Hadrian’s family. At the same time Hadrian renamed the whole region Syria Palestina – the Latinisation of the Greek word Philistine. So, it was around 135AD that the word ‘Palestine’ came into being – Hadrian used it to mock the Jewish people be referring them as ‘Palestinians’ or ‘Philistines’ the Jews enemies from ages past^[7]. So, the original ‘Palestinians’ were actually Jews.

The name of the region as ‘Palestine’ would stick for nearly 1800 years after it was originally given. And it is the source of many of the misunderstandings, and also the outright lies by many purporting to support the ‘Palestinian’ cause.

            With the historical facts being established, the focus on the modern ‘Palestinians’ can be made. If they are not ancient Philistines as their name suggests, who are they really? Where did they come from? And what is their ethnic makeup? These questions are explored and discussed in the following section.

MODERN PALESTINIAN PEOPLE:

            Who the Palestinian people are is inherently tied to their claim on the land of Israel. As you have seen in the map on Page 15 – the area encompassing both modern Israel and Jordan was considered by the British to be ‘Palestine’ and as such, the nation of Jordan is a Palestinian state, in Palestinian lands. Other than that, there has never been a political entity that was a ‘Palestinian’ state – never in human history has this ever occurred. The only time it got close to it is when the British offered up a two-state solution prior to 1948, which the Arabs of the region rejected. Which is also interesting because over the past several decades since the 1973 Yom Kippur War the Arab nations and the ‘Palestinians’ have been calling for a two-state solution that looks very much like what was originally offered.

            However, given the events of October 7^th, 2023 (and beyond), a two-state solution is almost impossible. This is so for two reasons. The first is that due to the barbaric nature of the actions of Hamas terrorists on the Israeli civilian populace and chance for peace with Palestinian organisations is gone for the foreseeable future. In addition to that fact, a great many Palestinians, and their supporters world-wide are chanting a slogan “From the river to the sea!” – this refers to the land of Israel (from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea) and wiping out the Jewish people within those boundaries.

            Their push for a homeland (and the eradication of Jewish Israel) stems from a false concept of ‘Palestinian’ being a cultural and ethnic group. So, how do we find the truth in all the murky information running around out there?

            We can turn directly to the Palestinians themselves – especially Palestinian groups such as the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement in English).

            Firstly, from the PLO It has a written constitution (written in the mid-1960’s) in which it makes claims that the Palestinians are an Arabic, Islamic people, and that Palestine is part of a wider Arabic homeland (this statement does not seem to connect to the truth of their existence – which will be discussed in the following section). In the constitution’sArticle 6 it states that “The Palestinians are those Arab citizens who were living normally in Palestine up to 1947, whether they remained or were expelled. Every child who was born to a Palestinian parent after this date whether in Palestine or outside is a Palestinian.” We will see the impact of this statement shortly^[8].  

In the preamble of the constitution the full breadth and scope of the true nature of the PLO (and other Palestinian freedom movements) when it states that “We. The Palestinian Arab people, who faced the forces of evil, injustice and aggression against whom the forces of International Zionism and colonialism conspired and worked to displace it, dispossess it from its homeland to realize its freedom and dignity and who has determined to amass its forces and mobilize its efforts and capabilities in order to continue its struggle and to move forward on the path of holy war until complete and final victory has been attained.” – this is a call to war, a ‘jihad’ against the Jewish people^[9].

            Now to hear from Hamas (who is active in the most recent atrocity against the Jewish people), which is a part of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, and was founded in 1987 – partially as another Palestinian freedom movement, but also in opposition to Palestinian Islamic Jihad^[10] (who is also embroiled in the current atrocities in October 2023). Hamas has a charter which states specific aims and purposes of the organisation.

            In Article 2 of the Hamas Covenant, it states that, “The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine. Moslem Brotherhood Movement is a universal organization which constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times. It is characterised by its deep understanding, accurate comprehension, and its complete embrace of all Islamic concepts of all aspects of life, culture, creed, politics, economics, education, society, justice and judgement, the spreading of Islam, education, art, information, science of the occult and conversion to Islam.”^[11]

Article 12 follows in the wake of Article 2, and it says, “Nationalism, from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement, is part of the religious creed. Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land. Resisting and quelling the enemy become the individual duty of every Moslem, male or female. A woman can go out to fight the enemy without her husband's permission, and so does the slave: without his master's permission.”^[12]

As you can see, these articles clearly shows that Hamas is not linking the Palestinian nationalism with a people of distinct ethnic origins who are historically embedded in a geographical region, rather it is a purely religious (in this case Muslim) stance. Furthermore, at no point does the Hamas Covenant express any view that the Palestinians are a distinct ethnic group worthy of separation and recognition, in particular their own nation. This has largely been the case since before the 1920’s and also up until 1967 when Israel captured the West Bank, and Gaza. Prior to 1967 Gaza was ruled and administered by Egypt (which took control of it after the 1948 War), and the West Bank by Jordan (which took control of it in 1950).

So, in reality, Israel has only been in control of “Palestinian” lands since 1967 – not since 1948 as is bandied about in the media so much. At no stage were there riots, violence or anything of that nature when those Muslim nations were in control of ‘Palestinian lands’ – and please note, there was no Palestinian nation during those times of Jordanian and Egyptian occupation either. Nor did either of those nations propose to create one for their fellow Muslims. Even as recently as October 2023, after the horrific events that followed the massacres of the 7^th of October, leaders of both Jordan and Egypt has clearly stated in the global media circuits that they do not want streams of the Palestinians refugees coming into their countries^[13]. Furthermore, Israel left Gaza in control of the Palestinian people around 2005 and soon after that elections were held, and the Palestinian people chose to elect Hamas as their controlling government party over the Palestinian Authority that had been led by the likes of Yasser Arafat for decades. The Palestinian people chose to elect a terrorist organisation as their leaders and governing body. This also means that Gaza is not occupied territory at all.

Which leaves us to conclude that the violence and uproar about a Palestinian homeland has only risen to the surface since the 1967 Six Day War. Thus, the level of jihad that is a significant part of both the Hamas and PLO organisations (amongst others) is wholly and solely aimed at the destruction of Israel and its people. This violent jihad is expressed in all its fullness by the statement of Khaled Mashaal (a Hamas leader in exile), who said (in 2012) “The state will come from resistance, not negotiation. Liberation first, then statehood. Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north…There will be no concession on any inch of the land. We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel…We will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone. Israel has no right to be in Jerusalem.”^[14]

            If you look again at the quote above you will see a familiar phrase that is being chanted all around the world by those who are Palestinian immigrants to western nations, or those that support them (typically other Muslims and the far left of the political spectrum) – They chant “From the river to the sea!” which means death to Israel, and its people. The fight isn’t about Palestinian unity, or homeland, or ethnic pride or an ancient origin story – rather it is about a religious bloodlust and hatred for the Jews.

            Now that we have looked at what the Palestinians have said about themselves and ‘their land’…let’s have a look at what others have said about Palestine and the Palestinian people.

            The famous American author mark Twain visited ‘Palestine’ in 1867 (before much of the ‘Zionist’ immigration had started and the population was predominantly Arabic and Syrian in composition. He observed that it was a, “...desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds-a silent mournful expanse.... A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action...We never saw a human being on the whole route...There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”^[15]  

            During political investigations in 1875, the Earl of Shaftesbury said of Palestine, “We have there a land teeming with fertility and rich in history, but almost without an inhabitant – a country without a people, and look! scattered over the world, a people without a country.”^[16] Note that by the time WW1 was raging there was only a population of 600,000 Arabs in ‘Palestine’ and around 100,000 Jews – there were significantly fewer of each in the mid-1800’s.

            Or perhaps consider the words of an Egyptian newspaper editor Dawood Barakat, who wrote that, “It is absolutely necessary that an entente be made between the Zionists and Arabs, because the war of words can only do evil. The Zionists are necessary for the country: The money which they will bring, their knowledge and intelligence, and the industriousness which characterizes them will contribute without doubt to the regeneration of the country.”^[17] – this is a particularly damning condemnation of the abilities and plight of the Arabs in the region that they need the intelligent, economically sound, and industrious Jews to come make ‘their’ region a better place.

            So, now that we have established the following:

·      That there has never been a Palestinian homeland of political entity.

·      That the name Palestine is of Greek and Roman origins, prior to the development of Islam, and the rise of the Arabic peoples in the region.

·      That the name actually referred (in a derogatory way) to the Jews of the region in the 2^nd Century AD.

·      That the modern Palestinians are no different from any other Arabic ethnic group in regards to religion, language and cultural characteristics (as defined by themselves).

·      That the war against Israel and its people isn’t really about having a Palestinian homeland, but rather the eradication of Israel and the Jewish people – as part of their jihad obligation.

·      That the Islamic foundation of Palestinian organisations like Hamas and the PLO has created a circle of violence, hatred and now horrific barbaric acts that only the Nazi’s have rivalled.

·      That the current nation of Jordan is a ‘Palestinian’ state and homeland and that it, even now refuses to take in any fellow Muslim Palestinian Arabs.

The sad thing about the plight of the ‘Palestinian’ Arabs is that they have become pawns in a larger Muslim Arab power-play to destabilise and potentially destroy Israel and the Jewish people. They have literally been sacrificed by the terror and political organisations like Hamas, Fatah, and the PLO for tv film clips of the dead and wounded from ‘Israeli’ atrocities - thus garnering global support for the ‘Palestinian’ people. Unfortunately, much of what is being done in their name is lies and deceit - and perhaps even more unfortunate is the fact that a great many of them have fallen for the same lies that their terrorist overlords feed the rest of the word. Their freedom from tyranny warrants our prayers, in-as-much as Israeli does.

Where do we turn next?

            The next section will outline the different conflicts that Israel has had to fight to ensure its survival in the midst of a multitude of enemies that continue to seek its destruction. This fight for survival is due to their neighbours having attitudes like those expressed in the Hamas Covenant’s preamble which says, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”…

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^[1] Encyclopedia Britannica, (nd), Philistine People, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Philistine-people and also in Sauter, M (2023), Who Were The Philistines? And Where Did They Come From?, https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/who-were-philistines-where-did-they-come-from/

^[2] As above No. 1 – Encyclopedia Britannica.

^[3] Wikipedia, (nd), History of Palestine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine  

^[4] As above No.1.

^[5] As above, N0. 1 and No. 3.

^[6] As above No. 3.

^[7] Glatt, B, (2017), It’s Time To Fix Hadrian’s Mistake, Jerusalem Post, https://www.jpost.com/christian-news/comment-its-time-to-fix-hadrians-palestinian-mistake-502190

^[8] Jewish Virtual Library, (nd), PLO: Original Palestine National Charter (1964), https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-original-palestine-national-charter-1964

^[9] As above No. 7.

^[10] Ambassador Mark A. Green, (2023), Hamas: Words & Deeds, Wilson Centre,  https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/hamas-words-and-deeds#:~:text=In%20its%20original%201988%20charter,%2C%20religious%20or%20sectarian%20grounds.%E2%80%9D  

^[11] Yale Law School, (1988), Hamas Covenant, Avalon Project, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp

^[12] As above No.11.

^[13] The National News – Youtube - 

^[14] Wilson Centre, (2023), Doctrine of Hamas, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/doctrine-hamas

^[15] Jewish Virtual Library, (nd), Pre-state Israel: The Arabs in Palestine, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-arabs-in-palestine 

^[16] As above No. 15.

^[17] As above No.15.