Post by Sheila on Apr 11, 2024 15:10:02 GMT -5
Probably nearly everyone has watched at least some of the pro-Palestinian protests on the news. They've heard the chants "From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free". These protestors and the people who agree with them insist every Jewish citizen in Israel is part of an occupying force. They want them driven out so the Palestinians can get back all of the land they believe belongs to them. Much of the news media plays along to spread the lie and cover-up the real history. Here's the truth.
The land now belonging to Israel, as well as the areas now called the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, was the land they lived in from the time God's people were freed from slavery in Egypt and led to the "Promised Land". For part of that time, the Philistines occupied a strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea and the area they occupied was known as Philistia. These people were no longer in the area in 604 BC. The only way this area - and this area alone - could be equated to Palestine is because the Greek historian Herodotus translated the name to Palestina in 430 BC. Here are three facts. First, at the time Herodotus wrote the name, it was 174 years after the Philistines abandoned the area. Second, the Israelites re-occupied an area previously belonging only to them. Third, no person or group of people ever referred to themselves or were referred to by other nations or empires as Palestinians before, during, and for almost 100 years after the life of Jesus.
The Jews living in the land originally referred to where they lived by the name of the tribe that settled that area. This would be the equivalent of a state within the United States, not separate countries. While many people will say the Jews never referred to themselves as Israelis as the people of that nation do today, it must be remembered that throughout the Old Testament God referred to his chosen people, the Jews, as Israel. Moving on through the history of the Jewish people as documented in the Bible and histories written by people from other countries and/or empires, the land now called Israel went through a series of occupations by various empires. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and at least a few others all conquered and occupied the Jewish lands, but they were still referred to by the names given by the Jews. Rome ruled over the land from 67 BC until AD 313. The Romans still referred to the various parts of the Jewish lands by the names given to them by the Jews. It wasn't until after the Jewish revolt from 132 - 135, that the Romans changed the name of the area of Judea and it was administered under the name Syria-Palestine.
Even with the name change, the Jews never referred to themselves as Palestinians. Some of the people who moved in from other countries may have used that name; however, it was only because they were following the Roman lead and ignoring the true name of the country. If you do a Google search for maps of Israel during Biblical times, you'll find many of those maps with titles similar to the one I found - "Palestine in the time of Jesus 4BC-30AD". This is a misnomer. As mentioned, any name containing the word "Palestine" for the region didn't exist until around AD 135. In fact, the name Palestine doesn't appear on any ancient or modern map. The reason for this will be clear in a short period of time.
It must be admitted that Arabs lived in the area which is now Israel for a very long time. They weren't Palestinians because there was no state or nation of Palestine. Through various agreements, the nation of Israel was formed on it's ancient lands. Even the Arabs living in the region agreed and recognized the new nation beginning on 14 May 1948. The area known as the West Bank was owned by Israel until they annexed the area to Jordan in 1950. The Gaza Strip was owned by Israel; however, they lost control of the area following the Arab-Israeli War in late 1948. This same area was recaptured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Notice, neither area was ever called Palestine and the people who occupied them weren't called Palestinians.
Palestine, in name only, became an entity when, in 1964, some Arabs who wanted to form an independent country got together and formed the Palestinian Authority. It wasn't until 1988 that they declared an independent state of Palestine. The problem here is they didn't have control over any territory which could be considered theirs, so there couldn't be a country or state called Palestine. The first time they actually did have control of any land within Israel was given to them in the later part of 1988 when Jordan passed control of the West Bank over to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Contrary to what some people want you to believe, Israel controlled the Gaza Strip from 1967 until around 1995 when Israel transferred the security and civilian responsibility of the area to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Did this make the Gaza Strip the nation of Palestine? No. There's no mention anywhere, except on pro-Palestinian web pages and sites, that Israel ever gave over full control or ownership of the area to anyone.
As mentioned at the beginning of this thread, Palestinians and their supporters claim that Palestine encompasses all of modern day Israel. This isn't anywhere close to being true as the history provided shows. Even the thought of a nation called Palestine didn't exist until 1964. No one declared an independent state of Palestine until 1988 and the only land fully ceded to the Palestinian Authority in that same year was the small area of the West Bank. So how can anyone claim Israel is occupying land supposedly belonging to Palestine? They falsify history so on paper it appears Palestine existed for centuries. There are a lot of other countries who could possibly make the same claim because they, at one time or another, controlled or laid claim to vast portions of the same land. However, look at the truth. No matter how long any other country claims to have "owned" the land, Israel was the original owners. Yes, there were people there before them, but those cultures have long ago vanished while Israel still exists. Any other organization, state, or nation that ever laid claim to any part of Israel were the occupiers. When Israel became a recognized nation in 1948, they were reclaiming and reoccupying what was and always has been theirs.
The land now belonging to Israel, as well as the areas now called the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, was the land they lived in from the time God's people were freed from slavery in Egypt and led to the "Promised Land". For part of that time, the Philistines occupied a strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea and the area they occupied was known as Philistia. These people were no longer in the area in 604 BC. The only way this area - and this area alone - could be equated to Palestine is because the Greek historian Herodotus translated the name to Palestina in 430 BC. Here are three facts. First, at the time Herodotus wrote the name, it was 174 years after the Philistines abandoned the area. Second, the Israelites re-occupied an area previously belonging only to them. Third, no person or group of people ever referred to themselves or were referred to by other nations or empires as Palestinians before, during, and for almost 100 years after the life of Jesus.
The Jews living in the land originally referred to where they lived by the name of the tribe that settled that area. This would be the equivalent of a state within the United States, not separate countries. While many people will say the Jews never referred to themselves as Israelis as the people of that nation do today, it must be remembered that throughout the Old Testament God referred to his chosen people, the Jews, as Israel. Moving on through the history of the Jewish people as documented in the Bible and histories written by people from other countries and/or empires, the land now called Israel went through a series of occupations by various empires. The Assyrians, Babylonians, and at least a few others all conquered and occupied the Jewish lands, but they were still referred to by the names given by the Jews. Rome ruled over the land from 67 BC until AD 313. The Romans still referred to the various parts of the Jewish lands by the names given to them by the Jews. It wasn't until after the Jewish revolt from 132 - 135, that the Romans changed the name of the area of Judea and it was administered under the name Syria-Palestine.
Even with the name change, the Jews never referred to themselves as Palestinians. Some of the people who moved in from other countries may have used that name; however, it was only because they were following the Roman lead and ignoring the true name of the country. If you do a Google search for maps of Israel during Biblical times, you'll find many of those maps with titles similar to the one I found - "Palestine in the time of Jesus 4BC-30AD". This is a misnomer. As mentioned, any name containing the word "Palestine" for the region didn't exist until around AD 135. In fact, the name Palestine doesn't appear on any ancient or modern map. The reason for this will be clear in a short period of time.
It must be admitted that Arabs lived in the area which is now Israel for a very long time. They weren't Palestinians because there was no state or nation of Palestine. Through various agreements, the nation of Israel was formed on it's ancient lands. Even the Arabs living in the region agreed and recognized the new nation beginning on 14 May 1948. The area known as the West Bank was owned by Israel until they annexed the area to Jordan in 1950. The Gaza Strip was owned by Israel; however, they lost control of the area following the Arab-Israeli War in late 1948. This same area was recaptured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Notice, neither area was ever called Palestine and the people who occupied them weren't called Palestinians.
Palestine, in name only, became an entity when, in 1964, some Arabs who wanted to form an independent country got together and formed the Palestinian Authority. It wasn't until 1988 that they declared an independent state of Palestine. The problem here is they didn't have control over any territory which could be considered theirs, so there couldn't be a country or state called Palestine. The first time they actually did have control of any land within Israel was given to them in the later part of 1988 when Jordan passed control of the West Bank over to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Contrary to what some people want you to believe, Israel controlled the Gaza Strip from 1967 until around 1995 when Israel transferred the security and civilian responsibility of the area to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Did this make the Gaza Strip the nation of Palestine? No. There's no mention anywhere, except on pro-Palestinian web pages and sites, that Israel ever gave over full control or ownership of the area to anyone.
As mentioned at the beginning of this thread, Palestinians and their supporters claim that Palestine encompasses all of modern day Israel. This isn't anywhere close to being true as the history provided shows. Even the thought of a nation called Palestine didn't exist until 1964. No one declared an independent state of Palestine until 1988 and the only land fully ceded to the Palestinian Authority in that same year was the small area of the West Bank. So how can anyone claim Israel is occupying land supposedly belonging to Palestine? They falsify history so on paper it appears Palestine existed for centuries. There are a lot of other countries who could possibly make the same claim because they, at one time or another, controlled or laid claim to vast portions of the same land. However, look at the truth. No matter how long any other country claims to have "owned" the land, Israel was the original owners. Yes, there were people there before them, but those cultures have long ago vanished while Israel still exists. Any other organization, state, or nation that ever laid claim to any part of Israel were the occupiers. When Israel became a recognized nation in 1948, they were reclaiming and reoccupying what was and always has been theirs.
Copyright © 2024 by Sheila Rae Myers