What now be Palestine?

Wow…. You guys are fast! I began writing a response to some of the ignorant, racist “logic” aimed at rendering Palestinian nationality and statehood irrelevant. No sooner did I put my thoughts down in a draft, but the comments were removed from the site! No great loss, but I wish I had copied them down. These words are the drivel for what passes for intelligent study of history these days.

The one posting said that there is no country named Palestine and that there never has been, and that there is no “Palestinian” language, no distinctive Palestinian crafts, food, or manner of dress. To this, I replied:

Palestine is the land named "Palestinia" by the ancient Romans after the Philistines. During the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages (c. 1200-1100 BCE), the Philistines had settled the coastal plain of Canaan. They traded freely and inter-married with the original inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites who had emigrated from Arabia circa 3000 BCE. The Philistines would thus eventually expand their rule of Canaan beyond Philistia.

It was not until 1250 BCE that the Israelites invaded Canaan. Their religion taught them, according to the Book of Deuteronomy, that God brought them to that land whose native population included 7 nations, including the Canaanites. God reportedly commanded the ancient Hebrews to expel the indigenous population: "you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy" (Deut 7.1-5). This could possibly be one of the earliest recorded references to divine support of ethnic cleansing.

According to the faculty website of Bar-Ilan University in Israeli, there are, in fact several aspects of early Palestinian culture that are "all indicative of the unique nature of these people." Foremost among these is their pottery. The history of the indigenous population of Palestine reflects that people's mastery in shipbuilding, architecture, and engineering. There are also vividly distinctive forms of Palestinian costume. There is also legal tender from the 1930s known as "The Palestinian Pound." The city of Jericho in the Palestinian West Bank is one of the world's most ancient urban centers, dating back 9,000 years.

After Palestine fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1500s, the land became known by its Turkish name: Arz-i Filistin (Land of Palestine).

When the British won World War I, with the help of Palestinian Arabs who were promised independence for their loyal service, the Ottoman province of Palestine came under British rule. Officially, by a July 1922 decree by the Council of the League of Nations, British authority in "the territory of Palestine" would become known as "The Palestine Mandate."

Article 7 of the Palestine Mandate states: "The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their permanent residence in Palestine."

Article 5 states the the League of Nations felt strongly that "no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control" of any government other than its appointed "Mandatory." Nevertheless, the State of Israel was declared in 1948 and it has since been the recognized government of what was historic Palestine.

Regarding the comment by some that the lack of a "Palestinian" language is indicative of the lack of a national political identity, could someone please tell me where the language "American" is spoken? Or, for that matter, "Israeli"?

Daniel Jacob
Washington, DC
Daniel_in_Palestine [at] hotmail.com

Hail to thee, brazen Spirit of our times,
Who cries out to men, "I can commit no crime,
so better for you your unselfish hearts to confine,
behind bars of self-doubt and self-breed need,
the easier from caring and sympathy to be weened."

Everything now you lay claim as your own.
We witness your pomp as you set up your throne,
Reviewing your train 'fore which fresh flesh is thrown.
Thus your coach rattles over the remains of the dead,
For it is by such food your power is feed.

Upon your pate you place your crown,
Fashioned from those you have ground down,
For the sake of the echo of your own renown.
If any should question the source of your wealth,
You bind up their limbs and shut up their mouths.

As your symbol you take the sign of the dove,
Which kills for a mate thus represents love,
And the branch it once brought from high above,
It, you now wield as a mighty club,
So as Moses drew water you now may draw blood.

Aye, there you sit in all your glory,
Thinking yourself the apex of history's story,
Saying, "I require no memento mori,
It is I who remind, 'all must die',
Yet there is none who can destroy I!"

O hail to thee brazen Spirit,
O hail Spirit of our times,
Whose every deed enchains us with lies.

75% of "historical Palestine" became TransJordan, which is now the country of Jordan.

Israel is far below 20% of land that used to belong to the "Palestinian territory."

If you're going to make up songs about Palestine, just travel to Jordan.

If you care about Palestinians, you should wonder why Arafat, possibly the worst leader in modern history, has been allowed to "lead" decade after decade.

Arafat is by no means the world's most exemplary leader, but, unlike George W. Bush, Arafat was elected by a closely monitored democratic process. Moroever, it is disingenous to hold Arafat to standards that are not applied to the region's most notorious war criminal, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

This leader of Israel's ruling apartheid party has been involved in more invasions of neighboring countries than Saddam Hussein. Like former Prime Minister Menachem Begin who was the leader of a terrorist organization responsible for blowing up the King David Hotel, killing almost 100 civil servants, Sharon's record speaks for itself. As Israel's Defense Minister, Sharon was responsible for the safety of all civilians during the Israeli occupation of Beirut. Sharon is responsible for the the massacre, torture and rape of hundreds of unarmed civilians, mainly women and children in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The International Committee of the Red Cross counted 1,500 bodies at the time of the massacre. Israeli military intelligence estimated that between 700 and 800 civilians were slaughtered. The United Nations Security Council issued an unequivocable resolution condemning what it called "the criminal massacre of Palestinian civilians in Beirut." Israel's Supreme Court held Sharon responsible for the masscre, but his political career has obviously not suffered.

Prior to Sabra and Shatila, as an Israeli military officer, Sharon led an attack on the West Bank village of Qibya in 1953, in which 69 civilians were murdered - half of them women and children.

In the 2.5 years of violence that was sparked by Ariel Sharon's inflammatory show of military force at a Muslim holy place, over 2,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military forces and armed settlers. Most of the casualties are civilians, with over 350 of them children. In the same period, more than 480 Israeli civilians have been killed, including some 90 children.

Israeli army records reveal that in the first 3 weeks of the civil protests that followed Sharon's incitement at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Israeli soldiers fired one million bullets. Over 100 Palestinian civilians were killed and more than 2,000 were injured by Israeli military forces between September and November 2000 before the first retalliatory suicide bombing was carried out.

The villification of Arafat is understandable, given America's bias towards Israel and the distortions evident in media coverage of the current conflict. But the cause of peace is not served when his counterpart, a known war criminal, is allowed to disregard UN resoluations and violate the Geneva Conventions with impunity.

Americans would do well to recall the admonition of our first president regarding our unquestioning support for Sharon and our unyielding antipathy towards Arafat. George Washington warned that such "a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."

The uprising of the British colonies in the New World predated an American national identity. The British could scoff that "There's no such place as America. There's no such thing as an American." But the first Americans knew better. We should, more than anyone else, know better before we condemn the Palestinian struggle for national identity and self-determination.

God Gives the Holy Land to Israel

[5:21 Quran] "O my people, enter the holy land that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers."

Where Did the Ark Land

[11:44 Quran] It was proclaimed: "O earth, swallow your water," and "O sky, cease." The water then subsided; the judgment was fulfilled. The ark finally rested on the hills of Judea.* It was then proclaimed: "The transgressors have perished."

The Arabs and Jews are both being selfish regarding this land. Arabs and Jews were both there until the Romans conquered it. The Romans are the ones who called it Palestine, but that doesn’t mean that it belongs solely to the Jewish. This is beyond stupid; the same dog bit both of them…

If the Jew would leave the Talmud alone, and the Arab would put down the Hadeeth. They would realize that they are pretty close to being the same religion. The Quran is consistent with the Torah. However the Christian came with a new religion and successfully made enemies out of two brothers…

Note how it is called Judea in the Quran…