History and meaning of "palestine"
Michael Bussio at the American Thinker explains where the name came from, how the Romans used it as a political name for Israel, and how the British took to using it too when they suppressed the country:
Here's also another page on the subject as well (via Say Anything).
Others on the subject include Another Pundit, Molten Thought.
The word Palestine has never been used as a name of a nation or state, but rather as a geographical term, used to designate the region at those times in history.And there's a bit of explanation as to the origins of the stupid name.
The word Palestine comes from the name Peleshet. Peleshet appears frequently in the Bible and entered into English as "Philistine." It dates to the thirteenth century B.C. These people were thought to be the dangerous "Sea Peoples" that so threaten the Aegean, Egypt, Syria, and present day Israel, Turkey, and Lebanon. Historians and archeologist believe these "Sea Peoples" originated from Greece and many of the Greek Islands. From there they would raid the region for plunder and general destruction. Eventually, they would establish five independent city-states (including Gaza) on a narrow strip of land that came to be known as "Philistia." The Greeks and Romans would call it Palestina. At no time were the Philistines of old ever considered to be Arabs. They were not even Semites. They had no connection, ethnic, linguistic, or historical with Arabia or Arabs. The name "Falastin" that Arabs today use for "Palestine" is not an Arabic name. It is the Arab pronunciation of the Greco-Roman "Palestina" derived from Peleshet.
How Did The Land Of Israel Become "Palestine"?
In the First Century after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Romans crushed the independent kingdom of Judea. Though the Jews had successfully created a nation state for the second time in their history (the first being that of King David and King Solomon), it was eventually smashed by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. In the Emperor's haste to wipe out the identity of Israel-Judah-Judea-Samaria (those areas that make up much of Israel today), Hadrian not only defeated the Israelite armies, slaughtered countless hundred thousands of Jews, and sent many more into exile, but took the name Palestina and imposed it on all the Land of Israel to further humiliate the Jews. At the same time, he changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.
Here's also another page on the subject as well (via Say Anything).
Others on the subject include Another Pundit, Molten Thought.
Labels: Israel
