comments in old testament
Reader comment on item: Thoughts on the Israeli Incursion into Gaza
in response to reader comment:

Submitted by Jonathan Usher (United States), Sep 4, 2007 at 06:50

Palestine or Palestinians are not mentioned in genesis (I checked) and doubtful anywhere else in the bible as it was a term used by the Romans which was after the Bible was written. Of course there were other peoples mentioned who lived in Palestine but these were Cananites or Philestines who were not related to present day Palestinians. In fact teh Random house dictionary says that the Canaanites who inhabited most of what was later to become Palestine were absorbed by the Israelites.

So even there the Jews have more of a claim to the Cananite lands which stretched from the Mediterranean to the Jordan than the more recent Arab "Palestinians" do. So I am sure you did not check your facts before writing the e-mail. I would also check your facts on the rights of the "Palestinians" to the West Bank as it belongs to Israel under the Mandate which was adopted both by the League of Nations and the United Nations, even though it appears that Israel is foolishly not making a claim to it.

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