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Just the FACTS Mr Slayhy

Reader comment on item: The Year the Arabs Discovered Palestine [Short version]
in response to reader comment: Palestine

Submitted by sara (United States), Dec 20, 2011 at 16:53

1. The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post

2. The Palestine Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1936 under the leadership of Bronislaw Huberman. Huberman, a violinist, at first envisioned an international center for the arts, but instead focused on developing a critically acclaimed symphony orchestra

3. League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (1922) -- the goal of the mandate system was to eventually transfer authority over territories taken from countries defeated in World War to the local population -- that a "Jewish agency " comprised of representatives of world Jewry assist in the "establishment of the Jewish National Home . . . in Palestine

4. Jewish Agency, in cooperation with the Va'ad Le'umi (the supreme institution of the organized Jewish community in Palestine (founded in 1920).

and finally:

Factbox: In 1919, 'Palestine Part of Arab Syria'

A short history of "Palestinians": Only for political reasons do we carefully underline our Palestinian identity said PLO in 1977.

..."Both historically and in contemporary times, the Arabs living in the area now known as Palestine were regarded both by outsiders and by their own spokespeople as members of the greater Arab population, without a separate or distinct identity," according to Prof. Michael Curtis of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. ...

He noted that in 1919, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire that ruled in what is now Israel, the first Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations declared, "We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, moral, economic, and geographical bonds."

Similarly, "Palestinian" spokesman told the United Nations Security Council in 1956 that Palestine was nothing more than southern Syria.

Prof. Curtis added that in 1977, The head of the Military Operations Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Zuheir Muhsein, declared, "Only for political reasons do we carefully underline our Palestinian identity. …the existence of a separate Palestinian identity is there for tactical reasons." The PLO charter states that Palestine is part of the Arab nation.

"The Ottoman Empire, which ruled from 1516-1918, was the last recognized sovereign power in the area," explains Prof. Curtis. "The area of Palestine was a district of the Empire, officially a vilayet (province), not a political entity. No independent Palestinian state has ever been established, nor was there a single administrative or cultural unit of Palestinians.

"On the other hand, a sovereign Jewish state existed prior to the rise of the Roman Empire. While the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, changed the name of the land to Syria Palestina, and banished the Jews from Jerusalem, this did not eradicate all Jewish presence in the area."

Palestinian Authority officials have claimed that Israel also is "invented," but Prof. Curtis wrote, "Jewish nationalism may include not only centuries-old traditions but also certain invented elements. What is important, however, is that the Jews constitute a people – a set of individuals linked together not only by a common religion, but also as members of an ethnic community with memories of a shared past, common ceremonies and culture, and mutual legal codes, social behavior, myths and symbols. Between Jews there is a peoplehood, a subjective belief in their common descent from ancestors in Judea and Samaria."

The term "Palestine" as a definition of what now is Israel came into being after the British chased out the Ottoman rulers. The League of Nations creates a "Mandate for Palestine," which was handed over to Britain.

Both Jews and Arabs were regarded as "Palestinians," and Prof. Curtis adds, "Ironically, the name was used not by Arabs but only by Jews in the area, as in The Palestinian Post and the Palestine Symphony (now Israel Philharmonic) Orchestra.

"Only after the State of Israel was established in May 1948 did the term "Palestinian" become exclusively used in referring to Arabs in the area. The single most important factor leading to the idea and development of a Palestinian national identity was the creation of Israel and the Arab defeat by Israel in 1948-49.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150913

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Reader comments (30) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Brilliant article! [35 words]Jo Alex SGSep 15, 2021 15:47274701
Do you still think that the Palestinian national identity could disappear as quickly as it started? [16 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Dian KjaergaardJan 21, 2014 05:55212748
Palestinian nationality exists, "Israeli"-not so much [44 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Isa AlmisryJan 5, 2017 02:29212748
Palestinian National Identity [40 words]Andy ConnerSep 26, 2022 12:27212748
'Palestinian' National Identity Does Not Have Historical Validation - Term Appropriated Centuries Ago When True Ethnic 'Philistines' Disappeared [139 words]M ToveySep 26, 2022 18:47212748
Asking for Dr Pipes opinion [124 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PrashantDec 15, 2011 23:28191731
Palestinian Nationalism [62 words]SarahFeb 25, 2009 02:04151117
Actually, yes it does diminish it. In fact it is thusly dismissed as a reactionary Arab political ploy! [127 words]DanielDec 11, 2011 20:53151117
Please Try To Use Your Mind [115 words]San ManDec 18, 2008 05:25145357
5Mr. San Man, get an education and stop accepting what uneducated Mullahs invent.... [238 words]Truth in HistoryAug 18, 2009 14:12145357
2Palestine? [112 words]Michael DarDec 12, 2011 00:05145357
1Re to Mr. Man [118 words]Michael DarDec 12, 2011 23:40145357
all nationalism is superficial...even Israeli [121 words]russDec 6, 2008 08:26144497
2Re to Russ [133 words]Michael DarDec 13, 2011 23:34144497
Did Arabs really envision or strive for an "independent Palestinian state" before 1964? [59 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DrRJPJan 29, 2008 20:55119253
1British passport - Palestine [155 words]slayhyDec 16, 2011 07:40119253
2Yes, British passport- Palestine... Jews called themselves that!!! [167 words]saraDec 16, 2011 17:37119253
Palestine in question [400 words]slayhyDec 18, 2011 02:51119253
brief history of Palestine and the Jews [475 words]slayhyDec 18, 2011 03:05119253
2It is you who are woefully ignorant of the facts Slayhy [721 words]saraDec 18, 2011 17:06119253
get proper sources [45 words]slayhyDec 19, 2011 03:52119253
1Is that all you have to say...? [110 words]saraDec 19, 2011 18:21119253
Palestine [324 words]slayhyDec 20, 2011 06:18119253
Quo usque tandem [68 words]UgriDec 20, 2011 14:31119253
1Just the FACTS Mr Slayhy [692 words]saraDec 20, 2011 16:53119253
Biased sources [37 words]slayhyDec 21, 2011 02:01119253
2A question about the British passport palestine [37 words]AhmadJan 9, 2013 01:13119253
2Attempts to Change History [187 words]L.Mar 25, 2005 12:5521166
1Once more, your prediction comes true. [85 words]Rachel NeuwirthOct 19, 2002 10:583144
3Your Historical References are Great! [77 words]Saul PfefferJul 2, 2002 11:301103

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