"Palestine"
Reader comment on item: Palestinian Word Games

Submitted by Andy (United Kingdom), Jan 5, 2005 at 05:12

While few could disagree that "Palestine" was not a state before 1948, to say

"Occupied territories implies that a Palestinian state existed in 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza. That was not the case, making these areas legally disputed territories, not occupied ones."

is to go one stage too far in attempting to poo-poo every word used in common currency in the media about "Palestine" and "The Palestinians".

To extend the pedantism:
1. These territories have been disputed since the beginning of time, and not only between Jews and Arabs. Somebody had the land before the Tribes of Israel existed, surely?
2. The basis of Zionist reasoning was the return of territories once ocuppied by certain semitic tribes 2000 years. It certainly wasn't a dispute between "Palestinians" and Jews then.
3. Lots of people over known history have been kicked out of territory they occupied and never got it back. That's how people operated - they fought wars for what they wanted.
4. The expectation that a people who occupied a land 2000 years ago would get it back would normally be deemed a tad unrealistic.

The First World War and the Holcaust rather upset the apple cart in the expectation stakes. Hence modern history.

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