Who are the Palestinians?
The Palestinians are a fickle people to describe, as elusive as the sand they sit on. They are Arab; some are Muslim, others Christian. But where do they come from? Who are they? What features make a Palestinian a Palestinian? Or, truthfully, is there no common identity at all?
The Name Behind the Name:
The word “Palestine” originates from the original Philistia, concentrated around the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (modern-day Gaza). Around 1200BC, these Philistines invaded Canaan, by the coast, and created a dynamic kingdom, Philistia, in which the Hebrews were subjected under. Around 1000BC Saul created a Hebrew Kingdom, and conquered the much-hated Philistia. The Hebrews slaughtered them, leaving no survivors. So, if the legacy of the name is not in modern Palestinian blood, obviously there was a reason for taking on such a name.
The biblical Israel eventually broke into two: Israel and Judea. Then, they fell to the Assyrians (720BC) and the Babylonians (586BC). Only fifty years later, the Persian Empire takes control. In 333BC, Alexander the Great of Macedon took control, keeping with the Persian’s idea of self-autonomy within the empire. However, after Alexander the Great’s death, King Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) ruled the land of Canaan and caused a huge riot among the Jews, for forcing Hellenistic culture on them. The leaders of the revolt, the Macabees, took control, ruling a new Jewish state (142 BC) until Pompey seizes it for Rome in 63BC.
Jewish revolts took place in 66AD (The Great Rebellion) and 132-35AD (Bar Kochva Revolt), under the Romans. In retaliation for the Great Rebellion, the Romans destroyed the Beis Hamikdash, the last Jewish Temple in 70 AD. And in retaliation of the Bar Kochva Revolt, the emperor, Emperor Hadrian, wanted to destroy the Hebrew’s national identity. He changed the name “Provincia Judea” to “Provincia Syria Palaestina,” not coincidental to the name Philistia. Provincia Syia Palaestina shortened and anglicized to the modern term “Palestine” over time.
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