Palestine
See a child SHOT in the head by big,
"brave" jews, compliments of hamada_abd el wahab of Egypt
The definition of "Palestine" in the Encyclopedia Britannica differs greatly
from the one in the Holy Bible, in that the Holy Bible continuously refers to a race
called "Israelites" [read: "the lost sheep of
the house of Israel" per Jesus Christ, or the descendants of Israel/Jacob].
This term is not even used in this encyclopedia's definition of Palestine, yet Israelites
were the primary residents of that land for millennia. This would be like describing
the United States of America and forgetting to mention that White European men once
inhabited this land--except that White European men have inhabited America for only 500
years, compared to the more than 4,000 years that Israelites have inhabited Palestine
[read: Israel].
From Encyclopedia Britannica:
Palestine,
The name of a territory on the
eastern Mediterranean coast, occupied in bib-
lical times by the kingdoms of Israel and
Judah and, in the 20th century, the scene of
conflicting claims between Jewish and Arab
national movements. Also called the Holy
Land, it is sacred in varying degrees to Juda-
ism, Christianity, and Islam. For Judaism,
Palestine, called Erez Yisra'el (Land of Isra-
el), has traditionally been the land promised
by God, a uniquely sacred place, and the seat
of national independence. For Christianity, it
is the scene of the life and ministry of Jesus
and the Apostles, with especially revered
places. For Islam, certain sites, associated
with the Prophet Muhammad, are holy
places. A local Palestinian Arab nationalism
has developed during the period of the Zionist
settlement (see Zionism) and especially since
the establishment of the State of Israel; it
claims Palestine as the homeland and domain
of the Arab peoples who have inhabited it
since the Muslim conquest in the 7th century.
The name Palestine is derived from the
Greek Palaistina, which comes from the He-
brew Pleshet (Land of the Philistines), a small
coastal area northeast of Egypt, also called
Philistia. The Romans used the term Syria
Palaestina in the 2nd century BC for the south-
ern third of the province of Syria, including
the former Judea. The name Palestine was
revived as an official title when the British
were given a mandate (restricted to the terri-
tory west of the Jordan River) after World
War II.
Palestine's frontiers have fluctuated widely
throughout history, but it has usually em-
braced the territory from the Mediterranean
and the coastal plain (west), through the tran-
sitional zone of ha-Shefela, to the hill country
of Judaea and Samaria (qq.v.), heartland of
the ancient Hebrew kingdoms. The Wilder-
ness of Judaea (Midbar Yehuda) slopes down
to the double-faulted graben (depressed sec-
tion) of the Jordan River Valley, the northern
section of the Great Rift Valley of Asia and
Africa. In the south is the Negev (q.v.), a dry,
rugged, now triangular area, with a southern
apex on the Gulf of Aqaba. In the north the
broad, now fertile Esdraelon Plain (q.v.) di-
vides Samaria (south) from the hill country of
Galilee (q.v.), the highest and best watered
part of Palestine as herein limited. In the east
of Galilee lie the harp-shaped Sea of Galilee
and the now drained Hula Valley (see Hula
'Emeg). Kings David and Solomon, however,
ruled (c. 1000) over a kingdom including
much of modem Lebanon and Syria, extend-
ing to the Euphrates River.
Palestine is a land of sharp contrasts in relief
and climate; only 14 mi (23 km) separate an
elevation of 2,694 ft (821 m) above sea level
north of Jerusalem from the shores of the
Dead Sea, 1,296 ft (395 m) below sea level
(lowest point on the Earth's surface). The
country has a moderate Mediterranean win-
ter-rainfall climate, but Tirat Zevi, in the
north Jordan Valley, more than 656 ft below
sea level, has recorded a maximum tempera-
ture of 131� F (54� C). From there Mt. Her-
mon (Arabic Jabal ash-Shaykh), 9,232 ft
(2,814 m) high, just across the border in mod-
ern Lebanon, is visible on a clear day.
Settled since early prehistoric times, Pales-
tine has been held by virtually every power of
the Near East, among them ancient Egypt,
Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Alexander the
Great's empire and his successors, the Ptole-
mies and Seleucids, the Roman emperors,
the Byzantines, the Ummayads, 'Abbasids,
Fatimids, crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks,
and Ottoman Turks. After World War I, un-
der a mandate awarded to Britain by the
League of Nations, incorporating the Balfour
Declaration (q.v.) of Nov. 2, 1917, Britain
favourably viewed the establishment of a na-
tional home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
The declaration was approved by the princi-
pal Allied and Associated Powers, including
the U.S. (which had not joined the League of
Nations). Britain governed Palestine until
1948; its administration, however, satisfied
neither the majority Arabs nor the growing
Jewish population. After World War II the
British continued to enforce strict regulations
against Jewish immigration, despite the pres-
sures of the refugees from the Nazi holocaust.
Its position in Palestine grew untenable, and
the problem was turned over to the United
Nations, which recommended (Nov. 29, 1947)
the establishment of separate Arab and Jew-
ish states in Palestine. When the British left
(May 15, 1948), the State of Israel was pro-
claimed. The surrounding Arab countries then
made war on Israel and were defeated. Those
territories not under Israeli rule were either
annexed to Jordan (Judaea and Samaria) or
fell to Egypt (the Gaza Strip; q.v.). After the
Six-Day War (June 1967) those areas, plus
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria's Golan
Heights (q.v,), were placed under Israeli ad-
ministration. Sinai and the Golan Heights
became the scene of a new conflict in October
1973 between the Arab forces, led by Egypt
and Syria, and Israel. (See Middle East crisis
of 1973.) Major ref. 17:926f
•Ben-Gurion role in Israeli liberation 2:836f
•Churchill's 1922 white paper 4:597a
•Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 10:270c
•Middle Eastern republic 9:1059b
• Romanesque architectural
developments 19:359g
"Some call them radicals. Others call them the Opposition. President Clinton
referred to them on various occasions as the "enemies of peace". Yet, for many
Palestinians, they represent the non-compromising segment of the living conscience of
Palestine. So before we rush to judge and condemn, before we describe them as radicals and
enemies of peace, we must listen to their story. The story of suffering through Black
September, South Lebanon and the Intifadah. Once we listen, I believe, all that we can do
is to stand for them and salute, salute them for a heavy price they have paid, rather than
those who took the easy way out." - Ramzy Baroud
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