Who really are the ‘Palestinians’?

The term “Palestine” appeared in the Middle East when Romans destroyed Israel in A.D. 135 (“Treasures From Revelation,” Dr. Rod Mattoon, p.139). Emperor Hadrian hated the Jewish people with such vigor that he changed the name of the Holy Land to “Palestine” in an attempt to eradicate Judaism, and renamed Jerusalem, Aelia Capitolina, turning it into a pagan city. The name “Palestine” is a Latin derivative of the name “Philistine,” the age-old enemy of Israel who inhabited Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath. The Philistines were destroyed in 604 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar II, losing “their distinct ethnic identity and disappeared as a people from the historical and archeological record.”

Who are the Palestinians today?

According to a post at CBN Israel, “In 1977 PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) spokesman Zahir Muhsein made a statement that should be heeded to this day. In an interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw he declared, ‘The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. … Today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people.’” That means the “Palestinians” are “today culturally and linguistically Arab[s],” who migrated to the region 500 years after the name changed. So “Palestinians” are actually Arabs.

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