So there I was, minding my own business, when I got a notification from Quora, that I had been asked, as an expert on “Palestine” (nyuh uh uh) to answer this question:
Do Israelis and Palestinians both eat hummus?
Now, I knew what this was, because I’d seen it before. This was an attempt at disseminating the false notion that there is a people indigenous to the Jewish homeland called “Palestinians.” It’s a tactic that came into popular use during the past two decades or so, in which the term is inserted wherever possible.
By now, the term “Palestinian” is widely, if erroneously used to describe the Arabs who claim Israel as exclusively their own territory. The more the term has been used in conversation, the more its use has become acceptable, until it is now part and parcel of the conversation. The question about hummus had been posed by someone whose profile picture is a “Palestinian” flag, which helped to confirm what I had intuited: that the question was nothing more than a ploy: the sly insertion of false propaganda into a public forum.
I thought for a moment and then hastily typed the following:
No such thing as a Palestinian. Maybe they eat invisible hummus.
Not long after, I received a message from Quora stating that moderators had flagged and locked my response as not responsive to the question. Hmm. That was a first.
There was an address for submitting an appeal. At first I thought, “Nah. Why bother? So they don’t have a sense of humor. So what?”
But then I thought, hey! No way. I’m going to fight this thing and teach those moderators some history, gosh darn it.
So I sent the following appeal:
To the Moderators:
My answer was flagged and I’d like to appeal your decision.
While it is true that my answer was not exactly responsive to the question, it was the only possible answer to a question that assumes facts not in evidence.
While it has become popular to refer to the Arabs in Israel as “Palestinians,” this is actually a misnomer, which is used to lend legitimacy to the claim that these Arabs are indigenous to the territory in question.
Even a very broad perusal of the history of the territory in question and of the two peoples that make claims to the land will show that there never was a Palestinian people.
The name “Syria Palestina” was applied to the land of Israel by the Romans, as a means of insulting the indigenous people of the territory, the Jews. The Romans had occupied the territory and this was their way of rubbing it in to the Jews who had lived in the land since the time of Abraham the biblical patriarch.
The name “Syria Palestina” was eventually shortened to “Palestine.”
During the British Mandate, the identity cards of the Jews who lived in “Palestine” were stamped with the nationality: “Palestinian.”
My cousin Prof. Ephraim Kehat, Professor Emeritus of the Chemical Engineering Department at the Haifa Technion once showed me a scan of his British Mandate identity card. His nationality on this document is listed as “Palestinian” because he was born and raised in Mandate Palestine. But he is a Jew and he served in the Palmach during Israel’s War of Independence.
During the past two decades, the Arabs took to using the term “Palestinian” to describe themselves to lend legitimacy to their claim that this was THEIR land and not the land of the Jews. But it’s merely a propaganda device with no basis in reality.
When I was asked to answer the question, I noted the “Palestinian” flag displayed as the profile photo of the person who posed the question and immediately came to the conclusion that the question was asked in a public forum for the specific purpose of furthering this false idea: that there is an Arab people who are “Palestinians” who have indigenous rights to Jewish territory, with the Jewish claim going back, thousands of years, and certainly to well before the advent of Islam.
It was propaganda, posed as a question. As such, I both deflated the erroneous notion by saying that the “Palestinians” are an invented people, and made a little joke to lighten the atmosphere. I am sure that my followers would find my answer both humorous AND responsive to the question by way of busting the false message it poses.
I hope you will reconsider your position and unlock my response, which, if nothing else, refutes a false notion in an inoffensive manner, without resorting for instance, to profanity or name-calling.
For more on the history of how the region became known as “Palestine” see: http://thebayviewreview.com/2012/12/12/a-brief-history-of-palestine/ and: http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/119383
For more on the origins of the Arabs calling themselves “Palestinian” see: http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~peters/mixed.html
For more on the impact of words and terms on the Middle East conflict, see: http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/27/israel-is-engaged-in-a-war-of-words/
Sincerely,
Varda Epstein
Efrat, Israel
“No matter how short your wife is, lean down and take her advice.”
Bava Metzia 59a
you showed them, chimp bi***
Oof.
Or as they say in Minnesota, Uf Da!
Ha ha!
Well said Varda! Did you get a reply? Were you unflagged?
Nope. Not yet.
I try to avoid using “Palestinian” in my comments and use “Arab” instead. Those who live in this territory have every right to live in peace with us, a right that too many of them have thrown away with their hostility. I also note that growing numbers of Arab Israeli citizens are coming around to accept this measure of goodwill, especially Christians who are aware that they face persecution by Israel’s neighbors instead of the free exercise of their faith guaranteed to them at home.
I agree with you completely, Norman!
My husband’s grandmother was a Jewish Palestinian during the Mandate too. As he’s sister used to tell us, “If you’d’a called an Arab a Palestinian the, he’d shoot you!”
That’s right.
I never capitalize “palestine” or “palestinian” because they don’t exist. Just anti Israel garbage.
There is also an anti Israel talking point that I have seen that claims that the Israelis “stole” felafel from the Palestinians. Pointing out to them that felafel originated in Egypt doesn’t seem to register.
Yeah. Buzzfeed had a piece on that, which claimed that all Israeli foods are really Arab foods. Like Shawarma, which is GREEK.
The general point is that it is irrelevant what the origin of a food is when it comes to what is considered the cuisine of a place. Pizza is classified as being part of “New York cuisine” regardless of its origins in Italy. Taking something as trivial as a food that Israelis enjoy and turning it into an anti Israel talking point is among the most ridiculous things I have encountered. At one point I even thought they were making a joke, but they were SERIOUS.
Has anyone read “When Palestine meant Israel” by David Jacobson? An interesting read that I have never seen refuted. If he is right, Palestine is ancient Greek for Israel. A very compelling article, which, at very least, debunks the notion that “Palestine” was derived from “Philistine”.
Haven’t read that, Mark. Does sound like a good read!
The Greek term derives from an older (pre-Arab) Egyptian term ‘Peleset’ which they used to describe colonialist ‘sea-peoples’ whose origin is in the Aegean; and who disappear from the Levant about 1000BCE. Traces of their culture persisted in Carthage until it was obliterated by the Romans [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Carthage]
Sounds reasonable, but I could not find any references to sea-peoples’ culture in Carthage on Wikipedia. Where is it mentioned? Thanks!
Not in that wiki entry. I believe the connection is made via the Mycenaeans or the Phoenicians . Similar pantheon of Deities (Astarte – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte).
We actually know very little about the Plishtim directly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philistines#Archaeological_evidence
There are other arguments against “Palestinianism”
Statements of their leadership
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zuheir_Mohsen
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3389.htm (time index 1:35)
Founding documents
Article 1 of The Palestinian National Charter states: ” . . . the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.” [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/plocov.asp] So there is no Palestinian identity separate from that of other Arabs.
The Gazalonim are strict constructionist Islamists; and, as such, do not recognize the takfiri concept of Nation State. One is either a part of the Dar-al-Islam (the realm of peace) or, the Dar-al-Harb (the realm of war.) This they make explicit in their founding document the “Hamas Covenant” in Article 11: ” The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day.” [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp]
Sociological markers
All of their family/clan names refer to someplace else. It was not the Mohawk who called their native land New Yawk [http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=47c_1358574333]
Linguistic markers
Arabic lacks the unvoiced labial plosive (the sound produced by the English letter ‘P’ and the Hebrew letter ‘Pey’.)
What this means is that those Arabs claiming to be indigenous to Palestine cannot pronounce the name they have chosen for their (sic) homeland. A name provided by one set of invaders, originally used to describe a different set of invaders; that you cannot actually say.