RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Arafat's health declining

There was never a nation of Palestine.

When the Romans destroyed the second Temple and ended the second Israeli kingdom, throwing the Jews out of Judea and Sumaria (that's the West Bank), the land they (we) had lived in for thousands of years, they renamed the whole place Palestine. The thought was that if they erased the name "Israel," and replaced it with the name "Palestine," the Jews would give up and stop fighting for autonomy.

When the Jewish people began returning to the land in force in the early 20th century, the Arabs didn't call the settlers Israelis. They called the Jewish settlers Palestinians. So, in fact, the first Palestinians were Jews. When the Jewish people demanded Britain leave them (us) alone in their (our) land, it was decided that Israel (which is what the Jews were rightfully calling the land) would be split into the Jewish state of Israel, and the Arab state of Palestine.

Then what happened? The Jewish state survived wars and thrived as a nation and a culture, and the Arab occupied land stayed as it was since the Romans destroyed it. Then, in the Six Day War, Israel took back the land in part. Going back to old maps, Jordan is actually part of Israel too. But, since the tribes who lived their are missing, they aren't around to demand their land back.

Anyway, there never was an ancient state of Palestine. There was only Israel.


As for terminology:

Freedom fighters attack military targets.

Terrorists attack civilian targets.

There are no Arab "freedom fighters" in Israel. Most attacks are against civilians in coffee shops, resturaunts, hotels, wedding ceremonies, etc. Just because the same groups sometimes target military personnel, that does not make them freedom fighters.