Did "Palestine" Ever exisit as a country?

Question

Did "Palestine" Ever exisit as a country?

Answer 1

Whagt is your definition of a country?   Something that western outsiders say is a "country."  Palestinians have been living on that land for thousands of years.  They speak the same language, share a common religion and share a common culture. What gave certain "countries" the right to decide if another group is a country or not?

Answer 2

I tried googling a list of former palestinian ambassadors to the US but got nada.

Answer 3

Shalomo,

This is a very odd question, the concept  of  "countries" is very new  to the humans race.

No country was ever a country till the last few hundred years, The concept of Countries and borders is  a very new political concept.

Even old civilizations did not form countries.

It is people who existed and lived on the land, Greek, Romans, Egyptians, Assyrians, Philistines(Palestinians)....

Greece,Italy and Egypt were not countries for the most of their history, does that deny the rights of the inhabitants in their homeland?

The only people who did not have a home land were the Habiru (the old Hebrews). That was G-d's will. No one can stand against G-d's will. period.

Answer 4

The philistines always existed, God allowed them to coexist with Israel, though Israel were the dominant force, and though the land of Israel was alotted to the 12 tribes of Israel.

Philistine did exist, but God gave the land to Israel. Israel defeated the Philistines because God was with them, and he gave them the land, but God allowed Philistine live in the land also.

The problem with the Philistines is that they want the birth right to a land they did not inherit, but were allowed to coexist in.

Answer 5

Never :-)

However, the people who "object" to the state of Israel don't object to the fact that there are people in Palestine (after all, they'd have to object to Jordan as well). They "object" to the fact that there are Jews in the Middle East.

There is a profound difference between criticizing Israel and criticizing Jews. However, the "anti-Zionists" on this board are at the lowest rung of human existence: those who don't even own up to their hatred. They don't hate "all" Jews. They just hate the "evil" Jews. (Yeah, right.)

It's okay. No matter how many times they call Israel "pseudo" or "fake," Israel is still going to exist. We have existed since 1948, when Israelis fought Arab armies with old guns and knives, and we are always going to exist. Those who cannot deal with that fact are going to be frustrated for a long, long time.

I urge you to read the 1913 British Census on the Mandate of Palestine. You'll find interesting things there such as, "the region is deserted and devoid of humans" and "only after the first Zionist settlers began to arrive did the economy begin to flourish."

The British did not want us to have a state - and we do anyway. They wanted Arab armies to wipe out Jews - and they didn't. We're still around. Better get used to it: AM YISRAEL CHAI. Terror will never triumph over good.

Answer 6

yes, and they had great trade relations with narnia and atlantis.

Answer 7

lol Palestine existed thousands of years ago... It's Isreal that never existed as a country, and now they are taking Palestine as their country...

I have proof, my great grandfather lived in Palestine before the jews even invaded and it says that on his ID...

Answer 8

Never, it was only a region under British rule.

Sincerely,

Ms. Miche ; })

Answer 9

For two thousand years,although it was always a part of one empire or another. However the others all received their indpendence after WWII - Syria,Lebanon and Jordon. This was all known as Greater Syria. People do get bored with sleazy propaganda,particularly when it's repeated ad finitum ad nauseum. The zionist "angle" is that if Palestine - which can be found in any pre-1948 encycopedia - was not an indepedent country it "never existed". or that it was therefore up for grabs. How intelligent; I'm really fooled. This is like saying the Upper Midwest,New England or the Sunbelt - well known region of the U.S. with their own distinct cultures - are up for grabs because they have never been independent countries. So why don't the yehudi claim New England as a just-for-jews state? I mean - did it ever exist as a country? Go ahead and try.

You people need to come up with better excuses for ethnic cleansing than this.

Answer 10

The term "Palestine" is believed to be derived from the Philistines, an Aegean people who, in the 12th Century B.C.E., settled along the Mediterranean coastal plain of what are now Israel and the Gaza Strip. In the second century C.E., after crushing the last Jewish revolt, the Romans first applied the name Palaestina to Judea (the southern portion of what is now called the West Bank) in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The Arabic word "Filastin" is derived from this Latin name.3

The Hebrews entered the Land of Israel about 1300 B.C.E., living under a tribal confederation until being united under the first monarch, King Saul. The second king, David, established Jerusalem as the capital around 1000 B.C.E. David's son, Solomon built the Temple soon thereafter and consolidated the military, administrative and religious functions of the kingdom. The nation was divided under Solomon's son, with the northern kingdom (Israel) lasting until 722 B.C.E., when the Assyrians destroyed it, and the southern kingdom (Judah) surviving until the Babylonian conquest in 586 B.C.E. The Jewish people enjoyed brief periods of sovereignty afterward before most Jews were finally driven from their homeland in 135 C.E.

Jewish independence in the Land of Israel lasted for more than 400 years. This is much longer than Americans have enjoyed independence in what has become known as the United States.4 In fact, if not for foreign conquerors, Israel would be 3,000 years old today.

Palestine was never an exclusively Arab country, although Arabic gradually became the language of most the population after the Muslim invasions of the seventh century. No independent Arab or Palestinian state ever existed in Palestine. When the distinguished Arab-American historian, Princeton University Prof. Philip Hitti, testified against partition before the Anglo-American Committee in 1946, he said: "There is no such thing as 'Palestine' in history, absolutely not."5

Prior to partition, Palestinian Arabs did not view themselves as having a separate identity. When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, the following resolution was adopted:

We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds.6

In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: "There is no such country [as Palestine]! 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria."7

The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations submitted a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947 that said "Palestine was part of the Province of Syria" and that, "politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity." A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council: "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."8

Palestinian Arab nationalism is largely a post-World War I phenomenon that did not become a significant political movement until after the 1967 Six-Day War and Israel's capture of the West Bank.

Answer 11

No. It was just a region but the majority of the population of that region were Palestinian Arabs who lived for more than 1000 years continuously on that land unlike the Jews who left the land 2000 years ago (and I am not ignoring the Jews who continued to live on the land but those were minority) and only came back 60 years ago to claim their "holy land"

Answer 12

Shlomo: I don't blame you it is Zionist 101 lies about Palestine. There was no Palestine and no Palestinian people.

You think you scored a point when you ask this question don't you?

Historically, Palestine was ruled by city-state democracy when the Jews were nothing but a nomads.

Contemporary, the nation-statehood was born in Europe only in the 1700s.

Palestine like most of the Arab world was part of Ottoman Empire.

After the war Palestine was ruled by the British who later established the first contemporary Palestinian Government called Palestine Mandate Government which lasted 28 years.

So there you have it I dont think you going to change your mind.

Answer 13

The question is …did Israel ever existed as a country ?

the aswer is noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Answer 14

No, it was a name of a province.  After the Jews revolted against the Roman Empire, the Romans changed the name to Palestine to offend the Jews as the Philistines were Israels longest enemy.

Philistines were Greeks who invaded Gaza, wiped out the Canaanites who lived there and pretty much were isolated to that one area except a few times when they gained the upper hand in wars with Israel.

When the Assyrians invaded Israel, they also invaded Gaza.  When Persia allowed the Jews to return to Israel, the Philistines were gone except for a few elderly people.  Some say the Philistines went back to Greece, others say they fled to Egypt.

So the Arab "Palestinians" pretty much stole the identity of the Greek Philistines.  Imagine France conquered Ireland, renamed the land Britain and kicked the Irish out, then later flood Indians into "Britain" and they in turn call themselves "British"  Doesn't make sense does it?

Answer 15

Nah mate...

It was just like a regional under British controls....

so, "Palestine" aint exist as a country and never will be...

Answer 16

~~~

It is a region, was a region and still is a region. It may one day become a civilized country with proper leadership. It's resources are limited. As a state it can be defined as a welfare state.  As a political entity it is a failure.

It is a great illustration of the wrong use of violence. It is a pawn of others in the region.

Answer 17

Prior to World War I, the land was part of the Ottoman empire, not a separate country.

After World War I, Britain chopped the land up and named it arbitrarily. One of the "Mandates" (eumphamism for colony) was Palestine. I have read books by Holocaust survivors which mention the existence of a Palestine back then, in case anyone wants to claim I'm listening to anti-Semitic propaganda.

Then, after World War II, there was the Partition of Palestine, in which the land was split into Israel and Palestine. Israel had 51% of the land, even though Jews were a minority. 90% of the land that the treaty allowed Palestinians to keep has since been taken over by Israel.

So yes, it did exist. Since they have never been allowed state rule, we could say it wasn't a "country," but then "country" is a very new term. For a long time the countries of Europe were called nations, for example. Most older history books refer to them as nation-states.

Answer 18

well it was seen as a part of syria, but eventually it would have formed its own country if israel hadnt come along

Answer 19

no!!!

Answer 20

well...

actually Palestine is a country and Jews took a part of it and called it Israel and now they want to take the rest of it and make people forget that one day there was a country called Palestine :s

Answer 21

No, of course not.  This is a good counterpoint to the recent question, "Did Israel ever exist as a country?"

Both sides who say, "No, so it shouldn't exist now" are wrong.  They are wrong about Israel and they are wrong about a Palestinian state.  Bosco has half the equation right - it is ridiculous to say that there should be no Palestine because fo this.  He just has it wrong in thinking there should be no Israel.

Neither country existed before 1948.  Both should exist in 2008 side by side, living in peace.   Hopefully, it will be so in the nearest future possible.

Answer 22

Palestine was the name of the area of what is now the state of Israel. It was never a state and It's never been associated with arabs whatsoever (untill nowadays). However, the Palestinian education system makes up for their lack of historical or rational claim by building a new history, and changing the one that already exists. Not that they need it, people buy their lies blind folded with no intention of ever looking for other sources.

Oh well ;P

Mimi is the proof of the written above (creating new history).

Answer 23

Without the British-sponsored "Jewish Agency" it would certainly have received it's independance around 1946 instead of being thrown to the wolves. I agree with Bosco; as propaganda goes this pretty stale. I would suggest something with a little more imagination.

Answer 24

If this piece of land was not inhabited by Arabs than what is all the fighting about then???

The  uncivlized Zionist Jews from all over the world have decided that they wanted to have a jewish state and what did they do they have decided to create this terror state called Israel on the land of the Palestinians. How did they do this? They demolish homes of Palestinian civlians, brutally murder Palestinians and then start building  their ILLEGAL settlements on this piece of land.

Supporting Israel is just as bad supporting Hitler.

Answer 25

NOPE