The phrase ‘from the river to the sea’, Hamas uses in its charter, encompasses the entire geographical area comprising the State of Israel and the "Palestinian" territories. Where is there still room for a Jewish state?
In the period before the founding of Israel, from 1900 onwards, European Jews and Arabs immigrated to the region in equal numbers. This is evidenced to this day by the "Palestinian" surnames, most of which originate from Egypt, Iraq or Syria. And that is why no genetic test will ever identify someone as "Palestinian".
When the renowned Arab-American historian from Princeton University, Professor Philip Hitti, spoke out in 1946 before the Anglo-American Committee against the partition of "Palestine", he said:
At that time, fewer people lived in the entire region than live in the greater Jerusalem area today. Until at least 1930, there were fewer than a million in total. The immigration boom was as great among Arabs as it was among Jews.
The British simply separated the part of their mandate territory that lay east of the Jordan River. This later became Jordan, which already accounted for two-thirds of the territory. They wanted to divide the part west of the Jordan River pretty much fifty-fifty. That was the partition plan of 1947. From the British (and UN) point of view, they wanted to give at least one-fifth to the Jews. The Jews said 'thank you' and founded Israel.
The Arabs did not want that. For them, it was their land. They did not accept a Jewish state in their caliphate. That is why Israel was attacked by all the surrounding Arab states on the night of its founding in 1948. And that is why Israel, where one in five people are now Muslim, still feels existentially threatened. This is not about occupation or colonialism. That is what the propaganda wants us to believe, like a magician at a children's birthday party. The fact is that it is deeply ingrained in the "Palestinian" soul that the region of "Palestine", including what is now Israel, is their land.
The idea of a "Palestinian" nation is based, among other things, on Mohammed Amin al-Husseini. The then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. And member of the SS. He was the mentor of Yasser Arafat, who later became the long-time leader of the PLO, the "Palestinian" Liberation Organisation. Previously, "Palestinians" were all those who lived in the region of "Palestine". This included Druze, Bedouins and Orthodox Christians. It was a name based on origin. In 1967, Arafat and the PLO made it a unique selling point. According to their definition, "Palestinians" were now only those who were Muslim and rejected the State of Israel.
Israeli Muslims, who today make up 20% of the Israeli population, were and are traitors in their eyes. The same applies to Israeli Bedouins and Druze who fight against the "Palestinians". The Arabs who today call themselves "Palestinians" are the remnants. The legacy of immigration from all Arab countries. They had to create their own existence.
The "Palestinians" do not even have a word for "Palestine". Or for themselves. They say filastin. If the Arabic language is indigenous to the region, why does it not have its own word for it? Language is always a fingerprint of society. It reveals a great deal about the ethnicity, people or group that speaks it.
"Palestinians" are not an ethnic group. Today, they can be described as a people, but that is something different by definition. They do not have their own language. They do not have their own history. They do not have a culture that clearly distinguishes them from others. What they might call "Palestinian culture" applies to all religions and ethnic groups living in the region of "Palestine". This includes Jews, Druze, Christians, and Bedouins. What sets them apart is not "Palestinian", but Arab. There is no "Palestinian culture" because "Palestinians" in the modern sense have only existed since 1964.
When "Palestinians" refer to "Palestine" as "Falestine", it is an exonym. However, if they were native to the region, should they not have an endonym? They do not have an internal name, a self-designation, or an endonym for the region. This is because they never possessed, shaped, or influenced the region in a way that would have given rise to an endonym. "Palestine" was not named after the "Palestinians"; rather, the "Palestinians" are Arabs who named themselves after the region. The Arabs immigrated there as a result of Islamic expansion. However, it was always ruled, governed, and owned by others. Ultimately, and for the longest period of time, it was ruled by the Turks, who are not Arabs.
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the victors decided to give a small part to the Jews. And the Arabs could not accept that.
The Arabs living there had to reinvent themselves, give themselves an identity. And a name. And that is why "Palestinians" call themselves "falestine". They had to resort to an old word, a Roman one, a Latin one, an exonym, like everyone else. They don't have their own word for it. Not even all the letters.
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