Palestine my Love

Uday Dokras

Indo Nordic Author’s Collective

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 Palestine my Love
Dr Uday Dokras
B.Sc., B.A. (managerial economics) LL.B. Nagpur University, INDIA
Graduate Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, CANADA
MBA CALSATATE USA
Graduate Diploma in Law, Stockholm University, SWEDEN
Ph.D. Stockholm University, SWEDEN

Indo Swedish Author’s Collective, Stockholm SWEDEN and Nagpur INDIA

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 Palestine my Love

Associate editor: Dr. Uday Dokras

B.Sc., B.A. (managerial economics) LL.B. Nagpur University, INDIA
Graduate Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, CANADA
Ph.D. Stockholm University, SWEDEN

Indo Swedish Author’s Collective, Stockholm SWEDEN and Nagpur INDIA

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 Here, on the slopes before sunset and
At the gun-mouth of time
Near orchards deprived
Of their shadows
We do what prisoners do:
We nurture hope.

Mahmoud Darwish

Pic by Mahmoud Omar

Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as the Palestinian
national poet. He won numerous awards for his works. Darwish used Palestine as a metaphor for the loss
of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.

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 First Edition 2020
Copyright 2020 Uday Dokras. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by means of electronic, mechanical, photocopy, micro-film,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holder.
ISBN No. applied for. Cost US $150. I N R 1500/- Euro 120

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 C O N T E N T S

Contents Acknowledgement and Introduction 9

C H A P T E R I- Historical references to the name Palestine….19

CHAPTER II Ancient Palestine 95

CHAPTER III Palestinian Culture 106

CHAPTER III Palestinian Music

CHAPTER IV Cusine & Recipes 127

CHAPTER V- EDUCATION in PALESTINE TODAY 154

CHAPTER VI Cinema

CHAPTER VII Women 174

CHAPTER VIII ARCHITECTURE

CHAPTER IX Where is Palestine- Palestine Today

About the Author 238

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 Acknowledgement and Introduction

We acknowledge
the great people of Palestine who have motivated us with their courage and conviction to
win against all odds and to lead a normal life just as we do elsewhere in the world. This
book, our first on the people of this region, is dedicated to them.

There is much strife and unhappiness in today’s world and humanity is struggling to come
to terms with the conditions surrounding it. So are the Palesinians. Yet in spite of the
hardships and retributions -LIFE goes on.
They celebrate Life.
This book talks about that celebration. Here we display the warmth and culture of the
society that embraces the regions now called Palestine and other regions that will be called
Palestine in future. These are, however, Arab people and arab lands, Arab culture and
Arab values- values of Muslims, Christians and even Jews who live and symphatize with
the Palesinians and the cause of their homeland and the future of the existence of this
culture and way of life.
We Love you Palestine
This book is dedicated to you.
May you prosper and realize all your dreams- each and every one of them

Introduction

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the longest in contemporary history, spanning 70 +

years.

Most have heard of it, but few are aware of what it means for Palestinians, for Israelis, and for
other nations. Although U.S. involvement today is generally restricted to foreign aid, America
was, at one point, key to the progression of the conflict. However, movements such as Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), which was founded in 2005 to put an end to the Israeli occupation
of the West Bank, continue to be debated among American politicians. According to the Anti-
Defamation League (ADL), an anti-hate organization that is dedicated to defending Jewish

9
people around the globe, BDShas incited antisemitic attacks on American college campuses in
the past.

The current senior adviser to President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, has stated
that Palestinians "should have self-determination" but were "unready" to govern themselves

In Brief

The Makings of the Conflict (1896-1917)

Alfred Dreyfus was a Jewish military officer who was wrongfully convicted for selling French
military secrets to Germany. Although he would be completely exonerated and free of all
charges, it served as a reminder of how deeply antisemitism was ingrained in Europe.

Following Dreyfus’ exoneration, Jewish political activist Theodor Herzl wrote the novel "The
Jewish State," which called for the return of the Jewish people to their historic homeland in
Palestine. The long-persecuted community had lived in diaspora for several centuries, but
returning to Israel remained a core part of their identity.

Herzl strongly believed in Zionism, which, although a hotly-debated term today, is generally
defined as the movement that mobilized the establishment of Israel. Palestine, as it was known
then, was majority Arab, but housed a Jewish minority.

“Palestine is our unforgettable historic homeland,” Herzl wrote in an excerpt from the novel.
“Let me repeat once more my opening words: The Jews who will it shall achieve their state. We
shall live at last as free men on our own soil, and in our own homes peacefully die.”

The Balfour Declaration of 1917, written by the British Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, to
leader of the British Jewish community, Lord Rothschild, promised to create a “national home
for the Jewish people."

“His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for
the Jewish people,” Balfour wrote. “[We] will use [our] best endeavors to facilitate the
achievement of this object."According to the American Community Survey, there are an
estimated 85,000 Palestinians living in the U.S. as of 2013.

“Right now, we are being pushed out,” Nour said. “Palestinians have curfews, they’re restricted,
and they can’t move. There is an occupation happening, and that is a fact."

She attributes some of Israel’s success in defense to America’s support.

“I feel like America is intervening in the sense that Israel has money, so they can influence the
media,” Nour said. “So America sides with Israel because they have money, and that’s how they
look at it.”

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According to Pew Research Center, the number of Americans who sympathize with Palestine has
decreased dramatically since 2001, in correlation with the 9/11 attacks. Ninety-nine percent of
the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip today identify as Muslim, and, when asked in a January
2017 survey of how warmly Americans felt towards Muslims, an average score of 48 out of 100
was given. Despite 9/11 and other terrorist attacks being largely unrelated, some Americans have
conflated it with their perception of Islam as a whole. This generalization is doubly harmful as it
has silenced the voices of Palestinian religious minorities; one example is the Eastern Orthodox
Christian community in Palestine, which has declined significantly over time.

“I feel like the history is kind of mixed up, and people don’t know the full story of what’s
happening,” Nour said. “People don’t know the full extent of what is going on.”

Number of Deaths

Israel's Beginnings (1948-1956)

The U.S. President after World War I, Woodrow Wilson, stood against annexing colonies that
had belonged to the Allied powers before the war. Instead, he drafted a peace settlement with the
League of Nations that gave Britain part of the territory previously belonging to the Ottoman
Empire.

In the coming years, Britain increased the immigration of Jewish people into Palestine. The Arab
revolt of 1936-1939 against the British administration highlighted rising tensions between the
Jewish and Arab populations. Britain was forced to declare martial law, and over 5,000 Arabs
died in the subsequent violence.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the Jewish people were subjected to genocide, further contributing to the
necessity of the Zionist movement.

By 1948, the Jewish population in Palestine were drawn into action after a U.N. resolution
divided the mandate into two: one nation for Jewish people, and another for the Arabs. Israel was
declared a state by the head of the Jewish Agency, David Ben-Gurion, on May 14, 1948, as
Britain withdrew.

“We extend the hand of peace and good-neighborliness to all the States around us and to their
people,” Ben-Gurion said in Israel's Proclamation of Independence. “We call upon them to
cooperate in mutual helpfulness with the independent Jewish nation in its land.”

The surrounding Arab nations, including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, invaded the new state
immediately following the proclamation. This would initiate the Israeli War for Independence; it
concluded with Egypt taking control of the Gaza strip and the new state being formally
established.

During this period, nearly 800 thousand Palestinians either fled or were expelled from the region
between 1947-1949 in what is today called "al-Nakba," the Arabic word for

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"catastrophe." Instances of massacres, rape, and forced expulsions left a significant impact on the
Palestinian identity, opening up a refugee problem that has not since been resolved.

The largest exodus of Palestinians came from Lydda and Ramle, where a combined estimate of
50,000-70,000 were expelled. Beginning on July 9, 1948, the Israeli air forces led a two-day
bombing campaign to urge surrender. The 89th battalion, led by Moshe Dayan, then seized the
city of Lydda from Arab militias. On July 11, Ben-Gurion ordered that "the inhabitants
of Lydda must be expelled quickly, without regards to age."

The military offensive, Operation Dani, was successful, as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)
compelled the 35,000 Palestinian residents of Lydda -- which had been suffering from food
shortages and unemployment since the beginning of the hostilities in May -- to flee. One survivor
who lost his sister to the violence, George Habash, would later become the controversial leader
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

"The whole village went to the church... I remember the archbishop standing in front of the
church. He was holding a white flag," writes one first-hand account of the events at
Lydda. "Afterwards, we came out, and the picture will never be erased from my mind. There
were bodies scattered on the road and between the houses and the side streets. No one, not even
women or children, had been spared if they were out in the street."

The author compared it to the Deir Yassin massacre that happened prior to the war,
where several hundred villagers were killed and the town was looted.

Dozens of villages in Palestine were emptied following al-Nakba. The largest share of refugees
headed to the neighboring countries of Lebanon and Jordan; many still live in refugee camps
today.

What is often forgotten is a similar number of Jewish people from across the Middle East who
fled to Israel, in part due to rising antisemitism in the Arab world. Over the course of 30 years,
850,000 Mizrahi Jews immigrated to Israel; the last wave emerged from Iran in 1979 after
fundamentalist leader Ayatollah Khomeini rose to power.

Timeline of Events

The Arab-Israeli Wars (1956-1973)

The second of the Arab-Israeli Wars began in 1956 over the Suez Canal, an important maritime
trading route that linked the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The president of Egypt at the time,
Gamal Abdel Nasser, had nationalized the Suez Canal, upsetting France and Britain. Egypt's
blockade on the port of Eilat led Britain to encourage Israel, which had also been prevented from
traveling on the canal, to invade Egypt.

The young country entered through the Sinai Peninsula to take control of Gaza, Rafah, and Al-
Arish. The Eisenhower administration of the U.S. joined the Soviet Union in supporting Nasser.
Israel was instructed to wait for British and French intervention. A U.N. Emergency Force,

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supported by Eisenhower, was placed in the area. Israeli troops were forced to withdraw, and
Egypt removed the blockade on Eilat.

But the Suez Crisis did not mark the end of the violence — in fact, it was only the beginning.

In 1964, after a meeting at the Arab League Summit, the PLO was formed to assert Palestinian
independence. They would play a key role in the events surrounding the conflict thereon. The
most prominent of these guerilla movements was al-Fatah, led by Yasser Arafat.

After Palestinian guerilla groups launched attacks on Israel from Syria and Egypt, which had
been planning to invade, Israel struck the village of Al-Samu in the West Bank, killing 18. This
resulted in the Six Day War.

“Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to
Palestine will be covered with blood,” Nasser said in his re-election speech in 1965. “In order
that we may liberate Palestine, the Arab nation must unite, the Arab armies must unite, and a
unified plan of action must be established.”

In support of Syria, which had been weakened by an Israeli air strike, General Nasser mobilized
the Egyptian army and closed the Gulf of Aqaba off from Israel. Following a defense pact made
between Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan, Israel made a preemptive strike that killed 90
percent of the Egyptian Air Force.

The war culminated with the U.N. calling for a cease-fire. Israel tripled in the size of its
territories, taking control of the whole of the West Bank and Gaza. There was a dramatic
increase in the number of Palestinian refugees; commemorated on June 5, this event is known as
"al-Naska," or "the setback," in Arabic.

Heightened Tensions (1973-1993)

The next Arab-Israeli war took place on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in 1973, when Egypt
and Syria invaded through the Suez Canal and Golan Heights respectively. After facing heavy
casualties, Israel drew up a series of peace agreements with Egypt that gave the latter the Sinai
Peninsula for their acknowledgment of Israel’s right to exist.

The Camp David Accords in 1978, witnessed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, marked the end of
Egypt’s involvement in the conflict.

“[The Camp David Accords are] a collusion at the expense of and behind the backs of the Arabs
aimed at helping Israel entrench [itself] on captured Arab land, including Palestine, and prevent
implementation of the Palestinians' inalienable national rights," the PLO released in a statement
regarding the accords.

Although peace was made with Egypt, not six years later would mounting tensions with
Palestinians push Israel to bomb Beirut, Lebanon, a center for PLO strongholds.

13
The next day, Israel invaded the city, occupying it from 13 June 1982 until a partial withdrawal
in 1985 after negotiations with the PLO. The Israeli occupation in Lebanon did not end
completely, however, until May 14, 2000.

The Southern Lebanon Conflict at first took place in the context of the Lebanese Civil War. The
Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah fought against conservative Lebanese Maronites, who
were allied with Israel. The Phalanges, members of a right-wing Maronite party in Lebanon,
killed between 460 to 3,500 Sunni Muslim and Christian Palestinians, Kurds, and poor Lebanese,
during the Sabra and Shatila massacres. According to If Americans Knew, the first Intifada
(1987-1993) was a series of Palestinian uprisings that began after four Palestinians in the
Jabaliya refugee camp were killed by an Israeli Jeep. However, other sources, such as the Jewish
Virtual Library, consider these accusations to be false.Both would agree that
these protests against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank totaled to an estimated 1,376
Palestinian deaths, including 23 minors, and 94 Israeli deaths, including 4 minors.

The Intifada left a permanent mark on the West Bank. After all, "intifada" is the Arabic word for
“tremor.”He added that, even though it affects him in all aspects of his life, Israel is not defined
solely by the conflict.“The conflict is a little bit big here, but it’s not the only thing here.
Unfortunately, a lot of people see that as the main topic here, but there’s a country here,”
Osteryung said. “Israel supplies innovative technological inventions that improve the lives of
many people around the world.”

He hopes everyone feels welcome to visit.

“I think that it’s important that not only Jews, but any man or woman who wants to walk here in
Israel can also come here,” he said.

Through the perspective of a history teacher, Patricia Braunstein believes that it is imperative to
look for unbiased sources when researching into a controversial topics such as this.

“One of the challenges of modern journalism, just because of technology, and because the format
has changed so much, is that there is a lot of bias that is inserted into modern writing,”
Braunstein said.Braunstein teaches World History, Life Skills, and AP European History at
Carlmont, and uses assignments -- such as writing reflections on current events -- to help her
students better understand the differences between news and opinion.“It’s important to know
your sources because there are so many things out there,” Braunstein said. “It's concerning — I
see it a lot with students. People don’t realize what’s biased or not. And if people have that
awareness, it’s not that hard to figure it out. The danger is that people are unaware of a
difference.”

Braunstein also had a few tips to share for avoiding biased sources.

“I would look at things from fairly standard news sources and from more than one,” Braunstein
said. “You should be aware that what you think is reading news should not be inserting opinion.”

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Since its history is still in the making, opinion is often confused with fact in the Palestinian-
Israeli conflict.

As proven by the many misconceptions surrounding the conflict, it is clear that it is not a black-
and-white issue. Between biased news and heated debate, there is only one word that everyone
agrees should be used to describe it: controversial. Only time will tell how long the conflict will
persist.

Modern Day (1993-Today)

The Oslo Accords, proposed in 1993 by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO
Negotiator Mahmoud Abbas, was the first instance of active involvement on the part of the U.S.
in bringing peace since the Camp David Accords. Signed at the White House under the Clinton
administration, it was agreed that Israel would recognize PLO for the PLO to recognize
Israel. However, the accords swiftly fell apart after Rabin was assassinated by a radical in 1995.

The Hebron Protocol, which transferred the town of Hebron to Palestinian control, was drafted in
order to prevent further violence from breaking out. The Clintons negotiated for Israel to
withdraw from the West Bank; however, the Hebron Protocol was never ratified by either party
as representative Benjamin Netanyahu, who was involved in the proceedings, lost the position of
prime minister to Labor Party Representative Ehud Barak.

Instead, Barak signed the Sharm al-Shayuk memorandum in his efforts to set a timetable for the
Oslo Accords, but initial meetings were to no avail. The Clintons organized a meeting at Camp
David between Barak and Arafat, but numerous disagreements over borders, Jerusalem, and
Palestinian refugees ended again with failure. “[The Palestinians] did not in the past and do not
in the present constitute an existential threat to the state of Israel,” Rabin said following the
ratification of the accords.

Riots broke out after Israeli Likud Party Leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, one of
the holiest places in both Islam and Judaism, that Israel had been intending to incorporate into
Jerusalem. Any chance of peace from the Oslo Accords was lost.

The second Intifada between 2000 and 2005 began as Palestinian protesters threw rocks at
Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They were met with the bullets of
surrounding officers. In this specific incident alone, four Palestinians died, and another 200 were
injured. Additionally, 70 Israeli officers experienced substantial injuries.

This conflict between Palestinians and Israeli officers sparked another five years of violence,
which included terrorist bombings and a number of civilian deaths. Angry crowds beat, stabbed,
and disemboweled officers, while the IDF returned with bullets and tanks. This was all within
the first week.

Sharon was elected prime minister of Israel the following year under the promise of "eliminating
terrorism" against the Israelis. After implementing greater preventative measures in 2005, Israeli

15
deaths have declined significantly. The ratio of Palestinian deaths to Israeli deaths has gone from
13-2 to 24-1 from before and after 2005.

In 2006, Hezbollah, the political organization that had risen to power in Lebanon following
Israel’s assault on Beirut, killed Israeli officers in their efforts to coerce the country into freeing
Lebanese prisoners. Israel recaptured the prisoners, and, in the process, killed one thousand
Lebanese and displaced another million. While there were leaders who condemned the actions
taken by Hezbollah, it was largely seen as a victory by the surrounding nations.

Barriers to Peace

Today, the PLO manifests itself in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), an autonomous
Palestinian government that was created following the Oslo Accords. Most acts of terrorism are
either committed by or are linked to the militant organization Hamas, which carried out several
suicide bombings against Israel from the early 1990s to mid-2000s. Hamas took control of Gaza
after war with Fatah in 2007.

One issue that remains to be addressed are the number of Palestinians in Israeli
prisons. Palestinian children have reported being blindfolded, cuffed, and abused, while
Palestinian women state that they have faced sexual violence. Yet, the release of Palestinians
from Israeli prisons is said to motivate acts of terror such as that of summer of 2014, when three
Israeli teens were kidnapped and killed by Hamas.

After the bodies were discovered, three Israeli students sought revenge for the murders by
kidnapping a Palestinian teenager, bringing him to a secluded area in the forest, and setting
him on fire. The attack was immediately condemned.

During the subsequent assault on Gaza, Israel launched an attack to disarm suspected Hamas
terrorist sites. This resulted in 2,200 Palestinian civilians and 64 Israeli soldiers dying. Twenty
thousand homes were rendered uninhabitable as a result, and 500,000 Palestinians were
displaced.

The struggle remains as Hamas and other terrorist groups, such as Islamic Jihadists, continue to
launch rockets into Israel. However, these attempts lead to fatal consequences. A more recent
case of is that of a family of 8 who were killed during Israeli air raids on Deir al-Balah in
response to rocket fire from Islamic Jihadists in Gaza.

The occupation that currently takes place in the West Bank is further exacerbated by Israeli
settlers. Cited as a major barrier to peace, the Israeli settlers have expanded into space that
Palestinians hope to incorporate as part of their potential state. In the Old City of Jerusalem,
which is holy to all three Abrahamic religions, Israeli settlers buy out land in
the historic Christian, Muslim, and Armenian quarters.

The Israeli settlers have long had controversial relationships with Palestinians, as Palestinian
police are not allowed to react to violence from settlers. In 2011, 90% of reports of settler
violence from Palestinians led to no indictments.

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Palestinians outside of the West Bank and Gaza face struggles of their own.

The most immediate example is that of the neighboring Arab countries. According to the
Jerusalem Post, 80% of Palestinians believe the Arab world has abandoned them. Severe
employment restrictions being placed on Palestinians in Lebanon is only one example of how the
refugee crisis continues today.

This is the story of the Wars and here in these pages we write the story of the Peace that
evades the people and yet dwells in their heart

Muhsin Dadarkar
DR Uday Dokras

(Based on The brief history of a long war: The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Zachary Khouri, 2019)

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 Read our other book

‫األراضي الفلسطينية‬

Al-Arādī al-Falastīniyya - my Naqba

Anger and hunger in the Homeland

Muhsin Dadarkar
A land that deserves a BOOK and many and -much more.

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 C H A P T E RI
Historical references to the name Palestine with notes

This chapter presents a list of notable historical references to the name Palestine as a place
name in the Middle East throughout the history of the region, including its cognates such as
"Filastin" and "Palaestina." This acknowledges the fact that the people who gtoday live in
the land loosely referred to as Paldstine are in fact the original inhabitants or natives of this
region.

The term "Peleset" (transliterated from hieroglyphs as P-r-s-t) is found in five inscriptions
referring to a neighboring people or land starting from circa 1150 BC during the Twentieth
Dynasty of Egypt. The first known mention is at the temple at Medinet Habu which refers to
the Peleset among those who fought with Egypt in Ramesses III's reign,[2][3] and the last
known is 300 years later on Padiiset's Statue. The Assyrians called the same region
"Palashtu/Palastu" or "Pilistu," beginning with Adad-nirari III in the Nimrud Slab in c. 800
BC through to an Esarhaddon treaty more than a century later.[4][5] Neither the Egyptian nor
the Assyrian sources provided clear regional boundaries for the term.[6]

The first appearance of the term "Palestine" was in 5th century BC Ancient
Greece when Herodotus wrote of a "district of Syria, called Palaistinê"
between Phoenicia and Egypt in The Histories.[7][8][9] Herodotus applied the term to both the
coastal and the inland regions such as the Judean mountains and the Jordan Rift
Valley.[10][11][12][13] Later Greek writers such as Aristotle, Polemon and Pausanias also used
the word, which was followed by Roman writers such as Ovid, Tibullus, Pomponius
Mela, Pliny the Elder, Dio Chrysostom, Statius, Plutarch as well as Roman Judean
writers Philo of Alexandria and Josephus.[14] The word is not found on any Hellenistic coin
or inscription, and is first known in official use in the early second century AD.[15] It has been
contended that in the first century authors still associated the term with the southern coastal
region.[16][17]

In 135 AD, the Greek "Syria Palaestina" [a] was used in naming a new Roman province from
the merger of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea after the Roman authorities crushed the Bar
Kokhba Revolt. Circumstantial evidence links Hadrian to the renaming of the province,
which took place around the same time as Jerusalem was refounded as Aelia Capitolina, but
the precise date of the change in province name is uncertain.[18] The common view that the
name change was intended to "sever the connection of the Jews to their historical homeland"
is disputed.[19][20]

Around the year 390, during the Byzantine period, the imperial province of Syria
Palaestina was reorganized into Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda[21] and Palaestina
Salutaris.[21] Following the Muslim conquest, place names that were in use by the Byzantine

19
administration generally continued to be used in Arabic.[4][22] The use of the name "Palestine"
became common in Early Modern English,[23] was used in English and Arabic during
the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. In the 20th century the name was used by the British to refer
to "Mandatory Palestine," a territory from the former Ottoman Empire which had been
divided in the Sykes–Picot Agreement and secured by Britain via the Mandate for
Palestine obtained from the League of Nations.[24] Starting from 2013, the term was officially
used in the eponymous "State of Palestine."[25] Both incorporated geographic regions from
the land commonly known as Palestine, into a new state whose territory was named
Palestine.

Historical references

Ancient period

A people called the P-r-s-t (conventionally Peleset). From a graphic wall relief on the
Second Pylon at Medinet Habu, c. 1150 BC, during the reign of Ramesses III.

Padiiset's Statue "the impartial envoy/commissioner/messenger of/for Canaan of/for Peleset"

c. 1150 BC: Medinet Habu (temple): records a people called the P-r-s-
t (conventionally Peleset) among those who fought with Egypt in Ramesses III's reign.[2][3][26]

c. 1150 BC: Papyrus Harris I: "I extended all the boundaries of Egypt; I overthrew those who
invaded them from their lands. I slew the Denyen in their isles, the Thekel and the Peleset
(Pw-r-s-ty) were made ashes."[27][28]

c. 1150 BC: Rhetorical Stela to Ramesses III, Chapel C, Deir el-Medina.[29]

c. 1000 BC: Onomasticon of Amenope: "Sherden, Tjekker, Peleset, Khurma."[30][28]

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c. 900 BC: Padiiset's Statue, inscription: "envoy – Canaan – Peleset."[31]

c. 800 BC: Adad-nirari III, Nimrud Slab.[32]

c. 800 BC: Adad-nirari III, Saba'a Stele: "In the fifth year (of my official rule) I sat down
solemnly on my royal throne and called up the country (for war). I ordered the numerous
army of Assyria to march against Palestine (Pa-la-áš-tu)... I received all the tributes […]
which they brought to Assyria. I (then) ordered [to march] against the country Damascus (Ša-
imērišu)."[33]

c. 735 BC: Qurdi-Ashur-lamur to Tiglath-Pileser III, Nimrud Letter ND 2715: "Bring down
lumber, do your work on it, (but) do not deliver it to the Egyptians (mu-sur-a-a) or
Palestinians (pa-la-as-ta-a-a), or I shall not let you go up to the mountains."[34][35]

c. 717 BC: Sargon II's Prism A: records the region as Palashtu or Pilistu.[36]

c. 700 BC: Azekah Inscription[37] records the region as Pi-lis-ta-a-a.[38]

c. 694 BC: Sennacherib "Palace Without a Rival: A Very Full Record of Improvements in
and about the Capital (E1)": (the people of) Kue and Hilakku, Pilisti and Surri ("Ku-e u Hi-
lak-ku Pi-lis-tu u Sur-ri").[39]

c. 675 BC: Esarhaddon's Treaty with Ba'al of Tyre: Refers to the entire district of Pilistu
(KUR.pi-lis-te).[40]

Classical antiquity

Palestine in c.450 BC according to Herodotus (map as reconstructed by J. Murray, 1897)

c. 450 BC: Herodotus, The Histories[41], First historical reference clearly denoting a wider
region than biblical Philistia, referring to a "district of Syria,
called Palaistinê"[42][13][43] (Book 3[44]): "The country reaching from the city of Posideium to
the borders of Egypt... paid a tribute of three hundred and fifty talents. All Phoenicia,
Palestine Syria, and Cyprus, were herein contained. This was the fifth satrapy.";[b] (Book 4):
"the region I am describing skirts our sea, stretching from Phoenicia along the coast of
Palestine-Syria till it comes to Egypt, where it terminates"; (Book 7[45]): "[The Phoenicians
and the Syrians of Palestine], according to their own account, dwelt anciently upon the
21
Erythraean Sea, but crossing thence, fixed themselves on the seacoast of Syria, where they
still inhabit. This part of Syria, and all the region extending from hence to Egypt, is known
by the name of Palestine." One important reference refers to the practice of male
circumcision associated with the Hebrew people: "the Colchians, the Egyptians, and
the Ethiopians, are the only nations who have practised circumcision from the earliest times.
The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine themselves confess that they learnt the custom
of the Egyptians.... Now these are the only nations who use circumcision."[46][47]

c. 340 BC: Aristotle, Meteorology, "Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in Palestine, such
that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does not sink, this would bear out
what we have said. They say that this lake is so bitter and salt that no fish live in it and that if
you soak clothes in it and shake them it cleans them." This is understood by scholars to be a
reference to the Dead Sea.[48][49][50][51]

c. 150 BC: Polemon of Athens, Greek Histories, quoted by Eusebius of

Caesarea in Praeparatio Evangelica: "In the time [reign] of Apis son of Phoroneus a part of
the Egyptian army was expelled from Egypt, who took up their abode not far from Arabia in
the part of Syria called Palestine."[52][53][54]

c. 130 BC: Agatharchides (5.87, quoted in Diodorus Siculus's Bibliotheca

historica; Strabo's Geographica, and Photios' Bibliotheca): "Near (Tiran) island is
a promontory, which stretches towards the Rock of the Nabataeans and
Palestine."[55][56][57][58][59][60]

Palestine in c. 43 AD according to Pomponius Mela (map as reconstructed by K. Miller,

1898)

c. 30 BC: Tibullus, Tibullus and Sulpicia: The Poems: "Why tell how the white dove sacred
to the Syrians flies unharmed through the crowded cities of Palestine?"[61][62]

c. 2 AD: Ovid, Ars Amatoria: "the seventh-day feast that the Syrian of Palestine
observes."[63][64]
22
c. 8 AD: Ovid, Metamorphoses: (1) "...Dercetis of Babylon, who, as the Palestinians believe,
changed to a fish, all covered with scales, and swims in a pool"[65] and (2) "There fell also
Mendesian Celadon; Astreus, too, whose mother was a Palestinian, and his father
unknown."[66][64]

c. 17 AD: Ovid, Fasti (poem): "When Jupiter took up arms to defend the heavens, came
to Euphrates with the little Cupid, and sat by the brink of the waters of Palestine."[67][64]

c. 40 AD: Philo of Alexandria, (1) Every Good Man is Free: "Moreover Palestine and Syria
too are not barren of exemplary wisdom and virtue, which countries no slight portion of that
most populous nation of the Jews inhabits. There is a portion of those people called
Essenes.";[68] (2) On the Life of Moses: "[Moses] conducted his people as a colony into
Phoenicia, and into the Coele-Syria, and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of
the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three days' journey distant from
Egypt.";[69][70] (3) On Abraham: "The country of the Sodomites was a district of the land of
Canaan, which the Syrians afterwards called Palestine."[71][48]

c. 43 AD: Pomponius Mela, De situ orbis (Description of the World): "Syria holds a broad
expanse of the littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is
designated by different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele,
Mesopotamia, Judaea, Commagene, and Sophene. It is Palestine at the point where Syria
abuts the Arabs, then Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] In
Palestine, however, is Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city."[72][73][48]

c. 78: Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Volume 1, Book V: Chapter 13: "Next to these
countries Syria occupies the coast, once the greatest of lands, and distinguished by many
names; for the part which joins up to Arabia was formerly called Palaestina, Judaea,
Coele,[c] and Phoenice. The country in the interior was called Damascena, and that further on
and more to the south, Babylonia."; Chapter 14: "After this, at the point where the Serbonian
Bog becomes visible, Idumea and Palaestina begin. This lake, which some writers have made
to be 150 miles in circumference, Herodotus has placed at the foot of Mount Casius; it is now
an inconsiderable fen. The towns are Rhinocorura and, in the interior, Rafah, Gaza, and, still
more inland, Anthedon: there is also Mount Argaris";[74] Book XII, Chapter 40: "For these
branches of commerce, they have opened the city of Carræ, which serves as an entrepot, and
from which place they were formerly in the habit of proceeding to Gabba, at a distance of
twenty days' journey, and thence to Palæstina, in Syria."[75][48]

c. 80: Marcus Valerius Probus, Commentary on Georgics: "Edomite palms from Idumea, that
is Judea, which is in the region of Syria Palestine."[76]

c. 85: Silius Italicus, Punica: "While yet a youth, he [Titus] shall put an end to war with the
fierce people of Palestine."[77][78]

c. 90: Dio Chrysostom, quoted by Synesius, refers to the Dead Sea as being in the interior of
Palestine, in the very vicinity of "Sodoma."[79]

23
c. 97: Josephus, Against Apion: "Nor, indeed, was Herodotus of Halicarnassus unacquainted
with our nation, but mentions it after a way of his own... This, therefore, is what Herodotus
says, that "the Syrians that are in Palestine are circumcised." But there are no inhabitants of
Palestine that are circumcised excepting the Jews; and, therefore, it must be his knowledge of
them that enabled him to speak so much concerning them."[80][48]

c. 94: Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews: "...these Antiquities contain what hath been
delivered down to us from the original creation of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of
Nero, as to what hath befallen us Jews, as well is Egypt as in Syria, and in Palestine."[81][48]

c. 100: Statius, Silvae, refers to "liquores Palestini"[82][64] and "Isis, ...gently with thine own
hand lead the peerless youth, on whom the Latian prince hath bestowed the standards of the
East and the bridling of the cohorts of Palestine, (i.e., a command on the Syrian front)
through festal gate and sacred haven and the cities of thy land."[83][84]

c. 100: Plutarch, Parallel Lives: "Armenia, where Tigranes reigns, king of kings, and holds in
his hands a power that has enabled him to keep the Parthians in narrow bounds, to remove
Greek cities bodily into Media, to conquer Syria and Palestine, to put to death the kings of
the royal line of Seleucus, and carry away their wives and daughters by violence."[85] and
"The triumph [of Pompey] was so great, that though it was divided into two days, the time
was far from being sufficient for displaying what was prepared to be carried in procession;
there remained still enough to adorn another triumph. At the head of the show appeared the
titles of the conquered nations; Pontus Armenia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Media, Colchis,
the Iberians, the Albanians, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Palestine, Judea, Arabia,
the pirates subdued both by sea and land."[86]

c. 100: Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Cleitophon and other love stories in eight books: "Your
father did not return from his absence in Palestine until two days later; and he then found a
letter had arrived from Leucippe's father—it had come the very day after our flight—
betrothing his daughter to you."[87]

c. 129 or 135: Syria Palæstina[a] was a Roman province between 135 and about 390.[88] It was
established by the merge of Roman Syria and Roman Judaea, shortly before or after the Bar
Kokhba Revolt. There is only circumstantial evidence linking Hadrian with the name change
and the precise date is not certain.[18] The common view that the name change was intended
"sever the connection of the Jews to their historical homeland" is disputed.[19] Zachary Foster
in his Princeton doctoral dissertation wrote that "Most scholars believe the Roman Emperor
Hadrian changed the provincial administrative name of Judaea to Palestine to erase the
Jewish presence in the land," opining that "it’s equally likely the name change had little to do
with Jew hatred and more to do with Hadrian’s romance with ancient Greece." He adds, there
is a “paucity of direct evidence around who made the change, when and under what
circumstances”, and that it may be that Hadrian did not “rename” the country but simply
“called the place what it was called”.[89] Louis Feldman argues prior to change of province
name the term was used to refer to the coastal region associated with the Philistines and that
first century authors differentiated Judea from Palestine.[90]

24
139: A Roman military diploma from Afiq names military units "in Syria
Palaestin[a]."[91][92][93][94]

c. 130: Pausanias (geographer),[95] Description of Greece: (1) "Hard by is a sanctuary of the

Heavenly Aphrodite; the first men to establish her cult were the Assyrians, after the
Assyrians the Paphians of Cyprus and the Phoenicians who live at Ascalon in Palestine; the
Phoenicians taught her worship to the people of Cythera.";[96] (2) "In front of the sanctuary
grow palm-trees, the fruit of which, though not wholly edible like the dates of Palestine, yet
are riper than those of Ionia.";[97] and (3) "[a Hebrew Sibyl] brought up in Palestine named
Sabbe, whose father was Berosus and her mother Erymanthe. Some say she was a
Babylonian, while others call her an Egyptian Sibyl."[98]

c. 150: Aelius Aristides, To Plato: In Defense of the Four: (671) These men alone should be
classed neither among flatterers nor free men. For they deceive like flatterers, but they are
insolent as if they were of higher rank, since they are involved in the two most extreme and
opposite evils, baseness and willfulness, behaving like those impious men of Palestine. For
the proof of the impiety of those people is that they do not believe in the higher powers. And
these men in a certain fashion have defected from the Greek race, or rather from all that is
higher.[99]

c. 150: Appian, Roman History: "Intending to write the history of the Romans, I have
deemed it necessary to begin with the boundaries of the nations under their sway.... Here
turning our course and passing round, we take in Palestine-Syria, and beyond it a part of
Arabia. The Phoenicians hold the country next to Palestine on the sea, and beyond the
Phoenician territory are Coele-Syria, and the parts stretching from the sea as far inland as the
river Euphrates, namely Palmyra and the sandy country round about, extending even to the
Euphrates itself."[100]

c. 150: Lucian of Samosata, Passing of Peregrinus: 11. "It was then that he learned the
wondrous lore of the Christians, by associating with their priests and scribes in Palestine.
And—how else could it be?—in a trice he made them all look like children, for he was
prophet, cult-leader, head of the synagogue, and everything, all by himself. He interpreted
and explained some of their books and even composed many, and they revered him as a god,
made use of him as a lawgiver, and set him down as a protector, next after that other, to be
sure, whom they still worship, the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced
this new cult into the world.[101][102]

c. 150: Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri:[b] "Tyre then was captured, in the archonship at
Athens of Anicetus in the month I lecatombacun...Alexander now determined to make his
expedition to Egypt. The rest of Syrian Palestine (as it is called) had already come over to
him, but a certain eunuch, Batis, who was master of Gaza, did not join Alexander."[103]

c. 150: Ptolemy, Geography (Ptolemy), including map.[104]

155: First Apology of Justin Martyr, refers to "Flavia Neapolis in Palestine" in the
introductory paragraph.

25
159: Coins from the Neapolis mint from the time of Antoninus Pius: Flavia Neapolis (?), in
Syria, in Palestine, year 88 (in Greek).[105]

c. 200: Ulpian, On Taxes: Book I. It should be remembered that there are certain coloniae
subject to the Italian Law. ...The colony of Ptolemais, which is situated between Phoenicia
and Palestine, has nothing but the name of a colony. ...In Palestine there are two colonies,
those of Caesarea and Aelia Capitolina; but neither of these enjoy Italian privileges.[106]

c. 200: Tertullian, The Works of Tertullian: Palestine had not yet received from Egypt its
Jewish swarm (of emigrants), nor had the race from which Christians sprung yet settled down
there, when its neighbors Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed by fire from heaven.[107]

c. 200: Sextus Julius Africanus, Epistle to Aristides: Some Idumean robbers attacking
Ascalon, a city of Palestine, besides other spoils which they took from a temple of Apollo,
which was built near the walls, carried off captive one Antipater, son of a certain Herod, a
servant of the temple. And as the priest was not able to pay the ransom for his son, Antipater
was brought up in the customs of the Idumeans, and afterwards enjoyed the friendship of
Hyrcanus, the high priest of Judea. And being sent on an embassy to Pompey on behalf of
Hyrcanus, and having restored to him the kingdom which was being wasted by Aristobulus
his brother, he was so fortunate as to obtain the title of procurator of Palestine.[108]

c. 225: Cassius Dio, Historia Romana: The Eastern Wars c. 70 BC —"This was the course of
events at that time in Palestine; for this is the name that has been given from of old to the
whole country extending from Phoenicia to Egypt along the inner sea. They have also
another name that they have acquired: the country has been named Judaea, and the people
themselves Jews."[109] [...] The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD —"Such was the
course of these events; and following them Vespasian was declared emperor by the senate
also, and Titus and Domitian were given the title of Caesars. The consular office was
assumed by Vespasian and Titus while the former was in Egypt and the latter in
Palestine."[110]

c. 300: Flavius Vopiscus, Augustan History:[111][112] On the lives of Firmus, Saturninus,

Proculus and Bonosus: "So then, holding such an opinion about the Egyptians Aurelian
forbade Saturninus to visit Egypt, showing a wisdom that was truly divine. For as soon as the
Egyptians saw that one of high rank had arrived among them, they straightway shouted
aloud, "Saturninus Augustus, may the gods keep you!" But he, like a prudent man, as one
cannot deny, fled at once from the city of Alexandria and returned to Palestine."[113] On the
Life of Septimius Severus: "And not long afterwards he [Severus] met with Niger near
Cyzicus, slew him, and paraded his head on a pike. ...The citizens of Neapolis in Palestine,
because they had long been in arms on Niger's side, he deprived of all their civic rights, and
to many individuals, other than members of the senatorial order, who had followed Niger he
meted out cruel punishments."[114] On the life of Aurelian: "Aurelian, now ruler over the
entire world, having subdued both the East and the Gauls, and victor in all lands, turned his
march toward Rome, that he might present to the gaze of the Romans a triumph. ...There
were three royal chariots, ...twenty elephants, and two hundred tamed beasts of diverse kinds
from Libya and Palestine."[115]

26
c. 300: Antonine Itinerary.[116][117]

311: Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, History of the Martyrs in Palestine. As the "Father of
Church History," Eusebius' use of the name Palestine influenced later generations of
Christian writers.[118][119]

Late Antiquity period

Palestine in c. 350 AD according to Eusbius and Jerome (map as reconstructed by George

Adam Smith, 1915)

Tabula Peutingeriana of c. 400 AD showing a section of Palestine (Copy by Conradi Milleri

1888)

27
Notitia Dignitatum of c. 410 AD showing Dux Palestinae [120]

Madaba map extract showing "οροι Αιγυπτου και Παλαιστινης" (the "border of Egypt and
Palestine)

Undated Classical inscription from Constantinople, published by George Dousa in 1599,

mentioning "Syriae Palaisteinae" [121]

28
c. 362: Julian, Against the Galilaeans: "Why were you so ungrateful to our gods as to desert
them for the Jews?" Was it because the gods granted the sovereign power to Rome,
permitting the Jews to be free for a short time only, and then forever to be enslaved and
aliens? Look at Abraham: was he not an alien in a strange land? And Jacob: was he not a
slave, first in Syria, then after that in Palestine, and in his old age in Egypt? Does not Moses
say that he led them forth from the house of bondage out of Egypt "with a stretched out
arm"?[122] And after their sojourn in Palestine did they not change their fortunes more
frequently than observers say the chameleon changes its colour, now subject to the
judges,[123] now enslaved to foreign races?[124]

c. 365: Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus: Vespasian ruled ten years. [...] Volgeses,
King of Parthia, was compelled to peace. The Syria for which Palestina is the name, and
Cilicia, and Trachia and Commagene, which today we call Augustophratensis, were added to
the provinces. Judaea, too, was added.[125]

c. 370: Eutropius, Breviarium historiae Romanae: "Vespasian, who had been chosen emperor
in Palestine, a prince indeed of obscure birth, but worthy to be compared with the best
emperors."[126] and "Under him Judæa was added to the Roman Empire; and Jerusalem,
which was a very famous city of Palestine."[127]

c. 380: Ammianus Marcellinus, "Book XIV," The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus:
Book XIV, 8, 11. "The last province of the Syrias is Palestine, a district of great extent,
abounding in well-cultivated and beautiful land, and having several magnificent cities, all of
equal importance, and rivalling one another as it were, in parallel lines. For
instance, Caesarea, which Herod built in honour of the Prince Octavianus,
and Eleutheropolis, and Neapolis, and also Ascalon, and Gaza, cities built in bygone
ages."[128][121][129]

c. 384: Saint Jerome, Epistle 33: "He (Origen) stands condemned by his bishop, Demetrius,
only the bishops of Palestine, Arabia, Phenicia, and Achaia dissenting."[82][130][64]

c. 385: Egeria, Itinerary: "The greatest part of Palestine, the land of promise, was in sight,
together with the whole land of Jordan, as far as it could be seen with our eyes."[131]

390: Auxentius of Durostorum (else Maximinus the Arian), Commenttarium on

Iob:[132][133][134] "In regione Arabiae et Palaestinorum asini, qui veloces sunt similiter ut
equi."[135]

c. 390: John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty: "“What about Abraham?” someone says.
Who has suffered as many misfortunes as he? Was he not exiled from his country? Was he
not separated from all his household? Did he not endure hunger in a foreign land? Did he not,
like a wanderer, move continually, from Babylon to Mesopotamia, from there to Palestine,
and from there to Egypt?"[136] and Adversus Judaeos: "VI...[7] Do you not see that their
Passover is the type, while our Pasch is the truth? Look at the tremendous difference between
them. The Passover prevented bodily death: whereas the Pasch quelled God's anger against
the whole world; the Passover of old freed the Jews from Egypt, while the Pasch has set us

29
free from idolatry; the Passover drowned the Pharaoh, but the Pasch drowned the devil; after
the Passover came Palestine, but after the Pasch will come heaven."[137][138]

c. 390: Palaestina was organised into three administrative units: Palaestina Prima, Secunda,
and Tertia (First, Second, and Third Palestine), part of the Diocese of the
East.[139][140] Palaestina Prima consisted of Judea, Samaria, the Paralia, and Peraea with the
governor residing in Caesarea. Palaestina Secunda consisted of the Galilee, the lower Jezreel
Valley, the regions east of Galilee, and the western part of the former Decapolis with the seat
of government at Scythopolis. Palaestina Tertia included the Negev, southern Jordan—once
part of Arabia—and most of Sinai with Petra as the usual residence of the governor. Palestina
Tertia was also known as Palaestina Salutaris.[141] Recorded in the:

Synecdemus of Hierocles (c. 530) [142]

Descriptio Orbis Romani of George of Cyprus (c. 600)[143]

392: Epiphanius of Salamis, On Weights and Measures: "So [Hadrian] passed through the
city of Antioch and passed through [Coele-Syria] and Phoenicia and came to Palestine —
which is also called Judea — forty-seven years after the destruction of Jerusalem."[144]

c. 400: Genesis Rabba (90.6), Jewish midrash, proposes that the word "land" in Genesis
41:54 refers to three lands in the region – Phoenicia, Arabia and Palestine.(‫בכל רעב ויהי‬
‫הארצות‬: ‫[)ובפלסטיני ובערביא בפנקיא ארצות בשלש‬64]

c. 400: Lamentations Rabbah (1.5), Jewish midrash, proposes that the dukes of Arabia,
Africa, Alexandria, and Palestine, had joined forces with Roman Emperor Vespasian. (‫שלש‬
‫דוכסין ארבעה עמו והיו ירושלם את אספסיאנוס הקיף ומחצה שנים‬, ‫דערביא דוכס‬, ‫דאפריקא דוכס‬, ‫דוכוס‬
‫דאלכסנדריא‬, ‫[)דפלסטיני דוכוס‬64]

c. 400: Leviticus Rabbah (parasha 5, verse 3) proposes Gath of the Philistines is the same as
the "(hills or forts) of Palestine" (‫)דפלסטיני תלוליא‬.

c. 400: Cursus publicus, Tabula Peutingeriana: map: Roman road network, map index.

c. 411: Jerome, Hieronymus on Ezekiel:[145] "iuda et terra Israel ipsi institores tui in frumento
primo; balsamum et mel et oleum et resinam proposuerunt in nundinis tuis. (lxx: iudas et filii
Israel isti negotiatores tui in frumenti commercio et unguentis; primum mel et oleum et
resinam dederunt in nundinis tuis). uerbum hebraicum 'phanag' aquila, symmachus et
theodotio ita ut apud hebraeos positum est transtulerunt, pro quo septuaginta 'unguenta,' nos
'balsamum' uertimus. dicitur autem quibus terra iudaea, quae nunc appellatur palaestina,
abundet copiis frumento, balsamo, melle et oleo et resina, quae an iuda et Israel ad tyri
nundinas deferuntur."[146]

c. 414: Jerome, Letter 129: Ad Dardanum de Terra promissionis: "You may delineate
the Promised Land of Moses from the Book of Numbers (ch. 34): as bounded on the south by
the desert tract called Sina, between the Dead Sea and the city of Kadesh-barnea, [which is

30
located with the Arabah to the east] and continues to the west, as far as the river of Egypt,
that discharges into the open sea near the city of Rhinocolara; as bounded on the west by the
sea along the coasts of Palestine, Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, and Cilicia; as bounded on the
north by the circle formed by the Taurus Mountains and Zephyrium and extending to
Hamath, called Epiphany-Syria; as bounded on the east by the city of Antioch Hippos and
Lake Kinneret, now called Tiberias, and then the Jordan River which discharges into the salt
sea, now called the Dead Sea."[147][148]

c. 430: Theodoret, Interpretatio in Psalmos (Theodoretus in notāre ad

Psalmos):[149] "PSALMS. CXXXIII. A Song of the Ascents, by David. Lo, how good and
how pleasant The dwelling of brethren —even together! As the good oil on the head, Coming
down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes, As dew
of Hermon —That cometh down on hills of Zion, For there Jehovah commanded the blessing
—Life unto the age!"[150] [Per Psalm 133 (132), Theodoretus Cyrrhi Episcopus wrote the
following commentary;] Like dew of Hermon falling on Mount Sion (v. 3). Again he changed
to another image, teaching the advantage of harmony; he said it is like the dew carried down
from Hermon to Sion. There is so much of it that the jars release drops. Hermon is a
mountain —in Palestine, in fact— and some distance from the land of Israel.[151]

c. 450: Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History: "The see of Caesarea, the capital of Palestine, was
now held by Acacius, who had succeeded Eusebius."[152]

c. 450: Proclus of Constantinople: "Iosuae Palaestinae exploratori cohibendi solis lunaeque

cursum potestatem adtribuit."[153]

c. 500: Tabula Peutingeriana (map)

c. 500: Zosimus, New History: "Finding the Palmyrene army drawn up before Emisa,
amounting to seventy thousand men, consisting of Palmyrenes and their allies,
[Emperor Aurelian] opposed to them the Dalmatian cavalry, the Moesians and Pannonians,
and the Celtic legions of Noricum and Rhaetia, and besides these the choicest of the imperial
regiment selected man by man, the Mauritanian horse, the Tyaneans, the Mesopotamians, the
Syrians, the Phoenicians, and the Palestinians, all men of acknowledged valour; the
Palestinians besides other arms wielding clubs and staves."[154]

c. 550: Madaba map, "οροι Αιγυπτου και Παλαιστινης" (the "border of Egypt and Palestine)

c. 550: Christian Topography.

555: Cyril of Scythopolis, The Life of St. Saba.[155]

c. 555: Procopius, Of the Buildings of Justinian:[156] "In Palestine there is a city named
Neapolis, above which rises a high mountain, called Garizin. This mountain the Samaritans
originally held; and they had been wont to go up to the summit of the mountain to pray on all
occasions, not because they had ever built any temple there, but because they worshipped the
summit itself with the greatest reverence."[157]

31
c. 560: Procopius, The Wars of Justinian: "The boundaries of Palestine extend toward the
east to the sea which is called the Red Sea."[158] Procopius also wrote that "Chosroes, king of
Persia, had a great desire to make himself master of Palestine, on account of its extraordinary
fertility, its opulence, and the great number of its inhabitants."[159][160]

Middle Ages

Reconstruction of the c. 700 Ravenna Cosmography showing "Palaestina"

629: Heraclius, In 629 Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem in a majestic
ceremony:[161][162] I.e. the so-called Fast of Heraclius, which immediately preceding Lent,
forms the first week of the Great Fast. The origin of this fast is said to be as follows: that the
emperor Heraclius, on his way to Jerusalem, promised his protection to the Jews of Palestine,
but that on his arrival in the holy city, the schismatical patriarch and the Christians generally
prayed him to put all the Jews to the sword, because they had joined the Persians shortly
before in their sack of the city and cruelties towards the Christians. (Abu Salih the
Armenian, Abu al-Makarim, ed. Evetts 1895, p. 39, Part 7 of Anecdota Oxoniensia: Semitic
series Anecdota oxoniensia. Semitic series—pt. VII], at Google Books)

c. 670: Adomnán, De Locis Sanctis, or the Travels of Arculf: "Que utique Hebron, ut fertur,
ante omnes, non solum Palestíne, civitates condita fuerat, sed etiam universas Egyptiacas
urbes in sua precessit conditione, que nunc misere monstratur destructa."[163] translated: "This
Hebron, it is said, was founded before all the cities, not only of Palestine, but also preceded
in its foundation all the cities of Egypt, although it has now been so miserably
destroyed."[164][165]

c. 700: Ravenna Cosmography

c. 770: Thawr ibn Yazid, hadith, as quoted in Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-
Wasiti's Fada'il Bayt al-Muqaddas (c. 1019): "The most holy spot [al-quds] on earth is Syria;

32
the most holy spot in Syria is Palestine; the most holy spot in Palestine is Jerusalem [Bayt al-
maqdis]; the most holy spot in Jerusalem is the Mountain; the most holy spot in Jerusalem is
the place of worship [al-masjid], and the most holy spot in the place of worship is the
Dome."[166][167]

c. 770: Hygeburg, The Life of Willibald: "Then, having visited the church of St. George at
Diospolis [he passed] through Joppe, a coast town of Palestine, where Peter raised to life the
widow Dorcas, and went along the shore of the Adriatic Sea, and adored the footsteps of our
Lord at Tyre and Sidon. And then, crossing Mount Libanus, and passing through the coast
town of Tripoli, he visited Damascus again, and came to Emmaus, a village of Palestine,
which the Romans after the destruction of Jerusalem called, after the event of the victory,
Nicopolis."[168][169]

810–815: Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicles:[170][171] Since Muhammad was a helpless

orphan, he thought it good to go to a rich woman named Khadija ...to manage her camels and
conduct her business in Egypt and Palestine... When he [Muhammad] went to Palestine he
lived with both Jews and Christians, and hunted for certain writings among them.
(Theophanes 1982, p. 35, The Chronicle of Theophanes)

c. 870: Ibn Khordadbeh, Book of Roads and Kingdoms: "Filastin Province 500,000 dinars of
taxes" (c. 864)[172][173]

c. 870: al-Baladhuri, Conquests of the Lands Wrote that the main towns of the district,
following its conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate,
were Gaza, Sebastia (Sebastiya), Nablus, Caesarea, Ludd, Yibna, Imwas, Jaffa, Rafah,
and Bayt Jibrin.[172]

c. 880: Qudamah ibn Ja'far, Kitab Al Kharaj (The Book of the Land Tax): Filastin Province,
195,000 dinars (c. 820)

891: Ya'qubi, Book of Lands: "Of the Jund Filastin, the ancient capital was Lydda. The
Caliph Sulayman subsequently founded the city of Ramla, which he made the capital.... The
population of Palestine consists of Arabs of the tribes of Lakhm, Judham, Amilah, Kindah,
Kais and Kinanah"[172][173]

c. 900: Limits of the Five Patriarchates: "The first See and the first patriarchate is
of Jerusalem, James, the brother of God and apostle and eyewitness, and minister of the word
and secrets of secrets and hidden mysteries, contains the whole Palestine a country
until Arabia." (Πρῶτος θρόνος καὶ πρώτη πατριαρχία Ἱεροσολύμων, Ἱακώβου τοῦ
ἀδελφοθέου καὶ ἀποστόλου, αὐτόπτου καί ὑπηρέτου τοῦ λόγου γενομένου καὶ μύστου τῶν
ἀπορρήτων καὶ ἀθεάτων αὐτοῦ μυστηρίων θεαμάτων, περιέχων πᾶσαν τὴν Παλαιστίνων
χώραν ἄχρι Ἀραβίας)

903: Ibn al-Faqih, Concise Book of Lands[172][174]

c. 913: Ibn Abd Rabbih[172][174]

33
c. 930: Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria, Eutychii Annales:[175][176][177] CHAPTER II:
ADVERSITIES OF THE CHURCH.: 1 Persecutions of the Christians.: ...The Christians
suffered less in this than in the preceding centuries. ...In the East especially in Syria and
Palestine the Jews sometimes rose upon the Christians with great violence (Eutyrhius,
Annales tom ii., p. 236, &c. Jo. Henr. Hottinger, Historia Orientalis, lib. i., c. id., p. 129, &c.)
yet so unsuccessfully as to suffer severely for their temerity. (Mosheim 1847, p. 426, at
Google Books)

before 942: Saadia Gaon (892-942), the great Jewish rabbi and exegete, makes the classic
Jewish Arabic translation of the Torah, translating the Hebrew ‫ פלשת‬Pleshet Philistia as
‫(פלסטין‬using Judeo-Arabic) Filasṭīn, e.g. Exodus 15:14 ‫ סכאן פלסטין‬the inhabitants of
Palestine[178]

943: Al-Masudi, The Meadows of Gold[172][179]

c. 950: Alchabitius, Introduction to the Art of Judgments of the Stars[180]

World map c. 1050 by Beatus of Liébana

951–978: Estakhri, Traditions of Countries and Ibn Hawqal, The Face of the Earth: "The
provinces of Syria are Jund Filstin, and Jund al Urdunn, Jund Dimaskh, Jund Hims, and Jund
Kinnasrin.... Filastin is the westernmost of the provinces of Syria... its greatest length
from Rafah to the boundary of Lajjun... its breadth from Jaffa to Jericho.... Filastin is the
most fertile of the Syrian provinces.... Its trees and its ploughed lands do not need artificial
irrigation... In the province of Filastin, despite its small extent, there are about 20 mosques....
Its capital and largest town in Ramla, but the Holy City (of Jerusalem) comes very near this
last in size"[172][174]

985: Al-Muqaddasi, Description of Syria, Including Palestine: "And further, know that
within the province of Palestine may be found gathered together 36 products that are not
found thus united in any other land.... From Palestine comes olives, dried figs, raisins, the
carob-fruit, stuffs of mixed silk and cotton, soap and kercheifs"[181]

c. 1000: Suda encyclopedic lexicon: "Παλαιστίνη: ὄνομα χώρας. καὶ Παλαιστι̂νος, ὁ ἀπὸ
Παλαιστίνης." / "Palestine: Name of a territory. Also [sc. attested is] Palestinian, a man from
Palestine.[182]

1029: Rabbi Solomon ben Judah of Jerusalem, a letter in the Cairo Geniza, refers to the
province of Filastin[183]

34
1047: Nasir Khusraw, Safarnama[172] / Diary of a Journey through Syria and Palestine: "This
city of Ramlah, throughout Syria and the West, is known under the name of Filastin."[184][185]

c. 1050: Beatus of Liébana, Beatus map, Illustrates the primitive Diaspora of the Apostles
and is one of the most significant cartographic works of the European High Middle Ages.

1051: Ibn Butlan[172]

Tabula Rogeriana, showing "Filistin" in Arabic in the middle of the right hand page

1101: Nathan ben Jehiel, Arukh: The Lexico Aruch is a talmudical lexicon authored by Rabbi
Nathan ben Jehiel, of Rome. The occurrence of ‫ פלסטיני‬Παλαιστίνη [Palestine] in the Genesis
Rabbah is noted.[186]

1100–27: Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana (1095–1127): "For we who were

Occidentals have now become Orientals. He who was a Roman or a Frank has in this land
been made into a Galilean or a Palestinian."[187]

c. 1130, Fetellus, "The city of Jerusalem is situated in the hill-country of Judea, in the
province of Palestine" [188]

1154: Muhammad al-Idrisi, Tabula Rogeriana or The Book of Pleasant Journeys into
Faraway Lands[172][189]

1173: Ali of Herat, Book of Indications to Make Known the Places of Visitations[172]

1177: John Phocas, A Brief Description of the Castles and Cities, from the City of Antioch
even unto Jerusalem; also of Syria and Phoenicia, and of the Holy Places in Palestine[190][191]

c. 1180: William of Tyre, Historia Hierosolymitana[192]

1185: Ibn Jubayr, The Travels of Ibn Jubayr[172]

35
Palestina on the Fra Mauro map, 1459/Map of Palestine published in 1467 version of
Claudius Ptolemy's Cosmographia by Nicolaus Germanus.

Map of Palestine published in 1482 version of Claudius

Ptolemy's Cosmographia by Nicolaus Germanus./Map of Palestine published in Florence
1482 and included in the Francesco Berlinghieri expanded edition of Ptolemy's Geographia
(Geography)

1220: Jacques de Vitry, History of Jerusalem: "And there are three Palestines, which are
parts of Greater Syria. The first is that whose capital is Jerusalem, and this part is specially
named Judaea. The second is that whose capital is Caesarea Philippi, which includes all the
country of the Philistines. The third is that whose capital is Scythopolis, which at this day is
called Bethshan. Moreover, both the Arabias are parts of Syria: the first is that whose capital
is Bostrum; the second is that whose capital is Petra in the Wilderness."[193]

1225: Yaqut al-Hamawi, Dictionary of Geographies "Filastin is the last of the provinces of
Syria towards Egypt. Its capital is Jerusalem. Of the principal towns
are Ashkelon, Ramle, Gaza, Arsuf, Caesarea, Nablus, Jericho, Amman, Jaffa and Beit
Jibrin"[172]

c.1250 Bar Hebraeus: "[The Syriac language] is divided into three dialects, one of the most
elegant is Aramaea, the language of Edessa, Harran, and outer Syria; next adjoining to it is
Palestinian, which is used in Damascus, the mountain of Lebanon, and inner Syria; and the
vulgar Chaldean Nabataean, which is a dialect of Assyrian mountains and the districts of
Iraq."[194]

c. 1266 Abu al-Makarim, "The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt," Part 7 of Anecdota
Oxoniensia: Semitic series Anecdota oxoniensia:[195] At the beginning of the caliphate [of

36
Umar] George was appointed patriarch of Alexandria. He remained four years in possession
of the see. Then when he heard that the Muslims had conquered the Romans, and had
vanquished Palestine, and were advancing upon Egypt, he took ship and fled from
Alexandria to Constantinople; and after his time the see of Alexandria remained without a
Melkite patriarch for ninety seven years. (Abu al-Makarim c. 1895, p. 73, at Google Books)

1320: Marino Sanuto the Elder, Liber Secretorum Fidelium Crucis: "Also, the three [parts] of
Palestine are called the Syrias, of which Syria Quinta is that Palestine which is properly
called Philistym. Its chief city is Caesarea, beginning from Castrum Peregrinorum and
extending south along the shore of the Mediterranean as far as Gaza in the south. Syria Sexta
is the second Palestine whose chief city is Jerusalem including the hill country as far as the
Dead Sea and the desert of Cadesbarne. Strictly this country is called Judaea, the name of a
part being given to the whole. Syria Septima is the third Palestine whose chief city
is Bethsan located under Mount Gelboe near the Jordan and which [contains] Galilee and the
great plain of Esdrelon"[196]

1321: Abu'l-Fida, A Sketch of the Countries: "The Nahr Abi Futrus is the river that runs
near Ramla in Filastin"[172]

1322: Ishtori Haparchi, Sefer Kaftor Vaferach, mentions twice that Ramla is also known as
Filastin

1327: Al-Dimashqi[172][197]

1338 Robert Mannyng The Chronicle

c. 1350: Guidebook to Palestine (a manuscript primarily based on the 1285–1291 account of

Christian pilgrim Philippus Brusserius Savonensis): "It [Jerusalem] is built on a high
mountain, with hills on every side, in that part of Syria which is called Judaea and Palestine,
flowing with milk and honey, abounding in corn, wine, and oil, and all temporal goods"[198]

1351: Jamal ad Din Ahmad, Muthir al Ghiram (The Exciter of Desire) for Visitation of the
Holy City and Syria: "Syria is divided into five districts, namely: i. Filastin, whose capital
is Aelia (Jerusalem), eighteen miles from Ramla, which is the Holy City, the metropolis of
David and Solomon. Of its towns are Ashkelon, Hebron, Sebastia, and Nablus."[172]

1355: Ibn Battuta, Rihla[172] Ibn Battuta wrote that Ramla was also known as Filastin[199]

1355: Jacopo da Verona: Liber Peregrinationis: "Primo igitur sciendum est. quod in tota
Asyria et Palestina et Egipto et Terra Sancta sunt multi cristiani sub potentia soldani
subjugati solventes annuale tributum soldano multa et multa milia."[200][201]

1377: Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah: "Filastin Province taxes – 310,000 dinars plus 300,000
ratls of olive oil"[172]

37
c. 1421: John Poloner "The land which we call the Holy Land came to be divided by lot
among the twelve tribes of Israel, and with regard to one part was called the kingdom of
Judaea ... with regard to the other part it was called the kingdom of Samaria... Both these
kingdoms, together with the land of Philistim, were called Palestine, which was but a part
thereof, even as Saxony and Lorraine are parts of Germany, and Lombardy and Tuscany are
parts of Italy. And note that there are three Palestines. In the first, the capital city is
Jerusalem, with all its hill country even to the Dead Sea and the wilderness of Kadesh
Barnea. The second, whose capital city is Caesarea by the sea, with all the land of Philistim'
beginning at Petra Incisa, and reaching as far as Gaza, was the Holy Land toward the south.
The third is the capital city of Bethsan, at the foot of Mount Gilboa. This was once called
Scythopolis, and is the place where the corpses of Saul's soldiers were hung up. This
Palestine is properly called Galilee"[202]

1430: Abu-l Fida Ishak, Muthir al Ghiram (The Exciter of Desire)[172]

1459: Fra Mauro map

1470: Al-Suyuti[172]: "Syria is divided into five provinces, or sections:— First, Palestine, so
called because first inhabited by Philistin son of Kusin, son of Muti, son of Yūmán, son of
Yasith, son of Noah. Its first frontier town is on the Egyptian road Rafah, or Al Arish: next to
this is Gaza, then Ramula, or Ramlat Phalistin. Of great cities in Palestine are, Elía, which is
the Baitu-l-Mukaddas, eighteen miles from Ramlah (this holy city was the residence of David
and Solomon), and Ascalon, and the city of Abraham, and Sebaste, and Neapolis. The whole
extent of Palestine is, in length, two days’ journey to one who rides at the rate of a slow-
moving beast; and in width, from Japha to Jericho, about as much."[203]

1480: Felix Fabri "Joppa is the oldest port, and the most ancient city of the province of
Palestine"[204]

1482: Francesco di Niccolò Berlinghieri, Geographia, a treatise based upon Ptolemy's

Geographica: map: Present-Day Palestine and the Holy Land

1492: Martin Behaim's "Erdapfel" globe

1496: Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi, The Glorious History of Jerusalem and

Hebron:[172] According to Haim Gerber: "Among other things Mujir al-Din’s book is notable
for its extensive use of the term "Palestine." The simple fact is that Mujir al-Din calls the
country he lives in Palestine (Filastin), a term he repeats 22 times. One other name he uses
for the country is the Holy Land, used as frequently as Palestine. No other names, such as
Southern Syria, are ever mentioned... What area did he have in mind when speaking about
Palestine? It stretched from Anaj, a point near al-Arish, to Lajjun, south of the Esdraelon
valley. It was thus clearly equivalent to the Jund Filastin of classical Islam."[205]

Early modern period

38
1570 map in Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, captioned "Palaestinae Sive Totius Terrae
Promissionis Nova Descriptio" ("Palestine, the whole of the Promised Land, a new
description"). Ortelius's depiction of a biblical Palestine in his otherwise contemporary atlas
has been criticized; Matari described it as an act "loaded with theological, eschatological,
and, ultimately, para-colonial Restorationism." [206]/Ottoman geographer Kâtip Çelebi's
1648–1657 map showing the term ‫"(ارض فالستان‬Land of Palestine")

1536: Jacob Ziegler, Terrae sanctae, quam palestinam nominant, Syriae, Arabiae, Aegypti &
Schondiae doctissima descriptio[207]

1540 Guillaume Postel: Syriae Descriptio[208]

1553: Pierre Belon, Observations, "De Plusieurs Arbes, Oiseaux, et autres choses singulieres,
produictes en la terre de Palestine"[209]

1560: Geneva Bible, the first mass-produced English-language Bible, translates the Hebrew
‫ פלשת‬Pleshet as "Palestina" (e.g. Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31) and "Palestina"[210]

c. 1560: Ebussuud Efendi: Ebu Suud is asked in a fatwa, "What is the meaning of the term
the Holy Land, arazi-i mukaddese?" His answer is that various definitions of the term exist,
among them the whole of Syria, to Aleppo and Ariha in the north. Others equate it with the
area of Jerusalem (al-Quds); still others equate it with the term "Palestine."[211]

c. 1561: Anthony Jenkinson, published by Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations,

Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation: "I William Harborne, her Majesties
Ambassadour, Ligier with the Grand Signior, for the affaires of the Levant Company in her
Majesties name confirme and appoint Richard Forster Gentleman, my Deputie and Consull in
the parts of Alepo, Damasco, Aman, Tripolis, Jerusalem, and all other ports whatsoever in
the provinces of Syria, Palestina, and Jurie, to execute the office of Consull over all our
Nation her Majesties subjects"[212]

1563: Josse van Lom, physician of Philip II of Spain: A treatise of continual fevers:
"Therefore the Scots, English, Livonians, Danes, Poles, Dutch and Germans, ought to take
less blood away in winter than in summer; on the contrary,

39
the Portuguese, Moors, Egyptians, Palestinians, Arabians, and Persians, more in the winter
than in summer"[213]

1563: John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs: "Romanus, a native of Palestine, was deacon of
the church of Casearea at the time of the commencement of Diocletian's persecution."[214]

c. 1565: Tilemann Stella, map: The Holy Land, the land of promise, which is a part of Syria,
the parts that are called Palestina[215] at The Library of Congress

1565: Ignazio Danti, map: Anatolian peninsula and Middle East in the Palazzo
Vecchio (Florence town hall)

1570: Abraham Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (Theatre of the

World),[216] map: Palestinæ

1570: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, folio 51[217]

1577: Holinshed's Chronicles: "The principal and chief cause I suppose and think to be,
because that whereas the patriarch of Jerusalem named Heraclius came in an ambassage unto
him, in the name and behalf of all the whole land of Palestine called the Holy Land,
requesting that he would take upon him to be their help, and defending the same against
the Saladin then king of Egypt and of Damascus"[218]

1583: Leonhard Rauwolf, Leonis Flaminii Itinerarium per Palaestinam Das ist, Eine mit
vielen schönen Curiositaeten angefüllte Reiß-Beschreibung[219]

1591: Johannes Löwenklau: Historiae Musulmanae Turcorum Latin: "Cuzzimu barec ea

ciuitas est Palæstinæ, quam veteres Hierosolyma dixerunt, Hebræi Ierusalem. Nomen
hodiernum significa locum benedictum vel inclytum," translates as "Quds Barış is the city of
the Palestinians, also known as Hierosolyma, in Hebrew, Jerusalem. The name means the
holy one or the glorious one"[220]

1591: Giovanni Botero[221]

1594: Uri ben Shimon and Jakob Christmann (ed.): Calendarium Palaestinorum Et
Universorum Iudaeorum... "Auctore Rabbi Ori filio Simeonis, Iudeo Palaestino" [Author
Rabbi Uri son of Simeon, Palestinian Jew]"[222]

1596: Giovanni Antonio Magini, Geographia, Cosmographia, or Universal Geography: An

atlas of Claudius Ptolemy's world of the 2nd century, with maps by Giovanni Antonio Magini
of Padua,[223] map: Palaestina, vel Terra Sancta,[224] at Google Books

c. 1600: Shakespeare: The Life and Death of King John: Scene II.1 "Richard, that robb'd the
lion of his heart, and fought the holy wars in Palestine"[225] / Othello Scene IV.3: "I know a
lady in Venice would have walked barefoot to Palestine for a touch of his [Lodovico's] nether
lip."[226]

40
1607: Hans Jacob Breuning von Buchenbach, Enchiridion Orientalischer Reiß Hanns Jacob
Breunings, von vnnd zu Buchenbach, so er in Türckey, benandtlichen in Griechenlandt,
Egypten, Arabien, Palestinam, vnd in Syrien, vor dieser zeit verrichtet (etc.)[227]

1610: Douay-Rheims Bible, uses the name Palestine (e.g. Jer 47:1; Ez 16:"1 And the word of
the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations. 3
And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem:...56 as it is at this time, making
thee a reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of Palestine round about
thee, that encompass thee on all sides.")

1611: King James Version, translates the Hebrew ‫ פלשת‬Pleshet as "Palestina" (e.g. Ex. 15:14;
Isa. 14:29, 31) and "Palestine" (e.g. Jl 3:4)

1613: Salomon Schweigger, Ein newe Reyßbeschreibung auß Teutschland nach

Constantinopel und Jerusalem[228]

1616: Pietro Della Valle: Viaggi di Pietro della Valle il Pellegrino[229]

1624: Francis Bacon, New Atlantis, "The Phoenicians, and especially the Tyrians, had great
fleets; so had the Carthaginians their colony, which is yet farther west. Toward the east the
shipping of Egypt, and of Palestine, was likewise great."[230]

1625: Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus, "And lastly, in the more Eastward, and South
parts, as in that part of Cilicia, that is beyond the River Piramus, in Syria, Palestine, AEgypt
and Lybia, the Arabian Tongue hath abolished it"[231]

1637: Philipp Cluverius, Introductionis in universam Geographiam (Introduction to World

Geography),[232][233] map: Palaestina et Phienice cum parte Coele Syria[234]

1639: Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre[235] also A Pisgah sight of
Palestine[236][237][238]

1642: Vincenzo Berdini, Historia dell'antica, e moderna Palestina, descritta in tre parti.[239]

1647: Sadiq Isfahani, The Geographical Works of Sadik Isfahani: "Filistin, a region of Syria,
Damascus, and Egypt, comprising Ramla, Ashkelon, Beit al Mukuddes (Jerusalem), Kanaan,
Bilka, Masisah, and other cities; and from this province is denominated the "Biaban-i
Filistin" (or Desert of Palestine), which is also called the "Tiah Beni-Israil""[240]

1648–57: Kâtip Çelebi, Tuhfat al Kibar fi Asfar al Bihar (printed by Ibrahim Muteferrika in
1729); the first detailed Ottoman mapping of its Syrian provinces. Describes Palestine as the
"noblest of the administrative divisions of Syria," comprising the two sanjaqs of Gaza and
Jerusalem: "In the southwest the border goes from the Mediterranean and al Arish to the
Wilderness of the Israelites [Sinai]. In the southeast it is the Dead Sea [Bahar Lut] and the
Jordan River. In the north it goes from the Jordan River to the borders of Urdun as far as
Caesarea."[241]

41
c. 1649: Evliya Çelebi, Travels in Palestine: "All chronicles call this country the Land of
Palestine"[242]

1649: Johann Heinrich Alsted, Scientiarum Omnium Encyclopaedia:[243] XI. Palestina lacus
tres sunt, è quibus duo posteriores natissimi sum historia sacra (11. Palestine has three lakes,
the later two of these I relate to Biblical history) (Alsted 1649, p. 560 at Google Books)

⟨1650⟩

Map of Syrie Moderne (1683) from Description De l'Universe by Alain Manesson Mallet

1655: Christoph Heidmann, Palaestina: CAPUT V. - De Urbibus Maritimis Philistaeorum, et

aliis ad limitem usq AEgypti. Palaestina propriè dicta est ea terrae sanctae pars, quae ad mare
Mediterraneum sita urbes aliquot illustres, & reges potentes olim habuit: quod antè etiam
indicatum. Populus Philistini sive Philistaei, aut Philistiim appellati, corruptè Palaestini,
Graecis, ut & Sulpicio Severo, ???, id est peregrini Ita gentes vocabant à religione & ritibus
Iudaeorum aver fas. 2. Hieronymus Philistiim prius Chasloím appellatos ait, posteros Cham,
quos nos inquit, corrupté Palaestinos dicimus 3. Fines ejus â Castro peregrinorum seu Dor,
aut Caesarea Palaestinae, vel turre Stratonis, usque Gazam, aut torrentem AEgypti, extendir
Adrichomius, aitque Enakim inter cos, id est gigantes fuisse robustissimos.[244]

1664: Jean de Thévenot, Relation d'un voyage fait au Levan: Acre est une ville de Palestine
située au bord de la mer, elle s'appelloit anciennement Acco.[245]

c. 1670: Khayr al-Din al-Ramli, al-Fatawa al-Khayriyah: According to Haim Gerber "on
several occasions Khayr al-Din al-Ramli calls the country he was living in Palestine, and
unquestionably assumes that his readers do likewise. What is even more remarkable is his
use of the term "the country" and even "our country" (biladuna), possibly meaning that he
had in mind some sort of a loose community focused around that term."[246] Gerber describes
42
this as "embryonic territorial awareness, though the reference is to social awareness rather
than to a political one."[211]

c. 1670: Salih b. Ahmad al-Timurtashi, The Complete Knowledge of the Limits of the Holy
Land and Palestine and Syria (Sham).[247]

1677: Olfert Dapper, Precise Description of whole Syria, and Palestine or Holy Land,
'Naukeurige Beschrijving van Gantsch Syrie en Palestijn of Heilige Lant'[248]

1681: Olfert Dapper, Asia, oder genaue und gründliche Beschreibung des ganzen Syrien und
Palestins, oder Gelobten Landes (Asia, or accurate and thorough description of all Syria and
Palestine, or the promised land. (German text; Amsterdam 1681 & Nürnberg 1688)):
Gewisse und Gründliche Beschreibung des Gelobten Landes / sonsten Palestina geheissen
(Certain and thorough description of the Promised Land / otherwise called Palestine)[249]

c. 1682: Zucker Holy Land Travel Manuscript: Antiochia die vornehmste und hauptstadt des
ganzen Syrien (und auch Palestinia) [Antioch the capital and chief of the whole Syria (and
Palestine)]. (p. 67 Calesyria[250])

1683: Alain Manesson Mallet, Description De l'Univers:[251] map: Syrie Moderne at

Archive.org.

1688: John Milner, A Collection of the Church-history of Palestine:[252] Hitherto of Places,

now follows an account of the Persons concerned in the Church-History of Palestine. (Milner
1688, p. 19, at Google Books)

1688: Edmund Bohun, A Geographical Dictionary, Representing the Present and Ancient
Names of All the Countries:[253] Jerusalem, Hierosolyma, the Capital City of Palestine, and
for a long time of the whole Earth; taken notice of by Pliny, Strabo, and many of the
Ancients. (Bohun 1688, p. 353, at Google Books)

1693: Patrick Gordon (Ma FRS), Geography Anatomiz'd:[254][255] Palestine, or Judea, Name.]
This Country ...is term'd by the Italians and Spaniards, Palestina; by the French, Palestine; by
the Germans Palestinen, or das Gelobte Land; by the English, Palestine, or the Holy Land.
(Gordon 1704, p. 290, at Google Books)

1696: Matthaeus Hiller, Philistaeus exul, s. de origine, diis et terra Palaestinorum diss.[256]

1703: Henry Maundrell, A journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter, A.D. 1697: For the
husbanding of these mountains, their manner was to gather up the stones, and place them in
several lines, along the sides of the hills, in form of a wall. By such borders, they supported
the mould from tumbling, or being washed down; and formed many beds of excellent soil,
rising gradually one above another, from the bottom to the top of the mountains. Of this form
of culture you see evident footsteps, wherever you go in all the mountains of Palestine. Thus
the very rocks were made fruitful And perhaps there is no spot of ground in this whole land,

43
that was not formerly improved, to the production of something or other, ministering to the
sustenance of human life.[257]

1704: Martin Baumgarten, Travels through Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Syria, 'A
Collection of Voyages and Travels: Some Now First Printed from Original
Manuscripts': Gaza, or Gazera, was once a great and strong City, and one of the five
principal ones in Palestine, and was call'd so by the Persians.[258]

1709: Matthäus Seutter, map: Deserta Aegypti, Thebaidis, Arabiae, Syriae etc. ubi accurata
notata sunt loca inhabitata per Sanctos Patres Anachoretas at The Library of Congress

1714: Johann Ludwig Hannemann, Nebo Chemicus Ceu Viatorium Ostendens Viam In
Palestinam Auriferam[259]

1714: Adriaan Reland, Hadriani Relandi Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata:

CAPUT VII. DE NOMINE PALAESTINAE. [i.]Regio omnis quam Judaei incoluerunt
nomen Palaestinae habuit. [ii.]Hebraeorum scriptores, Philo, Josephus, & alii hoc nomine usi.
[iii.] ‫ פלסטיני‬in antiquissimis Judaeorum scriptis. (Chapter 7. Palestine. [i.]The country that
the Jews inhabited was called Palestine. [ii.]The Hebrew Scriptures, Philo, Josephus, et
al. who have used this name. [iii.] ‫[ פלסטיני‬Palestinian] in ancient Jewish writings.) [...]
Chapter 8. Syria-Palaestina, Syria, and Coelesyria. Herodotus described Syria-Palaestina.
The Palestinian southern boundary is lake Serbonian. Jenysus & Jerusalem are cities of
Palestine, as is Ashdod and Ashkelon. Palestine is different from
[260]
Phoenice. map: Palaestina prima, on Google Books

1717: Laurent d'Arvieux, Voyage dans la Palestine

1718: Isaac de Beausobre, David Lenfant, Le Nouveau Testament de notre seigneur Jesus-
Christ: On a déja eu occasion de parler des divers noms, que portoit autrefois la Terre d
Israël, Ici nous désignerons sous le nom de Palestine qui est le plus commun. (We previously
spoke of the various names for the Land of Israel, ...Now we will refer to the Land of Israel
by the name of Palestine which is the most common)[261][262]

1718: John Toland, Nazarenus: or Jewish, Gentile and Mahometan Christianity:[263] NOW if
you'll suppose with me (till my proofs appear) this pre-eminence and immortality of the
Mosaic Republic in its original purity, it will follow; that, as the Jews known at this day, and
who are dispers'd over Europe, Asia, and Africa, with some few in America, are found by
good calculation to be more numerous than either the Spaniards (for example) or the French:
so if they ever happen to be resettl'd in Palestine upon their original foundation, which is not
at all impossible; they will then, by reason of their excellent constitution, be much more
populous, rich, and powerful than any other nation now in the world. I Wou'd have you
consider, whether it be not both the interest and duty of Christians to assist them in regaining
their country. But more of this when we meet. I am with as much respect as friendship (dear
Sir) ever yours, [signed] J.T. [at] Hague 1719 (Toland 1718, p. 8 at Google Books).

44
1720: Richard Cumberland, Sanchoniatho's Phoenician History: That the Philistines who
were of Mizraim's family, were the first planters of Crete. ...I observe that in the Scripture
language the Philistines are call'd Cerethites, Sam. xxx. 14, 16. Ezek. xxv. 16. Zeph. ii. 5.
And in the two last of these places the Septuagint translates that word Cretes. The name
signifies archers, men that in war were noted for skill in using bows and arrows. ...[I] believe
that both the people and the religion, (which commonly go together) settled in Crete, came
from these Philistines who are originally of Ægyptian race.[264]

1730: Joshua Ottens, map: Persia (Iran, Iraq, Turkey)[265]

1736: Herman Moll, map: Turkey in Asia[266]

1737: Isaac Newton, Interpretation of Daniel's Prophecies[267]

1738: D. Midwinter, A New Geographical Dictionary ... to which is now added the latitude
and longitude of the most considerable cities and towns,&c., of the world: Jerusalem,
Palestine, Asia – [Latitude 32 44 N] – [Longitude 35 15 E][268]

1741: William Cave, Scriptorum eccleriasticorum historia literaria[269]

1741: Jonas Korten, Jonas Kortens Reise nach dem weiland Gelobten nun aber seit 1700
Jahren unter dem Fluche ligenden Lande, wie auch nach Egypten, dem Berg Libanon, Syrien
und Mesopotamien.[270]

1743: Richard Pococke: Description of the East

1744: Charles Thompson (fict. name.), The travels of the late Charles Thompson esq.: I shall
henceforwards, without Regard to geographical Niceties and Criticisms, consider myself as
in the Holy Land, Palestine or Judea; which Names I find used indifferently, though perhaps
with some Impropriety, to signify the same Country.[271]

1744: Johann Christoph Harenberg, La Palestine ou la Terre Sainte:[272] Map: Palaestina seu
Terra olim tum duodecim tribubus distributa, tum a Davide et Salomone, et Terra Gosen at
the National Library of Israel.

1746: Modern History Or the Present State of All Nations: "Palestine, or the Holy Land,
sometimes also called Judea, is bound by Mount Libanus on the north; by Arabia Deserta on
the east; by Arabia Petrea on the south; and by the Mediterranean Sea on the west"[273]

1747: The modern Gazetteer: "Palestine, a part of Asiatic Turkey, is situated between 36 and
38 degrees of E longitude and between 31 and 34 degrees of N latitude, bounded by
the Mount Libanus, which divides it from Syria, on the North, by Mount Hermon, which
separates it from Arabia Deserta, on the East, by the mountains of Seir, and the deserts
of Arabia Petraea, on the South, and by the Mediterranean Sea on the West, so that it seems
to have been extremely well secured against foreign invasions."[274]

45
 1750 Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti, Veritas religionis christianae contra atheos, polytheos,
idololatras, mahometanos, [et] judaeos ...[275]
 1751: The London Magazine[276]
 1759: Johannes Aegidius van Egmont, John Heyman (of Leydon), Travels Through Part of
Europe, Asia Minor, the Islands of the Archipelago, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Mount Sinai,
&c. &c.:[277] The Jews of Jerusalem are divided into three sects, the Karaites, who adhere to
the letter of the Scripture, without admitting any comments, or glosses; the Rabbinists, who
receive for indubitable truths, all the comments and traditions so well known in the world,
and are hence much more superstitious than the former; the third are the Askenites, who
come from Germany, and are known among their brethren by the name of new converts; not
being descended from the twelve tribes. [...] Besides these three sects, there is in the country
of Palestine a fourth sort of Jews, but sworn enemies to the others, I mean the Samaritans;
these have frequently endeavoured by the arts of bribery to obtain the privilege of living in
Jerusalem, and in order to accomplish this design, have lavished away above five hundred
purses. (Aegidius and Heyman 1759, p. 389 & p. 390 at Google Books)

LEFT_1801 map of Turkey in Asia by English Cartographer John Cary. With Syria and
Palestine RIGHT Ottoman Syria in the 1803 Cedid Atlas, showing the term "‫ارض‬
‫"( "فالستان‬Land of Palestine") in large script on the bottom left

 1763: Voltaire, The Works of M. de Voltaire: Additions to the essay on general

history:[278] The same may be said of the prohibition of eating pork, blood, or the flesh of
beasts dying of any disease; these are precepts of health. The flesh of swine in particular is a
very unwholesome food in those hot countries, as well as in the Palestine, that lies in their
neighbourhood. When the Mahometan religion spread itself into colder climates, this
abstinence ceased to be reasonable; but nevertheless did not cease to be in force. (Voltaire,
ed. Smollett and Francklin 1763, p. 42 at Google Books)
 1765: Christoph Schrader, Gebhardt Theodor Meier, Tabulae chronologicae a prima rerum
origine et inde ad nostra tempora: 225 CE. Jews were allowed to live in Palestine.[279]

46
 1778: Denis Diderot, Encyclopédie, "Palestine."[280]
 1779: George Sale, Ancient Part of Universal History: "How Judæa came to be called also
Phœnice, or Phœnicia, we have already shewn in the history of that nation. At present, the
name of Palestine is that which has most prevailed among the Christian doctors,
Mahommedan and other writers. (See Reland Palestin. illustrat.)"[281]
 1782: Johann Georg Meusel, Bibliotheca historica:[282]

Sectio I. Scriptores de Palaestina

I. Scriptores universales

A. Itineraria et Topographiae a testibus oculatis conditae. 70

B. Geographi Palaestinae recentiores, qui non ipsi terram istam perlustrarunt, sed ex
itinerariis modo recensitis aliisque fontibus sua depromserunt. 94

II. Scriptores de Palaestina Speciales

A. Scriptores de aere folo et fetilitate Palaestinae. 110

[...]

E. Scriptores de variis argumentis aliis hue pertinentibus. 117

 1788: Constantine de Volney, Travels through Syria and Egypt, in the years 1783, 1784,
and 1785:[283][284] Palestine abounds in sesamum from which oil is procured and doura as
good as that of Egypt. ...Indigo grows without cultivating on the banks of the Jordan, in the
country of Bisan. ...As for trees, the olive-tree of Provence grows at Antioch and Ramla, to
the height of the beech. ...there were in the gardens of Yaffa, two plants of the Indian
cotton-tree which grow rapidly, nor has this town lost its lemons, its enormous citrons, or its
water melons. ...Gaza produces dates like Mecca, and pomegranates like Algiers.[285]
 1791: Giovanni Mariti, Travels Through Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine; with a General
History of the Levant. Translated from the Italian:[286] OF THE HEBREWS. TWO kinds of
Jews are found in Syria and Palestine; one of which are originally from these countries, and
the other foreigners. A diversity of religious systems divides them, as well as all the other
nations on the earth, who give too much importance to the spirit of theological dispute.
They are distinguished into Talmudists, and Caraites, or enemies of the Talmud: and such is
the inveterate hatred of the latter against the rest of their brethren, that they will not suffer
them to be interred in the same burying-grounds, where all mankind in the like manner must
moulder in-to dust.[287]
 1794: Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, map: A New Map of Turkey in Asia[288]
 1799: Pierre Jacotin, Napoleon's director of surveyancing, begins work on the "Jacotin
Map": The region is labelled "Palestine" in French and ‫"( قدس أرض أو فلسطين‬Palestine or
Holy Land") in Arabic[289]
 1801: Thomas Roberts (toxophilite), The English Bowman, Or Tracts on Archery: "The
Philistines, indeed, are frequently noticed in sacred history, as men very skilful in the use of
the bow. And to this ancient people, who appear to have been a very warlike nation,

47
 the invention of the bow and arrow has been ascribed. Universal Hist. (anc. part) vol. 2. p.
220."[290]
 1803: Cedid Atlas, showing the term ‫"( فالستان ارض‬Land of Palestine")

Modern period

Turkey in Asia. (By Frances Bowen. 1810)/19th century maps of Ottoman Syria identifying the
region of Palestine/Lord Shaftesbury's "Memorandum to Protestant Monarchs of Europe for the
restoration of the Jews to Palestine," published in the Colonial Times, in 1841

Palestine, by Salomon Munk, 1913 (First published 1845 in French)

 1805: Palestine Association founded

 1806: Lant Carpenter, An Introduction to the Geography of the New Testament:[291] He
brought out in 1806 a popular manual of New Testament geography.[292][293] (Levant map, p.
PA4, at Google Books)
 1809: Reginald Heber, Palestine: a Poem
 1811: François-René de Chateaubriand, Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem (Travels in Greece,
Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, during the years 1806 and 1807 [trans. 1812]): As to
travellers of very recent date such as Muller, Vanzow, Korte, Bescheider, Mariti, Volney,
Niebuhr, and Brown, they are almost totally silent respecting the holy places. The narrative
of Deshayes (1621), who was sent to Palestine by Louis XIII, appears therefore to me the
fittest to be followed.[294][295]
 1812: William Crotch, Palestine (an oratorio)
 1819: George Paxton (Rev), Illustrations of the Holy Scriptures: in three Parts.[296]
[297]
1. From the Geography of the East.
[298][299]
2. From the Natural History of the East.
[299]
3. From the Customs of Ancient and Modern Nations.

48
 Map of Modern Palestine in 1851 with administrative subdivisions RIGHT-1907 maps
showing the "Quds Al-Sharif Mutasarrifate". On the south, the map shows the 1860
borders between Ottoman Syria and the Khedivate of Egypt, although the border was
moved to the current Israel-Egypt border in 1906. The area north of the Negev Desert is
labelled "Filastin" (Palestine); on the second map this same Filastin label continues up
into the Sanjak of Nablus.

Females of distinction in Palestine, and even in Mesopotamia, are not only beautiful and
well-shaped, but, in consequence of being always kept from the rays of the sun, are very
fair. [300]

 1819: Abraham Rees, Palestine & Syria, The Cyclopædia: Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts,
Sciences, and Literature: Palestine, says Volney, is a district independent of every Pachalic.
Sometimes it has governors of its own, who reside at Gaza under the title of Pachas; but it is
usually, as at present, divided into three appanages, or Melkana, viz. Yafa, Loudd, and
Gaza. The former belongs to the Walda or sultana mother. The captain Pacha has received
the two others as a recompence for his services, and a reward for the head of Daher. He
farms them to an aga, who resides at Ramla, and pays him two hundred and fifteen purses
for them, viz. one hundred and eighty for Gaza and Ramla, and thirty-five for
Loudd.[301] [...] The ground is tilled by asses or cows, rarely by oxen. In districts like
Palestine, exposed to the Arabs, the countryman must sow with a musket in his hand. The
corn before it changes colour, is reaped, but concealed in caverns. The whole industry of the
peasant is limited to a supply of his immediate wants; and to procure a little bread, a few
onions, a wretched blue shirt, and a bit of woollen, much labour is not necessary.[302]
 1822: Conrad Malte-Brun, Universal Geography, Or, a Description of All the Parts of the
World, on a New Plan: BOOK XXVII. TURKEY IN ASIA. PART II. Including Armenia
Mesopotamia and Irac Arabi. The eastern provinces of the Turkish empire in Asia form
three natural divisions: the region of Orontes and Libanus, or Syria and Palestine; that of the
sources of the Euphrates and of the Tigris, or Armenia with Koordistan; finally, the region
of Lower Euphrates, or Al-Djesira with Irac-Arabi, otherwise Mesopotamia, and Babylonia.

49
 We shall here connect the two divisions on the Euphrates, without confounding them. Syria
will be described in a separate book.[303] [...] Population. It would be vain to expect a near
approximation to the truth in any conjectures which we might indulge respecting the
population of a state in which registers and a regular census are unknown. Some writers
estimate that of European Turkey at twenty-two, while others have reduced it to eight
millions (Bruns. Magas. Géograph. I. cah. 1. p. 68–74. compared with Ludeck's Authentic
Account of the Ottoman Empire. Etton's View and de Tott's Memoirs.), and both assign
equally plausible grounds for their opinions. Respecting Asiatic Turkey, the uncertainty, if
not still greater, is at least more generally acknowledged. Supposing the houses to be as
thinly scattered as in the less populous parts of Spain, the population of all Turkey, in
Europe, Asia, and Africa, may amount to 25 or 30 millions, of which one half belongs to
Asia. Under the want of any thing like positive evidence, we shall not deviate far from
probability in allowing to Anatolia, five millions; to Armenia, two; to Koordistan, one; to
the pashâlics of Bagdat, Mosul, and Diarbekir, one and a half; and to Syria 1,800,000, or at
most two millions.[304]
 1822: James Silk Buckingham, Travels in Palestine, through the countries of Bashan and
Gilead, east of the river Jordan: incl. a visit to the cities of Geraza and Gamala, in the
Decapolis:[305] St. Jerome conceived it [Ramla] to be the Arimathea of the Scriptures; and
Adrichomius, who entertained a similar opinion, traces its various names through all their
changes, from Ramathaim and Ramah, as it is called in the Old Testament, to Ramatha or
Armatha the seat of Samuel, as Josephus has it, and to the Arimathea of the New Testament,
and the Ramla of the present day. The oriental geographers speak of this as the metropolis
of Palestine, and every appearance of its ruins even now confirm the opinion of its having
been once a considerable city. Its situation, as lying immediately in the high road from Jaffa
to Jerusalem, made it necessarily a place of great resort; and from the fruitfulness of the
country around it, it must have been equally important as a military station or a depôt for
supplies, and as a magazine for the collection of such articles of commerce as were exported
from the coast. (Buckingham 1822, p. 261 at Google Books)
 1822: Robert Richardson, Travels Along the Mediterranean and Parts Adjacent: In
Company with the Earl of Belmore, During the Years 1816-17-18: The white Veil covering
the head and face, and falling over the shoulders, is worn by all the females in Syria and
Palestine, except the Jewesses. [...] I never saw any of them with veils; and was informed
that it is the general practice of the Jewesses in Jerusalem to go with their faces uncovered;
they are the only females there who do so. Generally speaking, I think they are disposed to
be rather of a plethoric habit; and the admirers of size and softness in the fair sex, will find
as regularly well-built fatties, with double mouldings in the neck and chin, among the fair
daughters of Jerusalem, as among the fairer daughters of England.[306]
 1823: Charles Leonard Irby, James Mangles, Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria, and Asia
Minor; During the Years 1817 and 1818: Our attention was the more attracted by this
[Necropolis of Petra] monument, as it presents, perhaps, the only existing example of
pyramids so applied, though we read of them as placed in a similar manner on the summit
of the tomb of the Maccabees, and of the Queen of Adiabaene, both in the neighbouring
province of Palestine.[307]
 1823: Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller, "Geographie von Palästina." Handbuch der
biblischen Altertumskunde: Biblische Geographie[308][309]

50
 1824: Robert Watt, Syria, Bibliotheca Britannica; Or, A General Index to British and
Foreign Literature:[310] SYRIA (S.), a province of Turkey, in Asia. ——HISTORY.

--DESCRIPTIONS. —1677. S. and Palestine. 284 z. —1783. The History of the Revolt
of Ali Bey against the Ottoman Porte, including an Account of the Form of Government
of Egypt; together with a Description of Grand Cairo, and of several celebrated places in
Egypt, Palestine, and S. 623 v.
--GEOGRAPHY. —1532. S.æ, Palestinæ, Arabiæ, Ægypti, Schondiæ, Tabulæ
Geographicæ. 992 x.

--TRAVELS. —1594. Peregrinatio in Egyptum, Arabiam, Palestinam, et S.m. 312 i. —

1653. De Locis Antiochiam inter et Hierosolymam, necnon S.æ., et Phœniciæ, et
Palestinæ, Gr. Lat. inter Leouis Allatii ???. 755 j. —1693. Journey through S.,
Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt; in German. 792 e. —1704. Travels through Egypt,
Arabia, Palestine, and S. 815 l. —1791. Travels through Cyprus, S., and Palestine.
644 g. [311]

 1827: Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, Allgemeine deutsche Real-Encyklopädie für die gebildeten

Stände: Palästina (Falesthin), wegen der, den Nachkommen Abraham's gegebenen
Verheißung, das gelobte Land genannt, nimmt die syrische Küste am mittel länd, Meere
vom Libanon südwärts bis an die Grenzen Ägyptens. (Palestine (DIN 31635: Falasṭīn),
called the "Promised Land" from the promise given to the descendants of Abraham, extends
from the midlands to the coast, from Syria and Lebanon southward to the borders of
Egypt.)[312]
 1827: Philippe Vandermaelen, Atlas universel de geographie physique: map: Syrie et
Palestine {Asie 63}, at Princeton gisserver
 1830: Josiah Conder, "Palestine." The Modern Traveller[313]
 1833: Heinrich Friedrich Pfannkuche: "In the writings of the Greeks and Romans, we need
not look for indications of a very familiar acquaintance with the history and language of the
Palestinian Jews, since they did not even vouchsafe their attention to the language and
national writings of the more civilized nations of antiquity, such as
the Carthaginians, Phoenicians, and Strabo, from whom we have quoted above the passages
bearing upon our subject, is perhaps the only one who imparts this general information of
the Syrians, (to whom the Palestinians also belonged,) that they and their neighbours spoke
a cognate language, but he enters on no farther explanation as to the difference between
their dialects"[314]
 c. 1834: Neophytos, monk of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: "The conquest
of Ptolemais was celebrated in Jerusalem with illuminations, dancing and music, in every
street and place in the city… The Moslems alone could not hide their sorrow and sullenness
(although they danced with the rest), because they had a presentment that Egypt would use
its power against them. They felt they could not continue to act as they wished, and that
hereafter Jerusalem and all of Palestine would be reformed."[315]

 1835: Karl Georg von Raumer, Palästina[316][317]

51
 1835: Heinrich Berghaus, Asia, Sammlung von Denkschriften in Beziehung auf die Geo-
und Hydrographie dieses Erdtheils; zur Erklärung und Erläuterung seines Karten-Atlas
zusammengetragen:[318] Map of Syria (No. 5 of Berghaus' Atlas of Asia): Karte von Syrien,
den Manen Jacotin's und Burckhardt's gewidmet at the National Library of Israel.
 1837: Lord Lindsay, Letters on Egypt, Edom and the Holy Land: "...we bade adieu to
Jerusalem... It was our intention, after exploring Palestine (properly so called), to cross the
Jordan, and visit Jerash"[319]
 1838: Humphry Davy, The collected works of Sir Humphry Davy: Palestine, a name
supposed to be derived from the ancient Philistine coast, has been applied, from the earliest
of modern ages, to the territory anciently assigned as the portion of the twelve tribes. The
dimensions of this country do not correspond to its fame: it may be 150 miles in length
north and south, and nearly as much in extreme breadth. It is bounded on the west by the
Mediterranean; on the north it ranges along the southern skirts of Libanus; while on the east
and south it passes into the Arabian desert, amid long ranges of rocky hills. Judea is a high
country, rising by successive terraces from a shore that is, in many places bold and lofty. Its
principal eminences, Carmel, Bashan, Tabor, do not ascend into bleak and rugged heights:
they are covered with villages, rich pastures, and luxuriant woods; on their slopes are
copious vineyards, and in the clefts of the rocks numerous bees, feeding on their aromatic
plants, deposit their honey. Traces are even found of a cultivation, by artificial terraces,
equal to that which prevails in the most improved parts of the East.[320]
 1838: Charles G. Addison, Damascus and Palmyra: a journey to the East: In the
commencement of 1834, insurrections broke out in the mountains of Nablous, on Djebel
Khalil, and in various parts of Palestine. Some of them, it is admitted, were promoted by the
lawless and the disaffected to all settled government; others were fostered by the Sheikhs,
who were discontented at their exactions from Christian pilgrims being put an end to, and
many by the Bedouin Arabs and the mountaineers of Lebanon, who were discontented that
the contributions they had been in the habit of imposing upon villages had been stopped.[321]
 1840: Ferdinand de Géramb, A pilgrimage to Palestine, Egypt and Syria: And, once more,
that which most contributes to render Palestine a desert is the despotic government under
which it groans, and the motto of which is destruction. It cannot be too often repeated —the
Porte daily puts up this wretched country to auction : the pacha who offers most becomes its
tyrant. Master of the life of the Arab as well as of his camel, of his horse as well as of his
tent, he marks his passage by exactions alone. At sight of his satellites coming to levy the
tribute, the population of whole villages abandon their ruined dwellings; and the poor
oppressed inhabitants choose rather to die of want, in caverns of the rocks, than to expire
under the bastinado of the soldier, who on his part, enraged at seeing his prey escape,
revenges himself by cutting down the olive-tree of the fugitive whom he could not
overtake.[322]
 1840: George Long, Palestine & Syria, The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: The modern history of Palestine is more conveniently
included under SYRIA. The only portions of it which demand a separate notice have been
treated of under Crusades. At present the country forms a part of Syria being included under
the pashaliks of Damascus Akka and Tripoli and forming part of the viceroyalty of the
pasha of Egypt.[323] [...] In the most usual application of the word, Syria was the district
bounded by the range of Amanus on the north, by the Mediterranean on the west, by the
Euphrates and the Arabian Desert on the east and south, and by the 'river of Egypt' probably

52
 the river (El-Arish) on the south-west. In a still narrower sense it sometimes denoted the
same district, with the exception of Phoenicia and Palestine, (Ptol., v. 16.) Herodotus, in
speaking of Palestine, includes it in Syria, as a subordinate division: he calls it 'the Palestine
Syria' (???, ii. 106).[324]
 1840: John Kitto, The Pictorial History of Palestine and The Holy Land including a
Complete History Of The Jews,

Vol. I. Biblical History. [325]

Vol. II. Biblical History, Continued. Natural History And Geography. [326]

 1841: John Kitto, Palestine: the Physical Geography and Natural History of the Holy Land,
Illustrated with Woodcuts.[327][328]
 1841: Edward Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, mount Sinai and Arabia Petrea:
The great body of Christians in Palestine are of the Greek church ; but they are all native
Arabs, and employ only the Arabic language in their worship.[329]
 1841: Charles Henry Churchill in correspondence with Sir Moses Montefiore: "Were the
resources which you all possess steadily directed towards the regeneration of Syria and
Palestine, there cannot be a doubt but that, under the blessing of the Most High, [the
European Powers] would amply repay the undertaking, and that you would end by obtaining
the sovereignty of at least Palestine."
 1842: Adriano Balbi, System of universal geography, founded on the works of Malte-Burn
and Balbi: Cities, Towns, &c., in Syria and Palestine. Santa Saba, 8 or 9 miles S.E. of
Jerusalem, a monastery remarkable for its situation on a height, which rises precipitously
several hundred feet from the deep valley of the brook Kedron. Beside it are numerous
grottoes, which are said to have been inhabited by more than 10,000 monks at the epoch
when St. Saba introduced the monastic life into Palestine. In continual danger from the wild
Arabs, the convent appears like a fortress, with immensely strong and lofty towers.[330]
 1843: Alexander Keith, The Land of Israel, According to the Covenant with Abraham, with
Isaac, and with Jacob: Palestine abounding in cultivated and flourishing regions, has
several great cities which rival each other in their excellence, viz. Caesarea, Eleutheropolis,
Neapolis, Askelon, and Gaza. The region beyond the Jordan, donominated Arabia, is rich in
the variety of the merchandise of which it is full; it has besides other large towns the cities
of Bostra, Gerasa, and Philadelphia, which the solidity of their walls renders most secure
(Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xiv. cap. viii.).[331] [...] In Palestine, sesamum abounds, from
which they procure oil, and dourra (a kind of pulse) as good as that of Egypt. Maize thrives
in the light soil of Baalbec; and even rice is cultivated with success on the borders of the
marshy countries of Havula. They have lately begun to cultivate sugar-canes in the gardens
of Saide and of Beyrout, equal to those of the Delta. Indigo grows without cultivation on the
banks of the Jordan, in the country of Bisan, and needs but care to improve the quality.
Tobacco is now cultivated throughout all the mountains. As for trees, the olive of Provence
grows at Antioch, and at Ramla, to the height of the beech. In the white mulberry-tree
consists the wealth of the whole country of the Druses, by the beautiful silk which it
produces; while the vine, supported by poles, or winding about the oaks, supplies grapes,
which afford red and white wines equal to those of Bourdeaux. The water-melons of Jaffa
are preferred before the very fine water melons of Broulas. Gaza produces dates like Mecca,
and pomegranates like Algiers. Tripoli affords oranges like Malta. Beyrout, figs like

53
 Marseilles, and bananas like St Domingo. Aleppo has the (not) exclusive advantage of
producing pistachios. And Damascus justly boasts of possessing all the fruits known in the
provinces: its stony soil suits equally the apples of Normandy, the plums of Touraine, and
the peaches of Paris. Twenty sorts of apricots aro enumerated there, the stone of one of
which contains a kernel highly valued throughout Turkey. The cochineal plant, which grows
on all that coast contains, perhaps, that precious insect in as high perfection as it is found in
Mexico and St Domingo; and if we consider that the mountains of Yemen, which produce
such excellent coffee are only a continuation of those of Syria, and that their soil and
climate are almost the same, we shall be induced to believe that in Judea particularly, might
be easily cultivated this valuable production of Arabia. "With these advantages of climate
and soil, it is not surprising that Syria should always have been reckoned a most delicious
country and that the Greeks and Romans esteemed it among the most beautiful of their
provinces and equal even to Egypt" (Volney's Trav. vol. i. pp. 316–321. English
translation).[332]
 1843: Origen Bacheler, Restoration and Conversion of the Jews: But ever since 1832, when
Mehemet Ali took possession of Syria, there has been a remarkable flocking of the Jews to
Palestine. The precise number of them at present in the Holy Land is estimated to amount to
about 40,000.[333]
 1843: Stephen Olin, Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy land: European
merchants could not live in the East, except under the protection of their own consuls. They
never become subjects to the native rulers. If some civilized, Christian power would rescue
Palestine, by treaty or force, from Mohammedan rule, and establish an enlightened,
equitable, and stable government, then might it become a desirable residence for civilized
men; but on no other condition could a residence there be endured by any but barbarians,
content to be poor and tolerant from long habit of oppression and injustice. It fills me with
surprise to see some of the best men of England labouring to promote the colonization of
Jews in Palestine, and that under existing governments. The Jews are precisely the last
people on earth fitted for such an enterprise, as they are a nation of traffickers, and know
nothing of agriculture. Besides, the Jews of Europe and America are civilized and wealthy,
and would not relish oppression and robbery, even in Palestine.[334]
 1843: Johann Friedrich Röhr, Röhr's Historico-geographical account of Palestine:
Researches in Palestine: Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1799, gave new importance to Palestine. It
was connected with his conquest of Egypt, and was undertaken nominally to repulse the
Turkish army under Djezzar (Or the Butcher, so called by his subjects from his incredible
cruelties. He died in 1808, apparently with a quiet conscience), the Pacha of St Jean d'Acre,
by which he was threatened, and prevent it obstructing his intentions as to Egypt, but
actually to get possession of the vast wealth of this Pacha, treasured up in Acre, and make
this the foundation of other extensive projects as to the east.[335]
 1844: J. T. Bannister, A Survey of the Holy Land...: "Tacitus compares both the climate and
the soil to those of Italy, and particularly specifies the palm and balsam-trees as productions
which gave the country an advantage over his own. Justin confirms the account of Tacitus,
respecting the exuberant produce of Palestine, its beautiful climate, its palm and fragrant
balsam-trees."[336]
 1845: Encyclopædia Metropolitana, "Syria."[337]
 1845: Salomon Munk, Palestine, Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique,"
in "L'Univers Pittoresque: Under the name Palestine, we comprehend the small country

54
 formerly inhabited by the Israelites, and which is today part of Acre and Damascus
pachalics. It stretched between 31 and 33° N. latitude and between 32 and 35° degrees E.
longitude, an area of about 1300 lieues carrées (League (unit)#France). Some zealous
writers, to give the land of the Hebrews some political importance, have exaggerated the
extent of Palestine; but we have an authority for us that one can not reject. St. Jerome, who
had long traveled in this country, said in his letter to Dardanus (ep. 129) that the northern
boundary to that of the southern, was a distance of 160 Roman miles, which is about
55 lieues (League (unit)#France). He paid homage to the truth despite his fears, as he said
himself, of availing the Promised Land to pagan mockery, "Pudet dicere latitudinem terrae
repromissionis, ne ethnicis occasionem blasphemandi dedisse uideamur."[338][339]
 1847: Walter McLeod, The geography of Palestine: MODERN DIVISIONS. 8. Palestine is
now divided into pashalicks, the most important of which are Akka and Damascus. The
country is under the dominion of the Turks, and is governed by Mehemet Pasha, who has
been recently appointed the governor-general of Palestine.[340]
 1848: Thomas Wright (biographer), Early travels in Palestine: comprising the narratives of
Arculf, Willibald, [and others]:[341] Arculf, Willibald, Bernard, Saewulf, Sigurd, Benjamin
of Tudela, Sir John Mandeville, De la Brocquiere, and Maundrell.
 1848: Carl Ritter, The Comparative Geography of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula:
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE AUTHORITIES ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF
PALESTINE. ...the lists of authorities given
by Reland, Pococke, Meusel, Bellermann, Rosenmüller, Berghaus, Hammer-Purgstall, and
more especially by von Raumer and Robinson. ...Others which we have from the English
and the French ...John Kitto, Munk.[342][343]
 1848–49: Ottoman Archives: Ottoman map of Palestine, showing the term "filastin ülkesi"
("the land of Palestine") for the region between Ramle and Jaffa south of the Yarkon
River[344]
 1849: William F. Lynch, Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and
the Dead Sea: To the east of Bethlehem is the hill where the shepherds heard the
annunciation of the birth of the Messiah; and in the plain below, the field where Ruth
gleaned after the reapers. The country around was luxuriant with vegetation, and the yellow
grain, even as we looked, was falling beneath the sickle. Variegated flint, chalk and
limestone, without fossils, cropped out occasionally on the hill sides; but along the lower
slopes, and in the bottom of the valley, were continuous groves, with a verdant carpet
beneath them. It was the most rural and the loveliest spot we had seen in Palestine. From
among many flowers we gathered a beautiful white one, free from all earthly taint, fit
emblem of the purity of the infant Godhead.[345]

⟨1850⟩

55
Map of Modern Palestine in 1851 with administrative subdivisions

Jerusalem Mutasarrifate

Jerusalem and Beirut Mutasarrifates

1907 maps showing the "Quds Al-Sharif Mutasarrifate". On the south, the map shows the 1860
borders between Ottoman Syria and the Khedivate of Egypt, although the border was moved to
the current Israel-Egypt border in 1906. The area north of the Negev Desert is labelled "Filastin"
(Palestine); on the second map this same Filastin label continues up into the Sanjak of Nablus.

 1850: Yehoseph Schwarz, A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of

Palestine: In the year 5592 (1832), Mahmud Ali, pacha of Alexandria in Egypt, declared
himself independent of the Sultan of Constantinople. His son, Abraim Pacha, moved
suddenly with a large force towards Palestine, and took without almost any resistance on the
part of the adherents of the Sultan, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Nablus, and Chaifa, and placed
Egyptian soldiers as garrisons in the same, and appeared next before Akko, which was
occupied by Abd Alla Pacha, and besieged it a long time, and took it finally by storm,
carrying away the Pacha as prisoner to Egypt. He gradually now occupied all Palestine,
Syria, Arabia, and Nubia.[346]
 1856: James Redhouse, An English and Turkish dictionary: Regarded as the original and
authoritative Ottoman-English dictionary, translates Holy Land as dari-filastin (House of
Palestine)[347]

 858: Josias Leslie Porter, A handbook for travellers in Syria and Palestine: The
modern inhabitants of Southern Palestine may be divided into two classes—the Bedawin, or
wandering tribes who dwell in tents, and the Fellahin, who reside in villages.[348] [...] The
plain of Akka is one of the richest in Palestine —producing alike the most luxuriant crops

56
 and the rankest weeds in the country. It is more moist than any of the other plains; and large
sections of it become marshy during winter.[349]
 1859: Samuel Augustus Mitchell, map: Turkey in Asia and Geographicus – Arabia
 1859: David Kay (FRGS),[350] ed. Thomas Stewart Traill, Palestine, Encyclopædia
Britannica:[351] [Palestine] ...was finally subdued in 1517 by Selim I., the sultan of the
Turks, under whom it has continued for more than 300 years. ...until the memorable
invasion of Egypt by the French army in 1798. Bonaparte being apprised that preparations
were making in the pashalic of Acre for attacking him in Egypt, resolved, according to his
usual tactics, to anticipate the movements of his enemies. He accordingly marched across
the desert which divides Egypt from Palestine, and invaded the country at the head of
10,000 troops. After taking several towns, and among the rest Jaffa, where he stained his
character by the atrocious massacre of 4000 prisoners. (Kay 1859, p. 198, XVII at Google
Books)
 1859: Henry Stafford Osborn, Palestine, past and present: with biblical, literary, and
scientific notices: The medals stamped with the impress of grapes, as we have shown upon
the coin of Herod, (page 486,) the figure of the palm-tree so frequently seen on other medals
stamped by Vespasian and Titus, and the medal of young Agrippa holding fruits, all indicate
the excellence of the country. Notwithstanding all this, Mr. Gibbon remarks, speaking of
Phoenicia and Palestine (Chap. i. p. 21), "The former of these was a narrow and rocky
coast; the latter was a territory scarcely superior to Wales either in fertility or extent. ...M.
Guizot supposes he based his remark upon a passage in Strabo (Bk. xvi. 1104), who speaks
only of the country around Jerusalem which he says was unfruitful and arid for sixty stadia
(probably five or six miles;) in other places giving excellent testimony to the fertility of
Palestine. He says, "About Jericho is a forest of palm-trees, and the country for a hundred
stadia is full of springs and well peopled."[352]
 1860: Josias Leslie Porter,[353] ed. Thomas Stewart Traill, Syria, Encyclopædia
Britannica:[354] The modern inhabitants of Syria and Palestine are a mixed race, made up of
the descendants of the ancient Syrians who occupied the country in the early days of
Christianity and of the Arabians who came in with the armies of the khalifs and settled in
the cities and villages. The number of the latter being comparatively small, the mixture of
blood did not visibly change the type of the ancient people. This may be seen by comparing
the Christians with the Muslems. The former are undoubtedly of pure Syrian descent, while
the latter are more or less mixed, and yet there is no visible distinction between the two save
what dress makes. (Porter 1860, p. 907, XX at Google Books)
 1860: 36th United States Congress, The Massacres in Syria: a Faithful Account of the
Cruelties and Outrages Suffered by the Christians of Mount Lebanon, During the Late
Persecutions in Syria: With a Succinct History of Mahometanism and the Rise of the
Maronites, Druses ... and Other Oriental Sects ...:[355] EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN
SYRIA. I.—Hermits and Pilgrims. [...] II.—Origin of Monks. The hermits and anchorets, as
they were called, were held in high esteem, and thousands of pilgrims, from all parts, sought
their cells to obtain the benefit of their prayers. In the fourth century, the ancient lands of
Syria and Palestine were full of such "holy men," and soon after they began to form
societies and live together, as brethren, under oaths and regulations. This was the origin of
religious houses or convents of monks; and the beginning of that monastic system which
afterward extended throughout all Christendom. (36th U.S. Congress 1860, p. 11 at Google
Books)

57
 1865: William 'Corky' Norton, How I Got My Cork Legs, The St. James's Magazine: I was
then at Malta, serving on board the [HMS] Powerful, 80-gun ship, Captain Charles Napier;
...This was in 1840 ...England, inspired by Lord Palmerston, had determined, in defiance of
France, to put down the Pacha of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, and his equally miscreant son. ...I
was consequently present at the bombardment of Beirût —Queen City of Palestine— at the
landing, witnessed the panic-flight of the much-boasted Egyptians at the bare sight of our
fellows, and was present at the fall of Acre. I never estimated very highly the glory of that
Syrian campaign. What real resistance could a multitude of Egyptian soldiers offer to a
well-organized British force? It signifies little to the wolves how numerous the sheep may
be.[356]
 1865: William McClure Thomson, The land of promise: travels in modern Palestine [from
The land and the Book].: From Samaria to Nablûs is two hours' easy riding; first south, over
the shoulder of the mountain, and then east ward, up the lovely vale of Nablûs. Nothing in
Palestine surpasses it in fertility and natural beauty, and this is mainly due to the fine mill-
stream which flows through it. The whole country is thickly studded with villages; the
plains clothed with grass or grain; and the rounded hills with orchards of olive, fig,
pomegranate, and other trees.[357]
 1867: Titus Tobler, Bibliographica Geographica Palaestinae.[358]
 1871: John Tillotson, Palestine Its Holy Sites and Sacred Story[359]
 1872–1917: The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was commonly referred to at the time as
"Palestine."[360][361] In the 1880s the Ottoman government briefly considered to officially
rename it.[362]
 1873: William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography: 2: Iabadius-Zymethus:
PALAESTINA (Παλαιστίνη : Eth. (Παλαιστίνόs), the most commonly received and
classical name for the country, otherwise called the Land of Canaan, Judaea, the Holy Land,
&c. This name has the authority of the prophet lsaiah, among the sacred writers: and was
received by the earliest secular historians. Herodotus calls the Hebrews Syrians of Palestine;
and states that the sea-border of Syria, inhabited, according to him by Phoenicians from the
Red Sea, was called Palaestina as far as Egypt (vii. 89). He elsewhere places Syria
Palaestina between Phoenice and Egypt; Tyre and Sidon in Phoenice: Ascalon, Cadytis
Ienysus in Palaestina Syriae; elsewhere he places Cadytis and Azotus simply in Syria (iv.
39, iii. 5, ii. 116, 157, i. 105, iii. 5). [...] The most valuable contributions to the ancient
geography of Palestine are those of Eusebius and his commentator S. Jerome in the
Onomasticon, composed by the former, and translated, with important additions and
corrections, by the latter who has also interspersed in his commentaries and letters
numerous geographical notices of extreme value. They are not, however, of such a character
as to be available under this general article, but are fully cited under the names of the towns,
&c. (See Reland, Palaest. lib. ii. cap. 12, pp. 479, &c.)[363]
 1875: Karl Baedeker, Palaestina und Syrien: Handbuch für Reisende: VI. Die Araber
nennen Syrien, worunter sie auch Palästina (Filistin) begreifen, "esch-Schäm." Dieser Name
bezeichnet eigentlich das 'links' gelegene Land, im Gegensatz zu el-Yemen, das 'rechts'
gelegene Land, (Südarabien). Bei den Türken hört man den Namen Süristän. Die Türken
theilten Syrien in fünf Gouvernements (Paschaliks): Aleppo, Tripolis, Damascus, Saida
(später Akka) und Palästina. Diese Eintheilung hat aber im Laufe der Jahrhunderte viele
Veränderungen erlitten. Bis vor Kurzem war Syrien nur in zwei Grossgouvernements
(wiläyet) mit den Hauptstädten Damascus und Aleppo getheilt. In neuester Zeit ist

58
 Jerusalem ebenfalls Sitz eines von der Pforte direct abhängigen Centrai-Gouverneurs (wäli)
geworden und zwar in Folge des Versuches, die turbulenten Stämme jenseit des Jordan auf
die Dauer zu pacificiren.[364]
 1875: Isabel Burton, The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine, and the Holy Land: From My
Private Journal: We rode to Dayr el Kamar, a large village in the territory of El Manásíf.
Then we went to B'teddin, now the palace of Franco Pasha, Governor of the Lebanon. ...he
meets every case with liberality and civilization; he was a religious man, and Allah and the
Sultan were his only thoughts. Everything he did for the natives' good, he told them that it
came from his Master and theirs, so that "May Allah prolong the days of our Sultan" was
ever in the people's mouth. It would have been happy if a few more Franco Pashas were
distributed about Syria and Palestine.[365]

Khalil Beidas's 1898 use of the word "Palestinians" in the preface to his translation of Akim
Olesnitsky's A Description of the Holy Land [366]

 1876: Thomas Cook, Cook's Tourists' Handbook for Palestine and Syria: Sir Moses
Montefiore's mission has been to assist the Jews, not by indiscriminate charity, but by
giving them means and scope for labour. In January 1875, being in the 91st year of his age,
he resigned his position as President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and a
testimonial to him having been resolved upon, he requested it might take the form of a
scheme for improving the condition of the Jews in Palestine generally, and Jerusalem
particularly. About £11,000 only has been as yet contributed to the fund, although the
amount anticipated was £200,000. The reason of the smallness of the contributions was that
a rumour went abroad that the scheme was only to continue idle Jews in idleness.[367]
 1879: Nu'man ibn 'Abdu al-Qasatli: al-Rawda al-Numaniyya in the travelogue to Palestine
and some Syrian Towns[368]
 1880s: The Ottoman government issues a number of decrees to foreign governments,
intended to limit Zionist immigration, land purchases and settlement. The decrees refer to
"Palestine," but the term is not defined.[369]
 1889: Albrecht Socin (University of Tubingen), "Palestine." The Encyclopædia Britannica:
"Lists based on information collected by the Turkish Government ...for the sanjak of
Jerusalem (with the districts Jerusalem, Yáfá, Hebron), 276 places with about 24,000 houses
(families); for the sanjak Belká (with the districts of Nábulus Jennin Ajlun and Es-Salt), 317
places and 18,984 houses; for the sanjak Akka (Acre) (with the districts Akka, Haifa, and
Safed), 160 places with 11,023 houses, —making a total of 753 places with 54,237 houses.
Reckoning five persons per house, this gives a population of 271,185, exclusive of the small
number of Bedouins. Detailed statistics there are none as regards the relative strength of the
Bedouin element and the peasantry, the numerical representation of the different religions,
or any matter of this sort."[370]
 1890: Reinhold Röhricht, Bibliotheca Geographica Palestine, from the year A.D. 333 to
A.D. 1878:[371][372] among the books on Palestine. Bibliotheca Geographica Palestinae,
(Berlin, 1890).[373] Bibliotheca Geographica Palestine. Chronologisches Verzeichniss der
auf die Geographic des heiligen Landes beziiglichen Literatur von 333 bis 1878 und
Versuch einer Cartographic. Herausgegeben von Reinhold Rohricht. (Berlin: H. Reuther's
Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1890.) The book professes to give a list of all the books relating to

59
 the geography of Palestine from the year 333 to 1878 and also a chronological list of maps
relating to Palestine. (The Church Quarterly Review 1891, p.259, at Google Books)
(Bibliotheca Geographica Palestinae, (Berlin, 1890), at openlibrary.org)

"Palestina" in the first line of the " Basel Program" written at the 1897 First Zionist Congress/
Manual of Palestinean Arabic, for self-instruction 1909 to the RIGHT

 1897: First Zionist Congress: the Basel program sets out the goals of the Zionist movement:
"Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in
Palestine"
 1898: Khalil Beidas, his preface to his translation of Akim Olesnitsky's A Description of the
Holy Land: "the people of Palestine were in need of a geography book about their country...
the Palestinian peasant waits impatiently for winter to come, for the season’s rain to moisten
his fossilized fields." It has been proposed that this represents the first instance in modern
history where the term ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Filastini’ appears in Arabic.[366]

⟨1900⟩

 c. 1900–10: Ottoman Governors: According to Haim Gerber "The remnants of the

correspondence of the Ottoman governors with their superiors in the first decade of the
twentieth century quite often relate to the Zionist question and the resistance to it among
local inhabitants. The country is referred to throughout as Palestine."[374]
 1900: J. M. Robertson, Christianity and Mythology: Long before Biblical Judaism was
known, the people of Palestine shared in the universal rituals of the primeval cults of sun
and moon, Nature and symbol; and the successive waves of conquest, physical and
mystical, have only transformed the primordial hallucination.[375]
 1902: Salim Qub‘ayn, "A Palestinian describes Palestinian towns."[366]

60
  1902: The Anglo-Palestine bank: A subsidiary of the Bank Leumi, the financial instrument
of the Zionist Organization

1913 Ottoman textbook showing the name "Filastin" within the Mutasarrifate of
Jerusalem (green contour). The word stretches from Quds to Al-Arish

 1911: Falastin newspaper was founded in Jaffa by Palestinian Christians.[376]

 1911: David George Hogarth, "Syria." Encyclopædia Britannica: "Population.—The actual

population of Syria is over 3,000,000 spread over a superficial area of about 600,000 sq.
m., i.e. about 51⁄2 persons to the square mile. But this poor average is largely accounted for
by the inclusion of the almost uninhabited northern steppe land and those parts of Syria,
which are settled show a much higher rate. Phoenicia and the Lebanon have the densest
population, over 70 to the square mile, while Palestine, the north part of the western plateau
east of Jordan, the oases of Damascus and Aleppo, the Orontes valley, and parts of
Commagene, are well peopled."[377]
 1913: Al-Karmil (newspaper): "We hoped that they [the Ottoman Party for Administrative
Decentralization] would rid us of Zionist threats and dangers. We comprised a group of
people who had hoped the best for their leaders. This team possessed tremendous power;
not to ignore that Palestine, their country, was part of the Ottoman Empire."[378]
 c. 1913: Ruhi Khalidi, Zionism or the Zionist Question, according to Haim Gerber "It is
noteworthy that whenever the name of the country appears, it is always Palestine, never
southern Syria or anything else."[379]
 1914: Four days after Britain's declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire at a British
Cabinet meeting on 9 November 1914, David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
"referred to the ultimate destiny of Palestine."[380][381]

61
  1915: VIII Corps (Ottoman Empire), Filastin Risalesi ("Palestine Document"), an Ottoman
army country survey which formally identified Palestine as including the sanjaqs of Akka
(the Galilee), the Sanjaq of Nablus, and the Sanjaq of Jerusalem (Kudus Sherif).[382][383]

Further information: History of Zionism and History of Israel

Passport, coin and stamp from Mandatory Palestine. When written in English all show
"Palestine", with the latter two also showing Arabic: ‫ فلسطين‬Filasţīn and Hebrew: ‫פָּ ל ְֶׂש ִּתינָּה‬
)‫ (א"י‬Palestína (EY) [384]

 1918: House of Commons of the United Kingdom: Minutes: "Major Earl Winterton asked
the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what facilities have been given to the Palestinian
and Syrian political leaders now in Egypt to visit Palestine?"[385] An early use of the word
Palestinian in British politics, which was used often in following years in the British
government[386]
 1919: Zionist Organization, Statement on Palestine at the Paris Peace Conference: "The
boundaries of Palestine shall follow the general lines set out below: Starting on the North at
a point on the Mediterranean Sea in the vicinity south of Sidon and following the
watersheds of the foothills of the Lebanon as far as Jisr El-Karaon thence to El-Bire,
following the dividing line between the two basins of the Wadi El-Korn and the Wadi Et-
Teim, thence in a southerly direction following the dividing line between the Eastern and
Western slopes of the Hermon, to the vicinity west of Beit Jenn, then eastward following
the northern watersheds of the Nahr Mughaniye close to and west of the Hedjaz Railway. In
the east a line close to and west of the Hedjaz Railway terminating in the Gulf of Akaba. In
the south a frontier to be agreed upon with the Egyptian Government. In the west the
Mediterranean Sea."[387][388]
 1919: Syrian National Congress: "We ask that there be no separation of the southern part of
Syria, known as Palestine, nor of the littoral western zone, which includes Lebanon, from
the Syrian country." [389]
 1920: Franco-British boundary agreement – the framework agreement in which the borders
of the Mandate of Palestine were established, being finally approved on 7 March
1923[390][391]
 1920: Herbert Samuel during an Advisory Council meeting: "After some further discussion
on the part of several members, [Samuel] said that when he had to decide the wording for
the stamps, he was aware that there was no other name in the Hebrew language for this land
except 'Eretz-Israel'. At the same time he thought that if 'Eretz-Israel' only were used, it
might not be regarded by the outside world as a correct rendering of the word 'Palestine,'
and in the case of passports or certificates of nationality, it might perhaps give rise to
difficulties, so it was decided to print 'Palestine' in Hebrew letters and to add after it the
62
 letters 'Aleph' 'Yod,' which constitute a recognised abbreviation of the Hebrew name.
[Samuel] still thought that this was a good compromise. Dr. Salem wanted to omit 'Aleph'
'Yod' and Mr. Yellin wanted to omit 'Palestine'. The right solution would be to retain
both."[392][384]
 1921: Syrian-Palestinian Congress
 923: British Mandate for Palestine is ratified
 1926: Permanent Mandates Commission: "M. Palacios [Spanish representative],
returning to the concrete questions of a general character of which the Arabs complained,
recalled those concerning the national title, the national hymn and the flag.... As regards
the first point, the Arabs claimed that it was not in conformity with Article 22 of the
Mandate to print the initials and even the words "Eretz Israel" after the name "Palestine"
while refusing the Arabs the title "Surial Janonbiah" ("Southern Syria"). The British
Government had not accepted the use of this Arab title, but gave the place of honour to
the Hebrew word used for 2,000 years and decided that the official name in Hebrew was
"Palestina" followed by the initials signifying "Aleph Jod," the regular Hebrew name.
Was the question still under discussion and could the accredited representative give the
Commission any further information? Colonel Symes explained that the country was
described as "Palestine" by Europeans and as "Falestin" by the Arabs. The Hebrew name
for the country was the designation "Land of Israel," and the Government, to meet Jewish
wishes, had agreed that the word "Palestine" in Hebrew characters should be followed in
all official documents by the initials which stood for that designation. As a set-off to this,
certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called "Southern
Syria" in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State."[393]
 1936: Peel Commission Report: "[Jewish nationalism] claims, for example, that, though
Palestine is not an Arab word and might therefore fairly serve for Jews as well as Arabs,
Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) should be also accepted as the official translation of
"Palestine," and protests that the printing of the Hebrew initials "E. I." after "Palestine"
on every stamp and coin is not enough."[394][384]

Biblical references

Map showing the locations of the cities of the "Five Lords of the Philistines"

Palaistinê (whence Palaestina, from which Palestine is derived)[395] is generally accepted to be a

translation of the Biblical name Peleshet (‫ פלשת‬Pəlésheth, usually transliterated
as Philistia). Peleshet and its derivates are used more than 250 times in Masoretic-derived
versions of the Hebrew Bible,[396][397] of which 10 uses are in the Torah, with undefined

63
boundaries, and almost 200 of the remaining references are in the Book of Judges and the Books
of Samuel.[4][14][398] The first use is found in Genesis 10, in the Generations of Noah.[399] By the
time the Septuagint was translated the term Palaistínē (Παλαιστίνη), first used by Herodotus,
had already entered the Greek vocabulary. However, it was not used in the LXX – instead the
term Land of Phylistieim (Γη των Φυλιστιειμ) is used.[400] The Septuagint instead used the term
"allophuloi" (Αλλόφυλοι, "other nations") throughout the Books of Judges and
Samuel,[401][402] such that the term "Philistines" has been interpreted to mean "non-Israelites of
the Promised Land" when used in the context of Samson, Saul and David,[403] and Rabbinic
sources explain that these peoples were different from the Philistines of the Book of Genesis.[401]

The five books of the Pentateuch / Torah include a total of 10 references, including:[404][397]

 Genesis 10:14: (first reference) "And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came
Philistim,) and Caphtorim."
 Genesis 21:32–34: "Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and
Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And
Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the
everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days."
 Exodus 13:17: "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them
not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest
peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt"
 Exodus 23:31: "And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the
Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land
into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee."

The Historical books (see Deuteronomistic history) include over 250 references, almost 200 of
which are in the Book of Judges and the Books of Samuel, including:[404][397]

 Joshua 13:1–3: "Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him,
Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri, from
Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted
to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the
Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites"
 1Kings 4:21: "And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the
Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the
days of his life."

Wisdom books include only 6 references, all in the Psalms, including:[404][397]

 Psalm 87:4: "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold
Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there."

Books of the Major prophets and Minor prophets include around 20 references, including:[404][397]

64
  Zephaniah 2:5: "Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the
word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy
thee, that there shall be no inhabitant."
 Amos 9:7: "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the
LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from
Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?"

Etymological considerations

Per Martin Noth, the name likely comes from the Aramaic word for Philistine. Noth also
described a strong similarity between the word Palestine and the Greek word "palaistês"
(wrestler/rival/adversary), which has the same meaning as the word "Israel."[405] This was
expanded by David Jacobson to theorize the name being a portmanteau of the word for
Philistines with a direct translation of the word Israel into Greek (in concordance with the Greek
penchant for punning on place names.[406][407]

Notes

1. Jump up to:a b †Syria Palaestina

2. Jump up to:a b †Achaemenid Empire
3. †Coele-Syria

a. †Coele-Syria
During the Roman period "Palestine" was not the only geographical term for the region. For example, Strabo, in
his description of Jerusalem and Judea, uses the term "Coele-Syria" ("all Syria"), and Pliny (as above) uses both
terms. Pliny (Naturalis Historia 5.74, 77) and Strabo (16.2.16.754) do draw a distinction between the Decapolis
and Coele-Syria. Josephus (Antiquities 13.355-356, 392; 14.79, 16.275; and War 1.103-104, 155), Philo and
Ptolemy tend to use Coele-Syria for the Decapolis.[53][408][409]

Nomenclatures of Syria given by Strabo[410]

Primary Cœlê-Syria & Seleucis-Syria & Phœnicia &c. &c. Cœlê-Syria ≠ Cœlo-Syrians

Alternate Cœlo-Syrians & Syrians & Phœnicians Similar to nomenclature given by Herodotus

Greek writers of classical antiquity used the term Palestine to refer to the region of Coele-Syria, such as Polemon
of Athens and Pausanias.[95][97][98][411]

b. †Syria Palaestina
Coinciding with either the precursors (129–130) or the end (135–136) of the Bar Kochba revolt, the name Syria
Palestina was used officially for the entire region that had formerly included Iudaea Province.[412] The precise date
is not certain.[82][413] The assertion of some scholars that the name change was intended "to suppress Jewish
national feelings," "to complete the dissociation with Judaea," or "may also reflect Hadrian's decided opinions
about Jews,"[88][414][citation not found][415][416] is disputed.[9][citation needed]

c. †Achaemenid Empire

65
 Catalogues of Satrapies of the Achaemenid empire.[417]

 Darius' Behistun inscription

 Histories of the Greek researcher Herodotus
the tribute list
the list of Persian armed forces

 the inscription on Darius' tomb at Naqš-i Rustam

 the Daiva inscription of Xerxes.
There are many satrapies mentioned in a book about Alexander the Great, the Anabasis by Arrian of Nicomedia.

Xerxes, Arrian, Anabas

Darius, Herodotus, Histories 7.
Darius, Herodotus, Histories 3. XPh is
Naqš-i 61-96
Behistun 90-94 (daiva (on history of
Rustam (Army list) (480/481
(521 BC) (Tribute list) inscriptio the 4th century
(492 BC?) BC)
n) BC)

Cappadoci district III/c: Cappadoci Syrians Cappadoci

Cappadocia
a Syrians, Phrygians a (= Cappadocians) a

district IV:
Cilicia Cilicia
Cilicians

district V:
Beyond Phoenicia; Palestina;
Phoenicia; Palestina; Syria; Palestina
the river Cyprus
Cyprus

district VI/a:
Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt Egypt
Egypt

REFERENCES

1. Reland, pages 37-42, Volume I

2. Jump up to:a b Fahlbusch et al., 2005, p. 185.
3. Jump up to:a b Ancient Records of Egypt: The first through the seventeenth dynasties, James
Henry Breasted, page 24
4. Jump up to:a b c Sharon, 1988, p. 4.
5. Carl S. Ehrlich "Philistines" The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Ed. Bruce M.
Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 2001.
6. Eberhard Schrader wrote in his seminal "Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung" ("KGF", in
English "Cuneiform inscriptions and Historical Research") that the Assyrian term "Pilistu"

66
 referred to "the East" in general. See KGF p123-124 and Tiglath Pileser III by Abraham Samuel
Anspacher, p48
7. Herodotus' Description of the East Mediterranean Coast Anson F. Rainey Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 321 (Feb., 2001), pp. 57–63
8. Jacobson 2001: "As early as the Histories of Herodotus, written in the second half of the fifth
century B.C.E., the term Palaistinê is used to describe not just the geographical area where the
Philistines lived, but the entire area between Phoenicia and Egypt—in other words, the Land of
Israel. Herodotus, who had traveled through the area, would have had firsthand knowledge of the
land and its people. Yet he used Palaistinê to refer not to the Land of the Philistines, but to the
Land of Israel
9. Jump up to:a b Jacobson 1999.
 Martin Sicker (1999). Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate,
1831–1922. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-275-96639-3.: “The name later
appears in the Persian Wars of the Greek historian Herodotus in the form of an adjective
describing "the Philistine Syria," which presumably was intended to include all of Cis-
Jordan."
 James Rennell (1800). The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained: By
a Comparison with Those of Other Ancient Authors, and with Modern Geography ... W.
Bulmer. pp. 245–.: “Herodotus, as we have said, had visited Palestine, if not Phoenicia also.
The city of Jerusalem he names Cadytis, doubtless meant for the Arabian name Al Kads, the
holy : in effect, a translation of the other. He says, Thalia, 5, " that it is a city belonging to
the Syrians of Palestine; and in his opinion, equal to Sardis."”
 Gösta Werner Ahlström; Gary Orin Rollefson; Diana Vikander Edelman (1993). The
History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest. Sheffield
Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-367-4.: “The Greek historian Herodotus (1.105, 3.5)
called Cisjordan the Palestinian Syria or sometimes only Palaestina. Thus, there is a tradition
from at least the fifth century BCE for the use of this name”
 Isidore Singer; Cyrus Adler (1925). The Jewish encyclopedia: a descriptive record of the
history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times to the
present day. Funk and Wagnalls.: “As early as Herodotus, who is followed by other classical
writers, as Ptolemy and Pliny, the phrase Συρίε ἡ Παλαιστίνη (Syrian Palestine, Palestine of
Syria) denotes both the littoral and the neighboring inland region (Judea and Palestine), as
well as the entire interior as far as the Arabian desert”
 Nur Masalha, The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze
Age to the Modern Period, Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, Volume 15 Issue 2,
Page 143-202: “Herodotus uses the name accordingly and Aristotle, for example, used the
term in a way that includes the regions of Transjordan, or 'Eastern Palestine', beyond the
Jordan Rift Valley. Herodotus' conception of Palaistine included the Galilee and applied to
Palestine in the wider sense.”
10. Jacobson 1999: "The first known occurrence of the Greek word Palaistine is in the Histories of
Herodotus, written near the mid-fifth century B.C. Palaistine Syria, or simply Palaistine, is
applied to what may be identified as the southern part of Syria, comprising the region between
Phoenicia and Egypt. Although some of Herodotus' references to Palestine are compatible with a
narrow definition of the coastal strip of the Land of Israel, it is clear that Herodotus does call the
"whole land by the name of the coastal strip."..."It is believed that Herodotus visited Palestine in
the fifth decade of the fifth century B.C."..."In the earliest Classical literature references to
Palestine generally applied to the Land of Israel in the wider sense."
11. FELDMAN, LOUIS H. (1990). "Some Observations on the Name of Palestine". Hebrew Union
College Annual. 61: 1–23. JSTOR 23508170. Hence, when Herodotus (3.91), the first classical
writer to mention Palestine, speaks of the fifth province of the Persians as including Phoenicia

67
 and the part of Syria called Palestine and Cyprus; the part of Syria called Palestine either refers
only to the coastal area, so called because it had been inhabited by the Philistines, or he is
speaking loosely, since the only part of the area that he had visited was apparently along the
coast. Hence he called the whole land by the name of the coastal strip. That Herodotus has in
mind the coastal strip may be inferred from the fact that he mentions (4.39) the peninsula
running from Phoenicia beside the sea by the way of Syrian Palestine (literally Palestinian, that
is Philistine, Syria). He likewise mentions (7.89) the Syrians of Palestine (again, presumably, he
is thinking of the people along the coast) in juxtaposition with the famous seafarers, the
Phoenicians, as furnishing no fewer than three hundred ships to the Persians during the second
expedition against Greece. If we hear (1.105) 1^at the Scythians were met in Palestinian Syria by
Psammetichus, the Egyptian king, it seems likely that the reference is to the coastal area
formerly inhabited by the Philistines, inasmuch as we read immediately thereafter that they
withdrew by way of the coastal city of Ascalon, which Herodotus locates in Syria. When
Herodotus (3.5) tells us of a road which runs from Phoenicia as far as the borders of the city of
Cadytis (probably Gaza), "which belongs to the so-called Syrians of Palestine," he again seems
to be referring to the coastal area of the Philistines. A problem arises in the passage where
Herodotus (2.104.3) asserts that the Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge of
themselves that they learnt the custom of circumcision from the Egyptians. The reference here
cannot be to the Philistines, inasmuch as they were uncircumcised (Judges 14.3, etc.). While it is
true that Josephus, half a millennium later (Antiquities 8.262 and Against Apion 1.168 ff.), was
convinced that the reference was to Jews on the grounds that they alone of the inhabitants of
Syria practiced circumcision, other peoples in the region were likewise circumcised, as Jerome
(Commentary on Jeremiah 9.25-26) notes; or, more likely, Herodotus' information is derived
from second-hand sources (travel inland from the coast was particularly difficult and dangerous
in those days)6 which confused the Philistines with the Jewish inhabitants of the region. Indeed,
the fact that he couples the Syrians of Palestine with the Phoenicians may be a clue to the fact
that he is thinking of the peoples who live, as the Phoenicians did, along the coast.
12. Jump up to:a b The Southern and Eastern Borders of Abar-Nahara Steven S. Tuell Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 284 (Nov., 1991), pp. 51–57, “"Palestinian Syria"
as a Coastal Region in Herodotus”: “Herodotus considered Abar-Nahara (his "fifth province") a
maritime province. That this would be true of Cyprus and Phoenicia is self-evident. However,
Herodotus claims the same distinction for Syri he Palaistine kaleomenj ("the part of Syria called
Palestine," or "Palestinian Syria"). Hence, in both 3.5 and 3.91, as we have seen, he describes
Palestine as a coastal strip. The argument frequently raised, that Herodotus was merely mapping
out the Mediterranean coastline, is true so far as it goes. However, Herodotus claims to have
been in the country he calls Palestine (2.106); hence, if it had extended inland to any appreciable
degree, he would have known and presumably made some comment pertaining to the province's
inland reaches. But in 4.39, as part of his grand map of the world, Herodotus describes
Palestinian Syria and Phoenicia as comprising the coast of his "second peninsula" as it passes
along the Mediterranean. Finally, in 7.89, as part of his description of Xerxes' invasion fleet,
Herodotus notes, "The Phoenicians and Palestinian Syrians furnished 300 [triremes]." Thus,
Herodotus understands Phoenicia and Palestine to be partners, specifically in maritime
enterprise. Most compelling for our purposes, however, is 7:89: "The Phoenicians lived of old, so
they say, about the Red Sea, but they came out of there and settled in that part of Syria that is
next to the sea. That piece of Syria, and all as far as Egypt, is called Palestine." It is intriguing
that here Herodotus seems to use Palestine in a sense inclusive of all the coastland from Egypt
north through Phoenicia. Elsewhere (Herodotus 1.105; 2.104; 3.5; 3.91; 4.39), he considers
Phoenicia and Palestinian Syria as separate provinces. Particularly to be noted, however, is that
the piece of Syria in which the Phoenicians are said to have settled, called here Palestine, is also
explicitly said to be para thalas san ("next to, alongside of, the sea"). Herodotus apparently
considered Palestine a coastal region. Hence, his description of the satrapy of Abar Nahara,

68
 which consisted largely of Phoenicia and Palestinian Syria, as a strip of coastland is consistent
with his view concerning the nature of Palestine expressed elsewhere.”
13. Jump up to:a b Robinson, Edward, Physical geography of the Holy Land, Crocker & Brewster,
Boston, 1865, p.15. Robinson, writing in 1865 when travel by Europeans to the Ottoman Empire
became common asserts that, "Palestine, or Palestina, now the most common name for the Holy
Land, occurs three times in the English version of the Old Testament; and is there put for
the Hebrew name ‫פלשת‬, elsewhere rendered Philistia. As thus used, it refers strictly and only to
the country of the Philistines, in the southwest corner of the land. So, too, in the Greek form,
Παλαςτίνη), it is used by Josephus. But both Josephus and Philo apply the name to the whole
land of the Hebrews ; and Greek and Roman writers employed it in the like extent."
14. Cohen, Getzel M. (2006). "A Geographic Overview". In Cohen, Getzel M. (ed.). The Hellenistic
Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa (1 ed.). University of California Press.
pp. 21–70. ISBN 978-0-520-24148-0. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pnd22.5. Nevertheless, it is important
to note that despite its appearance in various literary texts of and pertaining to the Hellenistic
period, the term “Palestine” is not found on any extant Hellenistic coin or inscription. In other
words, there is no attestation for its use in an official context in the Hellenistic period. Even in
the early Roman period its use was not especially widespread. For example, Philo and Josephus
generally used “Judaea” rather than “Palestine” to refer to the area.48 Furthermore,
“Palestine” is nowhere attested in the New Testament. “Palestine” did not come into official use
until the early second century a.d., when the emperor Hadrian decided to rename the province of
Judaea; for its new name he chose “Syria Palaestina.”49 The new name took hold. It is found
thereafter in inscriptions, on coins, and in numerous literary texts.50 Thus Arrian (7.9.8, Indica
43.1) and Appian (Syr. 50), who lived in the second century a.d., and Cassius Dio (e.g., 38.38.4,
39.56.6), who lived in the third, referred to the region as “Palestine.” And in the rabbinic
literature “Palestine” was used as the name of the Roman province adjacent to Phoenicia and
Arabia (e.g., Bereshith Rabbah 90.6)
15. Rosenfeld, Ben-Zion (2000). "Flavius Josephus and His Portrayal of the Coast (Paralia) of
Contemporary Roman Palestine: Geography and Ideology". The Jewish Quarterly
Review. 91 (1/2): 143–183. doi:10.2307/1454789. JSTOR 1454789. Josephus frequently uses the
name Judaea. This name sometimes has a political significance in his writings, referring to
Provincia Iudaea, created and named by the Roman administration. At other times Judaea
signifies those areas of Palestine whose inhabitants are Jews, and it may also signify the area
which was the biblical inheritance of Judah. Yet it seems that Josephus also uses the term to
signify "the land of the Jews," indicating the territorial area of the country which, according to
Josephus' ideology, belongs to the Jewish state. This sometimes conforms with the biblical
utopian vision en compassing all the territory allocated to the Jews-Eretz Israel-and sometimes
refers only to a part. I shall use "Judaea" to refer to this last option, unless otherwise stated.
"Palestine" will be used to signify the whole region connected with the land of Israel in Josephus'
time, including the coastal region, although at that time the term was restricted to the southern
part of the coastal region.
16. FELDMAN, LOUIS H. (1990). "Some Observations on the Name of Palestine". Hebrew Union
College Annual. 61: 1–23. JSTOR 23508170. Jewish writers, notably Philo and Josephus, with
few exceptions refer to the land as Judaea, reserving the name Palestine for the coastal area
occupied by the Philistines... Josephus also (Antiquities 1.136) refers to Palestine, but this, too,
is in connection with the land of the Philistines, the immediate context being his statement that
Phylistinus is the only one of the sons of Mersaeus (i.e., Mizraim) whose country has preserved
the name of its founder, that is, Palaistine.
17. Jump up to:a b Feldman 1990, p. 19: "While it is true that there is no evidence as to precisely who
changed the name of Judaea to Palestine and precisely when this was done, circumstantial
evidence would seem to point to Hadrian himself, since he is, it would seem, responsible for a

69
 number of decrees that sought to crush the national and religious spirit of the Jews, whether these
decrees were responsible for the uprising or were the result of it. In the first place, he refounded
Jerusalem as a Graeco-Roman city under the name of Aelia Capitolina. He also erected on the
site of the Temple another temple to Zeus."
18. Jump up to:a b Jacobson 2001, pp. 44-45: "Hadrian officially renamed Judea Syria Palaestina
after his Roman armies suppressed the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (the Second Jewish Revolt) in 135
C.E.; this is commonly viewed as a move intended to sever the connection of the Jews to their
historical homeland. However, that Jewish writers such as Philo, in particular, and Josephus, who
flourished while Judea was still formally in existence, used the name Palestine for the Land of
Israel in their Greek works, suggests that this interpretation of history is mistaken. Hadrian’s
choice of Syria Palaestina may be more correctly seen as a rationalization of the name of the new
province, in accordance with its area being far larger than geographical Judea. Indeed, Syria
Palaestina had an ancient pedigree that was intimately linked with the area of greater Israel."
19. Jacobson 1999, p. 70: "By the fifth century B.C. the term Palaistinē was being used to denote the
entire area of the Land of Israel, the traditional area assigned to the 12 sons of Jacob, rather than
only the Land of the Philistines or the coastal strip of the Holy Land. Aristotle's location of the
Dead Sea in Palestine fits into place without having to be explained away as an inaccuracy
arising from second-hand transmission. Also, Hadrian's replacement of Judaea by Syria
Palaestina may be seen not so much as stemming from Rome's desire to rub the Jewish nation off
the map as from the desire to rationalize the name of the new province, which was much larger
than geographical Judaea. From the time of the Maccabees, the territorial boundaries of Judaea
had grown well beyond the confines of the Jewish hill country around Jerusalem. What could be
more suitable than an ancient name that had long stood for this much larger entity? Besides, any
link with the name Israel, tarnished by the Jewish revolts against Rome, had certainly been
forgotten."
20. Jump up to:a b Kaegi, 1995, p. 41.
21. Marshall Cavendish, 2007, p. 559.
22. Gudrun Krämer (2008) A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of
the State of Israel Translated by Gudrun Krämer and Graham Harman Princeton University
Press, ISBN 0-691-11897-3 p.16
23. "The British Mandate over Palestine". Cotf.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
24. 'State Of Palestine' Name Change Ordered By Palestinian Authority President Abbas[dead link]
25. Killebrew 2005, p. 202.
26. "Text of the Papyrus Harris". Specialtyinterests.net. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
27. Jump up to:a b Killebrew 2005, p. 204.
28. Bernard Bruyère, Mert Seger à Deir el Médineh, 1929, page 32-37
29. Alan Gardiner, Ancient Egyptian Onomastica, Volume 1, Oxford, 1947, no. 270, pages 200-205
30. Ehrlich 1996, p. 65.
31. Ehrlich 1996, p. 168.
32. Ehrlich 1996, p. 171.
33. ^ ND 2715 ( = XII; IM 64130; Plate 31), Re-edited in TCAE, pp. 390-3 and Fales, CLNA, pp.
90-95, 128-132,11.2 Translation in "The Nimrud Letters", 1952, H.W.F. Saggs, Volume: VI,
2001, page 156-157
34. ^ Ehrlich 1996, p. 190.
35. ^ COS, p. 2.118i and ANET, p. 287
36. ^ COS, p. 2.119D
37. ^ Nadav Na'aman, Sennacherib's "Letter to God" on His Campaign to Judah, Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 214 (Apr., 1974), pp. 25–39. Also at JSTOR

70
38. ^ Daniel David Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib, Oriental Institute Publications 2,
University of Chicago Press, 1924, p104
39. ^ COS, p. 2.120 and ANET, p. 533
40. ^ Rabinowitz, Nick. "Herodotus Timemap". Timemap.js – Open Source Javascript library.
nickrabinowitz.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014. Book 1, Ch.105: From there they marched
against Egypt: and when they were in the part of Syria called Palestine, Psammetichus king of
Egypt met them and persuaded them with gifts and prayers to come no further. So they turned
back, and when they came on their way to the city of Ascalon in Syria, most of the Scythians
passed by and did no harm, but a few remained behind and plundered the temple of Heavenly
Aphrodite. ἐνθευ̂τεν δὲ ἤισαν ἐπ᾽ Αἴγυπτον. καὶ ἐπείτε ἐγένοντο ἐν τῃ̂ Παλαιστίνῃ Συρίῃ,
Ψαμμήτιχος σφέας Αἰγύπτου βασιλεὺς ἀντιάσας δώροισί τε καὶ λιτῃ̂σι ἀποτράπει τὸ προσωτέρω μὴ
πορεύεσθαι.οἳ δὲ ἐπείτε ἀναχωρέοντες ὀπίσω ἐγένοντο τη̂ς Συρίης ἐν Ἀσκάλωνι πόλι, τω̂ν πλεόνων
Σκυθέων παρεξελθόντων ἀσινέων, ὀλίγοι τινὲς αὐτω̂ν ὑπολειφθέντες ἐσύλησαν τη̂ς οὐρανίης
Ἀφροδίτης
41. ^ Jacobson 1999, p. 65.
42. ^ Herodotus' Description of the East Mediterranean Coast, Anson F. Rainey, Bulletin of the
American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 321 (Feb., 2001), pp. 57–63
43. ^ Rabinowitz, Nick. "Herodotus Timemap". Timemap.js – Open Source Javascript library.
nickrabinowitz.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014. Book 3, Ch.5: Now the only apparent way of
entry into Egypt is this. The road runs from Phoenicia as far as the borders of the city of Cadytis,
which belongs to the so-called Syrians of Palestine. From Cadytis (which, as I judge, is a city not
much smaller than Sardis) to the city of Ienysus the seaports belong to the Arabians; then they
are Syrian again from Ienysus as far as the Serbonian marsh, beside which the Casian
promontory stretches seawards;from this Serbonian marsh, where Typho is supposed to have
been hidden, the country is Egypt. Now between Ienysus and the Casian mountain and the
Serbonian marsh there lies a wide territory for as much as three days journey, terribly arid.
μούνῃ δὲ ταύτῃ εἰσὶ φανεραὶ ἐσβολαὶ ἐς Αἴγυπτον. ἀπὸ γὰρ Φοινίκης μέχρι οὔρων τω̂ν Καδύτιος
πόλιος ἐστὶ Σύρων τω̂ν Παλαιστίνων καλεομένων·ἀπὸ δὲ Καδύτιος ἐούσης πόλιος, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει,
Σαρδίων οὐ πολλῳ̂ ἐλάσσονος, ἀπὸ ταύτης τὰ ἐμπόρια τὰ ἐπὶ θαλάσσης μέχρι Ἰηνύσου πόλιος ἐστὶ
του̂ Ἀραβίου, ἀπὸ δὲ Ἰηνύσου αὐ̂τις Σύρων μέχρι Σερβωνίδος λίμνης, παρ᾽ ἣν δὴ τὸ Κάσιον ὄρος
τείνει ἐς θάλασσαν·ἀπὸ δὲ Σερβωνίδος λίμνης, ἐν τῃ̂ δὴ λόγος τὸν Τυφω̂ κεκρύφθαι, ἀπὸ ταύτης
ἤδη Αἴγυπτος. τὸ δὴ μεταξὺ Ἰηνύσου πόλιος καὶ Κασίου τε ὄρεος καὶ τη̂ς Σερβωνίδος λίμνης, ἐὸν
του̂το οὐκ ὀλίγον χωρίον ἀλλὰ ὅσον τε ἐπὶ τρει̂ς ἡμέρας ὁδόν, ἄνυδρον ἐστὶ δεινω̂ς.
44. ^ Rabinowitz, Nick. "Herodotus Timemap". Timemap.js – Open Source Javascript library.
nickrabinowitz.com. Retrieved 12 December 2014. Book 7, Ch.89: The number of the triremes
was twelve hundred and seven, and they were furnished by the following: the Phoenicians with
the Syrians of Palestine furnished three hundred; for their equipment, they had on their heads
helmets very close to the Greek in style; they wore linen breastplates, and carried shields without
rims, and javelins.These Phoenicians formerly dwelt, as they themselves say, by the Red Sea;
they crossed from there and now inhabit the seacoast of Syria. This part of Syria as far as Egypt
is all called Palestine. τω̂ν δὲ τριηρέων ἀριθμὸς μὲν ἐγένετο ἑπτὰ καὶ διηκόσιαι καὶ χίλιαι,
παρείχοντο δὲ αὐτὰς οἵδε, Φοίνικες μὲν σὺν Σύροισι τοι̂σι ἐν τῃ̂ Παλαιστίνῃ τριηκοσίας, ὡ̂δε
ἐσκευασμένοι· περὶ μὲν τῃ̂σι κεφαλῃ̂σι κυνέας εἰ̂χον ἀγχοτάτω πεποιημένας τρόπον τὸν Ἑλληνικόν,
ἐνδεδυκότες δὲ θώρηκας λινέους, ἀσπίδας δὲ ἴτυς οὐκ ἐχούσας εἰ̂χον καὶ ἀκόντια.οὑ̂τοι δὲ οἱ
Φοίνικες τὸ παλαιὸν οἴκεον, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, ἐπὶ τῃ̂ Ἐρυθρῃ̂ θαλάσσῃ, ἐνθευ̂τεν δὲ ὑπερβάντες
τη̂ς Συρίης οἰκέουσι τὸ παρὰ θάλασσαν· τη̂ς δὲ Συρίης του̂το τὸ χωρίον καὶ τὸ μέχρι Αἰγύπτου πα̂ν
Παλαιστίνη καλέεται.
45. ^ wikisource:History of Herodotus and "The History of Herodotus". Retrieved 2011-12-11.
46. ^ "Herodotus, The Histories (English) – Hdt. 4.38.2". perseus.uchicago.edu. Perseus Under
Philologic. Retrieved 20 July 2016.

71
 On the second peninsula enumerated per the parts of Asia west of the Persians.

 [4.39.1] ...the second [peninsula], beginning with Persia, stretches to the Red Sea, and is
Persian land; and next, the neighboring land of Assyria; and after Assyria, Arabia; this
peninsula ends (not truly but only by common consent) at the Arabian Gulf, to which
Darius brought a canal from the Nile. [4.39.2] Now from the Persian country to
Phoenicia there is a wide and vast tract of land; and from Phoenicia this peninsula runs
beside our sea by way of the Syrian Palestine and Egypt, which is at the end of it; in this
peninsula there are just three nations.
 [4.39.1] αὕτη μέν νυν ἡ ἑτέρη τῶν ἀκτέων, ἡ δὲ δὴ ἑτέρη ἀπὸ Περσέων ἀρξαμένη
παρατέταται ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν, ἥ τε Περσικὴ καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐκδεκομένη ἡ
Ἀσσυρίη καὶ ἀπὸ Ἀσσυρίης ἡ Ἀραβίη· λήγει δὲ αὕτη, οὐ λήγουσα εἰ μὴ νόμῳ, ἐς τὸν
κόλπον τὸν Ἀράβιον, ἐς τὸν Δαρεῖος ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διώρυχα ἐσήγαγε. [4.39.2] μέχρι
μέν νυν Φοινίκης ἀπὸ Περσέων χῶρος πλατὺς καὶ πολλός ἐστι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Φοινίκης
παρήκει διὰ τῆσδε τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ ἀκτὴ αὕτη παρά τε Συρίην τὴν Παλαιστίνην καὶ
Αἴγυπτον, ἐς τὴν τελευτᾷ· ἐν τῇ ἔθνεα ἐστὶ τρία μοῦνα.
47. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Schmidt 2001, p. 29.
48. ^ "Meteorology By Aristotle". Classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
49. ^ Aristotle (1 January 2004). E. W. Webster (ed.). Meteorology. Digireads.com Publishing.
pp. 38–. ISBN 978-1-4209-0042-2. etvHt-bBafMC. Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in
Palestine, such that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does not sink
(Aristotle, Webster ed. 2004, p. 38)
50. ^ Aristotle, Meteorology 1.8, trans. E.W. Webster, rev. J. Barnes.
51. ^ Studies in Josephus and the varieties of ancient Judaism: Louis H. Feldman. BRILL. 2007.
p. 113. ISBN 978-9004153899. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
52. ^ Jump up to:a b Feldman 1996, p. 558.
53. ^ Grotius, Hugo; John CLARKE (Dean of Salisbury.) (1809). The Truth of the Christian Religion
... Corrected and illustrated with notes by Mr. Le Clerc. To which is added, a seventh book,
concerning this question, What Christian church we ought to join ourselves to? By the said Mr.
Le Clerc. The ninth edition, with additions. Particularly one whole book of Mr. Le Clerc's
against indifference of what religion a man is of. Done into English by John Clarke.
p. 64. Polemon, &c.] He seems to have lived in the Time of Ptolemy Epiphanes; concerning
which, see that very useful Book of the famous Gerrard Vossius, of
the GreekHistorians. Africanus says, the Greek Histories were wrote by him; which is the same
Book Athenæus calls, ???. His Words are these: "In the Reign of Apis the Son of Phoroneus, Part
of the Egyptian Army went out of Egypt, and dwelt in Syria called Palestine, not far
from Arabia." As Africanus preserved the Place of Polemon, so Eusebius in his Chronology
preserved that of Africanus. (p. 64 at Google Books)
54. ^ Retso, Jan (2013-07-04). The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the
Umayyads, Jan Retso, Routledge, 4 Jul 2013. ISBN 978-1-136-87282-2. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
55. ^ Mouton, Michel; Schmid, Stephan G. (2013). Men on the Rocks: The Formation of Nabataean
Petra, Michel Mouton, Stephan G. Schmid, Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, 2013. ISBN 978-3-8325-
3313-7. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
56. ^ "Diodorus of Sicily, with an English translation by C.H. Oldfather". 2010-07-21.
Retrieved 2018-06-12.
57. ^ Noth 1939, p. 139.
58. ^ Diodorus (Siculus.) (1814). The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian: In Fifteen Books.
To which are Added the Fragments of Diodorus, and Those Published by H. Valesius, I.
Rhodomannus, and F. Ursinus. W. MʻDowall. pp. 183–. "The mariner passing by this country of

72
 palms, arrives at an island near to a promontory of the continent, which is called the Island of
Sea-calves, from the great multitudes of those creatures that frequent this place. The sea here so
abounds with them that it is to the admiration of the beholders. The promontory that shoots out
towards this island lies over against Petra in Arabia and Palestine. It is said that the Gerrheans
and Mineans bring out of the higher Arabia frankincense and other oderiferous gums into this
island (Tiran Island)." p. 183 at Google Books
59. ^ Strabo (1889). The Geography of Strabo. H. G. Bohn. p. 204. Next is the island of Phocae
(Seals), (Sheduan. The "Saspirene insula" of Ptolemy) which has its name from those animals,
which abound there. Near it is a promontory which extends towards Petra, of the Arabians
called Nabataei, and to the country of Palestine, (The meaning of Strabo seems to be, that this
cape is in a direction due south of Petra and Palestine) to this [island] the Minaei, Gerrhaei, and
all the neighbouring nations repair with loads of aromatics. (p. 204 at Google Books)
60. ^ "Tibullus and Sulpicia: The Poems, Translated by A. S. Kline". Poetryintranslation.com.
Retrieved 2011-12-11.
61. ^ Feldman 1996, p. 566.
62. ^ "Latin quote: Quaque die redeunt, rebus minus apta gerendis, culta Palaestino septima festa
Syro". Thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
63. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g Feldman 1996, p. 565.
64. ^ Book IV, 45-46 "...Babylonia, narret, Derceti, quam versa squamis velantibus artus stagna
Palaestini credunt motasse figura an magis, ut sumptis illius filia pennis extremes albis in
turribus egerit annos, nais an ut cantu nimiumque potentibus herbis verteritin tacitos iuvenalia
corpora pisces"
65. ^ Book V, 144-145 "occidit et Celadon Mendesius, occidit Astreus matre Palaestina dubio
genitore creatus"
66. ^ "Ovid: Fasti, Book Two". Poetryintranslation.com. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
67. ^ "Philo: Every Good Man is Free". Earlychristianwritings.com. 2006-02-02. Retrieved 2011-
12-11.
68. ^ "Philo: On the Life of Moses, Book I". Earlychristianwritings.com. 2006-02-02.
Retrieved 2012-09-16.
69. ^ Philo (of Alexandria) (1855). "On the Life of Moses". The works of Philo Judaeus, the
contemporary of Josephus. H. G. Bohn. p. 37. When then [Moses] he received the supreme
authority, with the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regulator and approver of
all his actions, he conducted his people as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria
(Coele-syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land of the Canaanites, the
borders of which country were three days' journey distant from Egypt. (p. 37 at Google Books)
70. ^ "Philo: On Abraham". Earlychristianwritings.com. 2006-02-02. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
71. ^ Pomponius Mela (1998). Frank E. Romer (ed.). Pomponius Mela's Description of the World.
University of Michigan Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-472-08452-6. 62. Syria holds a broad expanse of the
littoral, as well as lands that extend rather broadly into the interior, and it is designated by
different names in different places. For example, it is called Coele, Mesopotamia, Judaea,
Commagene, and Sophene. 63. It is Palestine at the point where Syria abuts the Arabs, then
Phoenicia, and then—where it reaches Cilicia—Antiochia. [...] 64. In Palestine, however, is
Gaza, a mighty and well fortified city.
72. ^ "Pomponius Mela, De Chorographia Liber Primus". Thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved 2011-12-
11. Syria late litora tenet, terrasque etiam latius introrsus, aliis aliisque nuncupata nominibus:
nam et Coele dicitur et Mesopotamia et Damascene et Adiabene et Babylonia et Iudaea et
Commagene et Sophene. Hic Palaestine est qua tangit Arabas, tum Phoenice; et ubi se Ciliciae
committit Antiochia, olim ac diu potens, sed cum eam regno Semiramis tenuit longe potentissima.

73
 Operibus certe eius insignia multa sunt; duo maxime excellunt; constituta urbs mirae
magnitudinis Babylon, ac siccis olim regionibus Euphrates et Tigris immissi.
73. ^ ), Pliny (the Elder (1855). Pliny's Natural History. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
74. ^ "Pliny, Book 12, Chapter 40". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
75. ^ "Idumaeas autem palmas ab Idumaeorum gente, id est ludaeorum, quae regio est in Syria
Palaestina" In Vergilii Bucolica et Georgica commentarius, accedunt scholiorum Veronensium et
aspri quaestionum Vergilianarum fragmenta, editor: Henricus Keil (1848)
76. ^ "Punica, Volume III, 605-607". 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
77. ^ Reland 1714, p. 40.
78. ^ Feldman 1996, p. 567.
79. ^ s:Against Apion/Book I
80. ^ s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XX
81. ^ Jump up to:a b c Feldman 1996
82. ^ Publius Papinius Statius; Gustave Queck (1854). "Silvae". Publius Papinius Statius. B.G.
Teubneri. p. 58. Isis, ...gently with thine own hand lead the peerless youth, on whom the Latian
prince hath bestowed the standards of the East and the bridling of the cohorts of Palestine, (i.e.,
a command on the Syrian front) through festal gate and sacred haven and the cities of thy land.
(p. 58 at Google Books & p. 163 at archive.org)
83. ^ (Statius. Silvae. Ed. J. H. Mozley. London, New York: William Heinemann Ltd., G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1928.) p. 163 at archive.org
84. ^ "Lucullus, By Plutarch". Classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
85. ^ Plutarch; John Langhorne; William Langhorne (1866). Plutarch's Lives. Applegate and
Company. pp. 332, 419. Images of p. 332 & p. 419 at Google Books
86. ^ The Works of Achilles Tatius p. 256 at Archive.org
87. ^ Jump up to:a b Lehmann, Clayton Miles (Summer 1998). "Palestine: History: 135–337: Syria
Palaestina and the Tetrarchy". The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. University of
South Dakota. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
88. ^ Foster, Zachary (November 2017). "Southern Syria". The Invention of Palestine (thesis).
Princeton University. pp. 95–110. ISBN 978-0-355-48023-8. Docket 10634618. Retrieved 9
February 2018. Some of this history is not without controversy. The most infamous incident was
the alleged name change from Judaea to Palestine in 135 CE. Most scholars believe the Roman
Emperor Hadrian changed the provincial administrative name of Judaea to Palestine to erase
the Jewish presence in the land, a point often seized by Israel apologists because it squares
nicely with the theory that Jews have faced millennia of uninterrupted persecution. What Israel
apologists don’t know is that it’s equally likely the name change had little to do with Jew hatred
and more to do with Hadrian’s romance with ancient Greece. It’s also possible Judaea gradually
fell from use out of derelict rather than spite. These theories are little known even among
scholars because they serve no political agenda. Regrettably, it seems too many historians of
Hadrian and the Jews of the Roman Empire have fallen victim to the propaganda.... The Roman
Emperor Hadrian is claimed to have replaced the district of Judaea with Palestine to erase the
land’s Jewish identity after crushing the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 135 AD, what we might call the
erasure hypothesis… Historians do not believe that Hadrian preserved the administrative
boundaries of Judaea and simply rename the province Palestine. Instead, the consensus is that
the district was abolished altogether and replaced not with Palaestina, but with Syria-
Palaestina. Palaestina, to repeat, was not the name of a Roman administrative province
beginning in 135. Now let’s discuss the evidence in support of the erasure hypothess. Recall that
the Romans banned circumcision, hellenized Jerusalem and levied a half-shekel tax on the Jews
to pay for it. This inspired rebellion. The leader of the rebellion, Bar Kokhba, took complete
control of Judaea (although not Jerusalem) in 132, annihilating Roman troops stationed in

74
 Judaea and even a unit sent from Egypt. Bar Kokhba ruled Judaea for more than two years. He
inaugurated a new calendar, “the First Year of the Redemption of Israel” and issued leases of
parcels of land. He probably inspired Jewish insurrection elsewhere in the Empire too. In
response, Emperor Hadrian summoned his best generals to quell the revolt. This included Julius
Severus from Britain and other units from Syria and the Danube. In total, some 12 or 13 legions
participated, an enormous troop deployment for a territory the size of Judaea. Hadrian even
made two visits to the front lines himself. His units incurred heavy losses, but managed to crush
the rebellion, obliterating 50 major outposts, 1,000 villages and killing tens if not hundreds of
thousands of Jews. The Romans dispossessed Jews of their land in Jerusalem after their re-
conquest in 135 AD. They destroyed a Samaritan (Hebrew offshoot) sanctuary at Mount Gerizim
(near Nablus) and sold Jewish slaves in Gaza and Hebron for the price of a horse. The Romans
outlawed anyone from practicing Mosaic law or owning scrolls. Pagan shrines were built over
Jewish ones. The rabbis were traumatized by the gruesome violence, even claiming that “the
gentiles fertilized their vineyards for seven years with the blood of Israel without using manure.”
Hadrian had ample reason to change the name and “to stamp out the embers” of “Jewish
nationhood and statehood,” as Bernard Lewis put it. But there are also some major problems
with the erasure hypothesis. It assumes that Palestine was not already the name of a region that
included Judaea. If it was, then how could Hadrian have changed the name to Palestine?… But
Palestine did not emerge forth from Judaea, it had coexisted with it long before it was putatively
changed to it. Herodotus (d.425 BC) was the first on record in the Greek world to use the term
Palestine. The prevailing theory is that he adopted the term from Aramaic—both because
Aramaic was the closest thing the Near East had at that time to a lingua franca and because
Middle Aramaic, a Semitic language related to Hebrew, had a form of that word—Pi-li-s-ta'in—
closest to Herodotus’s Greek usage… Others writers… used the term before 135 CE, and they
included Judaea in it. So, Palestine included Judaea a long time before Hadrian said it included
Judaea. We have a plausible motive for the change without knowing anything else about
Hadrian: he called the place what it was called. Interestingly, Hadrian… admired Greek
aesthetics, art and philosophy and even changed provincial names to Greek ones elsewhere in
the Empire as symbolic acts of restoration. This included the city of Antigonea, called that by the
Macedonian king Antigonus Doson, which he changed to Mantinea—its Greek name during the
time of Sparta’s prominence; the city of Sepphoris, which was renamed Diocaesarea in
Hadrian’s honor in 130; he renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina—to remind Christian Roman
dissenters that it was Aelius Hadrianus—i.e. himself—who held power in Jerusalem. It’s
plausible he renamed Judaea not because he wanted to give BDS a head start, as Malcolm
Hoenlein believed, but rather because he loved the Greeks—and he thought the Greeks called the
place Palestine… The decision to change the name to Palestine may have been a banal
bureaucratic choice. The whole affair might have passed without anyone thinking there was
anything vengeful about the change. This seems plausible, especially given the paucity of direct
evidence around who made the change, when and under what circumstances. If the
administrative reorganization was indeed banal, then we might have expected both names to
have persisted after the change, which is exactly what happened. An inscription in modern
Austria from after the reported change described someone as the procurator of Judaea; another
from Ephesus, Turkey, identified Sextus Erucius Clarus as governor of Judaea —and those were
official inscriptions. Other Greek and Roman unofficial sources, including Galen, Celsus, Dio
Cassius, Festus, Eutropius, Martianus Capella, Orosius and the anonymous author of Epitome
de Caesaribus used the term Judaea, often side by side Palestine, as if they were synonyms—
centuries after it had putatively been erased. The 4th century writer Epiphanius, for instance,
explicitly claimed “Palaestina” is “Judaea.” Could all those writers have been so blasphemous
against Rome—reviving the name that Hadrian vengefully erased? 135 AD might not have been
as important a moment as everyone seems to think.
89. ^ Louis H. Feldman (1996). Studies in Hellenistic Judaism. BRILL. p. 553.

75
90. ^ Published in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, XVI, no. 87: scan
91. ^ Valerie A. Maxfield (1 January 1981). The Military Decorations of the Roman Army.
University of California Press. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-520-04499-9.
92. ^ Antoine Héron de Villefosse (2010-09-16). "Diplôme militaire de l'annee 139, découvert en
Syrie. Note de M. Héron de Villefosse, membre de l'Académie". Persee.fr. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
93. ^ "In the Louvre". Louvre.fr. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
94. ^ Jump up to:a b Schürer, Emil (2014). "The Sibylline Oracles". The History of the Jewish People
in the Age of Jesus Christ: Volume 3. A&C Black. p. 620. ISBN 978-0-567-60452-1. Unique and
noteworthy is also the discussion in Pausanias, who mentions four: (1) the Libyan Sibyl, (2) the
Herophile of Marpessos or Erythrae, i.e. from Asia Minor, who also prophesied in Delphi, (3)
the Demo in Cumae and (4) the Sabbe of the Hebrews in Palestine, who was also called the
Babylonian or Egyptian, i.e. the Oriental. It seems that Pausanias has noted that the traditions
relating to the Sibyls suggest four different categories of prophecy, and that he has simply
assigned a geographical location to each.; Buitenwerf, Rieuwerd (2010). "The identity of the
prophetess Sibyl in "Sibylline Oracles" III.". Prophets and Prophecy in Jewish and Early
Christian Literature. Coronet Books Incorporated. p. 44. ISBN 978-3-16-150338-2. Pausanias
(X 12.9) mentions the tradition of a Hebrew Sibyl in Palestine called Sabbe, daughter of
Berossus and Erymanthe.; Martin Goodman (1998). Jews in a Graeco-Roman World. Oxford
University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-151836-2. By the second century CE Pausanias could
make specific reference to a Sibyl of the Hebrews in Palestine alongside the Erythraean, Libyan,
and Cumaean Sibyls.; Collins, John Joseph (2001). Seers, Sibyls, and Sages in Hellenistic-
Roman Judaism. BRILL. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-391-04110-3. Pausanias concludes his list of sibyls
with reference to a prophetess who was: "brought up in Palestine named Sabbe, whose father
was Berosus and her mother Erymanthe. Some say she was a Babylonian, while others call her
an Egyptian Sibyl.
95. ^ "Book 1 Chapter 14". Perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
96. ^ Jump up to:a b "Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9. 1 – 22". Theoi.com. Retrieved 2011-12-
11.
97. ^ Jump up to:a b Parke, Herbert William (January 1988). Sibyls and sibylline prophecy in
classical antiquity. ISBN 978-0-415-00343-8. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
98. ^ Publius Aelius Aristides (1986). "III. To Plato: In Defense of the Four". The complete works:
Orationes I-XVI, with an appendix containing the fragments and inscriptions. 1. Charles A. Behr,
trans. Leiden: Brill Archive. p. 275. ISBN 90-04-07844-4.
99. ^ Appian of Alexandria. "Preface of the Roman History". Livius.org. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
100. ^ Lucian (of Samosata.) (1888). Howard Williams (ed.). Lucian's Dialogues: Namely,
The Dialogues of the Gods, of the Sea-gods, & of the Dead; Zeus the Tragedian, the Ferry-boat,
Etc. George Bell & Sons. pp. 18–. MTYOLns5pAcC. Lucian, WILLIAMS ed. 1888, p. 18 at
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101. ^ Pearse, Roger. "Lucian of Samosata : THE PASSING OF PEREGRINUS". The
Tertullian Project. tertullian.org. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
102. ^ "Anabasis Alexandri". Retrieved 2011-12-11.
103. ^ Karl Friedrich August Nobbe, Geography, Book 5, Chapter 15
104. ^ "16. The New Jewish World – Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog". Kunsthistorisches
Museum Wien. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
105. ^ "Ulpian on Tyre's Juridical Status". www.livius.org. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
106. ^ Tertullian. The Selected Works of Tertullian (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus).
Library of Alexandria. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-4655-8843-2.
107. ^ "Epistle to Aristides" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-06-12.

76
108. ^ Cassius Dio Cocceianus (1914). "Book XXXVII". Dio's Roman History. 3. W.
Heinemann. p. 127. (5) This was the course of events at that time in Palestine; for this is the
name that has been given from of old to the whole country extending from Phoenicia to Egypt
along the inner sea. They have also another name that they have acquired: the country has been
named Judaea, and the people themselves Jews. [17] (1) I do not know how this title came to be
given to them, but it applies also to all the rest of mankind, although of alien race, who affect
their customs. This class exists even among the Romans, and though often repressed has
increased to a very great extent and has won its way to the right of freedom in its observances.
(Image of p. 127 at Google Books)
109. ^ "Historia Romana, The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70CE".
Homepages.luc.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
110. ^
 Quadrigae Tyrannorum (The Four tyrants: The Lives of Firmus, Saturninus, Proculus and
Bonosus)
 The Life of Septimius Severus
 Divus Aurelianus (Life of Aurelian)
111. ^ Lendering, Jona. "Historia Augusta". www.livius.org. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
112. ^ "Historia Augusta • Lives of Firmus, Saturninus, Proculus and
Bonosus". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
113. ^ "Historia Augusta • Life of Septimius Severus". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 17
July 2016.
114. ^ "Historia Augusta • Life of Aurelian (Part 2 of 3)". penelope.uchicago.edu.
Retrieved 17 July 2016.
115. ^ "Itinerarium Antonini Avgvsti et Hierosolymitanvm: ex libris manvscriptis, By Gustav
Parthey, p276". 1848. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
116. ^ Röhricht 1890, p. 1.
117. ^ Roger Pearse (2002-09-06). "Eusebius' History of the Martyrs in Palestine, translated
by William Cureton". Ccel.org. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
118. ^ Professor Robert Louis Wilken (2009). The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian
History and Thought. ISBN 978-0-300-06083-6.
119. ^ Röhricht 1890, p. 7.
120. ^ Jump up to:a b Reland 1714, p. 45.
121. ^ Exodus 6. 6.
122. ^ Judges 2. 16.
123. ^ "Book I:209". Against the Galileans. Translated by Wilmer Cave Wright, 1923,
at Wikisource
124. ^ Sextus Aurelius Victor; Banchich, Thomas Michael (2000). A Booklet about the Style of
Life and the Manners of the Imperatores: Abbreviated from the Books of Sextus Aurelius Victor.
Buffalo, NY: Canisius College. p. 10. Vespasian ruled ten years. [...] Volgeses, King of Parthia,
was compelled to peace. 13. The Syria for which Palestina is the name, [143] and Cilicia, and
Trachia and Commagene, which today we call Augustophratensis, were added to the provinces.
Judaea, too, was added.
125. ^ Marcus Junianus Justinus; Cornelius Nepos; Eutropius (1853). Justin, Cornelius
Nepos, and Eutropius: literally translated, with notes and a general index. H. G. Bohn.
p. 504. XIX. ...Vespasian, who had been chosen emperor in Palestine, a prince indeed of obscure
birth, but worthy to be compared with the best emperors. (Image of p. 504 at Google Books)
126. ^ Eutropius; John Clarke (1793). Eutropii Historiæ romanæ breviarium: cum versione
anglica, in qua verbum de verbo exprimitur; notis quoque & indice. J.F. and C. Rivington and T.
Evans. p. 109. Sub hoc Judæa Romano accessit Imperio, & Hierosolyma, quæ fuit urbs

77
 clarissima Palestinæ. (Under him Judæa was added to the Roman Empire; and Jerusalem, which
was a very famous city of Palestine.) (Image of p. 109 at Google Books)
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Retrieved 2011-12-11.
128. ^ Ammianus Marcellinus (1894). The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus: During
the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens. G. Bell.
p. 29. 11. The last province of the Syrias is Palestine, a district of great extent, abounding in
well-cultivated and beautiful land, and having several magnificent cities, all of equal
importance, and rivalling one another as it were in parallel lines. For instance, Caesarea, which
Herod built in honour of the Prince Octavianus, and Eleutheropolis, and Neapolis, and also
Ascalon, and Gaza, cities built in bygone ages. (p. 29 at Google Books)
129. ^ "Letters of St. Jerome, Letter 33". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
130. ^ M.L. McClure; C. L. Feltoe (1919). The Pilgrimage of Etheria. Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge. THE PILGRIMAGE OF ETHERIA archive.org
131. ^ Vicchio, Stephen J. (4 October 2006). Job in the Medieval World. Wipf and Stock
Publishers. p. 23 n. 2. ISBN 978-1-59752-533-6. Origen produced a full-length exposition of the
book of Job, as did his student, Avagrius. Fragments of Origen’s commentary survive in Migne's
Patrologia Graeca, under the titles, “Selecta of Job” and “Enarrationes in Job.” Another Job
commentary attributed to Origen and extant in a Latin translation in three books is not genuine.
Early twentieth-century scholars conclusively have attributed the work, Commenttarium on Iob,
to Maximinus, a fourth century Arian writer.
132. ^ Scheck, Thomas P.; Erasmus, Desiderius (1 February 2016). Erasmus's Life of Origen.
CUA Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8132-2801-3.
133. ^ Steinhauser, Kenneth B.; Müller, Hildegund; Weber, Dorothea (2006). Anonymi in Iob
commentarius. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 978-3-7001-
3608-8. Steinhauser asserts that the author is Auxentius of Durostorum
134. ^ Anonymi [not Origen] (1844). Carl Heinrich Eduard Lommatzsch (ed.). Origenis
Opera omnia quae graece vel latine tantum exstant et ejus nomine circumferuntur. XVI. Anonymi
in Job commentarius. Adamantii de recta in Deum fide. Sumtibus Haude et Spener. p. 24. Images
of p 24 & Title page i. & Title page ii. at Google Books
135. ^ Saint John Chrysostom; Roth, Catharine P. (1984). On Wealth and Poverty. St
Vladimir's Seminary Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-88141-039-6.
136. ^ John Chrysostom (2011). "HOMILY III – Against those who keep the first Paschal
Fast". Eight Homilies Against the Jews. Lulu.com. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-257-83078-7.
137. ^ Jacques-Paul Migne (1859). "IN EOS QUI PASCHA JEJUNANT – Adversus Judaeos
III". Patrologiae cursus completus: seu bibliotheca universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda,
oeconomica, omnium SS. Patrum, doctorum scriptorumque ecclesiasticorum, sive latinorum, sive
graecorum, qui ab aevo apostolico ad tempora Innocentii III (anno 1216) pro latinis et ad
concilii Florentini tempora (ann. 1439) pro graecis floruerunt. Series graeca, in quo prodeunt
patres, doctores scriptoresque ecclesiae graecae a S. Barnaba ad Bessarionem. 48. p. 870. Vide
namque quantum sit discrimen. Illud corporalem mortem prohibebat, hoc iram sedavit, quae
adversum universum terrarum orbem serebatur: illud ab AEgypto vindicavit, hoc ab idololatria
liberavit: illud Pharaonem, hoc diabolum suffocavit: post illud Palastina, post hoc caelum.
(Image of p. 870 at Google Books)
138. ^ Thomas A. Idniopulos (1998). "Weathered by Miracles: A History of Palestine From
Bonaparte and Muhammad Ali to Ben-Gurion and the Mufti". The New York Times.
Retrieved 2007-08-11.
139. ^ Le Strange 1890, p. 26.
140. ^ "Roman Arabia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2007-08-11.

78
141. ^ Synecdemus, E. Weber, 1840, page 398
142. ^ Georgii Cyprii descripto orbis Romani, edidit praefatus est commentario instruxit
Henricus Gelzer, 1890, page XLVI
143. ^ Epiphanius’ Treatise on Weights and Measures: The Syriac Version, Studies in Ancient
Oriental Civilization (SAOC), page 30, line 54c
144. ^ Sir William Smith (1880). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and
Mythology: Earinus-Nyx. J. Murray. pp. 465–. 7. Commenturii in Ezechielem, in fourteen books,
written at intervals during the years A.D. 411-414, the task having been begun immediately after
the commentaries upon Isaiah, but repeatedly broken off. See Prolegg. and Ep. 126 ad
Marcellin. et Anapsych. (Ed. Bened. vol. iii. p. 698.) (p. 465 at Google Books)
145. ^ "St. Jerome on Ezekiel Pt. 1- Latin". Aquinas Study Bible – Ezekiel. Google Sites.
Retrieved 20 June 2015. iuda et terra israel ipsi institores tui in frumento primo; balsamum et
mel et oleum et resinam proposuerunt in nundinis tuis. (lxx: iudas et filii israel isti negotiatores
tui in frumenti commercio et unguentis; primum mel et oleum et resinam dederunt in nundinis
tuis). uerbum hebraicum 'phanag' aquila, symmachus et theodotio ita ut apud hebraeos positum
est transtulerunt, pro quo septuaginta 'unguenta', nos 'balsamum' uertimus. dicitur autem quibus
terra iudaea, quae nunc appellatur palaestina, abundet copiis frumento, balsamo, melle et oleo
et resina, quae a iuda et israel ad tyri nundinas deferuntur.
146. ^ Sainte Bible expliquée et commentée, contenant le texte de la Vulgate. Bibl.
Ecclésiastique. 1837. p. 41. Quod si objeceris terram repromissionis dici, quae in Numerorum
volumine continetur (Cap. 34), a meridie maris Salinarum per Sina et Cades-Barne, usque ad
torrentem Aegypti, qui juxta Rhinocoruram mari magno influit; et ab occidente ipsum mare,
quod Palaestinae, Phoenici, Syriae Coeles, Ciliciaeque pertenditur; ab aquilone Taurum
montem et Zephyrium usque Emath, quae appellatur Epiphania Syriae; ad orientem vero per
Antiochiam et lacum Cenereth, quae nunc Tiberias appellatur, et Jordanem, qui mari influit
Salinarum, quod nunc Mortuum dicitur; (Image of p. 41 at Google Books)
147. ^ Hieronymus (1910). "Epistola CXXIX Ad Dardanum de Terra promissionis (al. 129;
scripta circa annum 414ce)". Epistularum Pars III —Eusebius Hieronymus epistulae 121-154,
p. 171 (The fifty-sixth volume of Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum also known as
the Vienna Corpus: Letters Part 3, Containing letters 121-154 of St. Jerome.) Image of p. 171 at
Archive.org
148. ^ Migne, Jacques-Paul (1864). Patrologiæ cursus completus: seu, Bibliotheca
universalis, integra, uniformis, commoda, oeconomica omnium SS. patrum, doctorum,
scriptorumque ecclesiasticorum. Series græca. 80. J.-P. Migne. pp. 1911–1912. INTERPR.
PSALMI CXXXII. Vers. 3. Sicut rus Hermonis. qui descendit in montem Sion. Rurus ad aliam
similitudinem transit, concordiae utilitatem docens: et hane dixit similem es e rori, qui ab
Hermon in Sionem defertur. Tantus autem hic est, ut tegulae stillas emittant. Hermon autem
mons est Palaestinae, e terra: Israelis tantum non contiguus. Quoniam illic mandavit Dominus
benedictionem et vitam usque in saeculum. Non in Hermone, sed in Sione. In qua vitalis ros
sancti Spiritus in sacros apostolos missus fuit, per quem fideles omnes sempiternam gratiam
percipiunt. ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΡΛΒʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. γʹ. Ὡς δρόσος Ἀερμὼν ἡ καταβαίνουσα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη
Σιών. Πάλιν εἰς ἑτέραν εἰκόνα μετέβη, τῆς συμφωνίας διδάσκων τὸ χρήσιμον· καὶ ταύτην ἔφη σεν
ἐοικέναι τῇ δρόσῳ, τῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀερμὼν τῇ Σιὼν ἐπιφερομένῃ. Τοσαύτη δὲ αὕτη, ὡς καὶ στα γόνας
τοὺς κεράμους ἐκπέμπειν. Τὸ δὲ Ἀερμὼν· ὄρος ἐστὶ, καὶ αὐτὸ τῆς Παλαιστίνης, τῇ γῇ διαφέ ρων
τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. Ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐνετείλατο Κύριος τὴν εὐλογίαν, ζωὴν ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος. Οὐκ ἐν Ἀερμὼν, ἀλλ'
ἐν τῇ Σιὼν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος ἐπὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀποστόλους ἡ ζωοποιὸς κατεπέμφθη
δρόσος, δι' ἧς ἅπαντες οἱ πιστεύοντες τὴν αἰώνιον εὐλογίαν καρποῦνται. (Image
of p. 1911 & p. 1912 at Google Books)
149. ^ Young's Literal Translation (1863). The holy Bible, tr. by R. Young. p. 394. PSALMS.
CXXXIII. A Song of the Ascents, by David. v.1 Lo, how good and how pleasant The dwelling of

79
 brethren —even together! v.2 As the good oil on the head, Coming down on the beard, the beard
of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes, v.3 As dew of Hermon —That cometh down
on hills of Zion, For there Jehovah commanded the blessing —Life unto the age! (Image
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Perhaps he could have adverted to passages like Deut 4.48 that put Mount Hermon on Israel’s
northern border. An observation on geography is felt pertinent by him —but nothing of a general
nature on the value of harmony in the Christian community from the psalm, which has much to
offer on the theme.
151. ^ "Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
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161. ^ Abu Salih the Armenian; Abu al-Makarim (1895). Basil Thomas Alfred Evetts
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system of the true fundamentals of geography; digested into various definitions, problems,
theorems, and paradoxes: with a transient survey of the surface of the earthly ball, as it consists
of land and water. II. A particular view of the terraqueous globe. Being a clear and pleasant
prospect of all remarkable countries upon the face of the whole earth; shewing their situation,
extent, division, subdivision, cities, chief towns, name, air, soil, commodities, rarities,
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Palestine, or the Holy Land. (Gordon 1704, p. 290)
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85
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divers noms, que portoit autrefois la Terre d Israël, ,,,Ici nous désignerons sous le nom de
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Israel, ...Now we will refer to the Land of Israel by the name of Palestine which is the most
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in Crete, came from these Philistines who are originally of Ægyptian race. (Image
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historical sketch of the progress of geographical discovery, the principles of mathematical and physical geography, and a
complete description from the most recent sources, of the political and social condition of the world ... Adam and Charles
Black. pp. 651–654.
330. ^ Keith, Alexander (1843). The Land of Israel, According to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
William Whyte. pp. 186–. p. 186 at Google Books
331. ^ Keith, Alexander (1843). The Land of Israel, According to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
William Whyte. pp. 467–. p. 467 & p. 468 at Google Books

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332. ^ Bacheler, Origen (1843). Restoration and Conversion of the Jews. Potter. p. 117. But ever since 1832, when Mehemet Ali
took possession of Syria, there has been a remarkable flocking of the Jews to Palestine. The precise number of them at
present in the Holy Land is estimated to amount to about 40,000. (Image of p. 117 at Google Books)
333. ^ Olin, Stephen (1843). Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy land. Harper & brothers. pp. 434–. p. 434 at Google
Books
334. ^ Röhr, Johann Friedrich; Eli, Smith; Wolcott, Samuel (1843). Röhr's Historico-geographical account of Palestine:
Researches in Palestine. T. Clark. p. 185. p. 185 at Google Books
335. ^ J. T. Bannister (1844). A Survey of the Holy Land... Binns and Goodwin. pp. 148–149. Images of p. 148 & p. 149 at Google
Books
336. ^ Smedley, Edw (1845). "Syria". Encyclopaedia Metropolitana; or, universal dictionary of knowledge, on an original plan:
comprising the twofold advantage of a philosophical and an alphabetical arrangement, with appropriate engravings: Edited
by Edw. Smedley, Hugh Jam. Rose, and H. John Rose. (Text: voll. XXVI. Plates: voll. III. Index. 25. B. Fellowes, Rivington,
Ducan, Malcolm, Suttaby, Hodgson. p. 383. Image of p. 383 at Google Books
337. ^ Munk, Salomon (1845). Palestine: Description géographique, historique et archéologique (in French). F. Didot. pp. 2–
3. Sous le nom de Palestine, nous comprenons le petit pays habité autrefois par les Israélites, et qui aujourd'hui fait partie
des pachalics d'Acre et de Damas. Il s'étendait entre le 31 et 33° degré latitude N. et entre le 32 et 35° degré longitude E., sur
une superficie d'environ 1300 lieues carrées. Quelques écrivains jaloux de donner au pays des Hébreux une certaine
importance politique, ont exagéré l'étendue de la Palestine; mais nous avons pour nous une autorité que l'on ne saurait
récuser. Saint Jérôme, qui avait longtemps voyagé dans cette contrée, dit dans sa lettre à Dardanus (ep. 129) que de la limite
du nord jusqu'à celle du midi il n'y avait qu'une distance de 160 milles romains, ce qui fait environ 55 lieues. Il rend cet
hommage à la vérité bien qu'il craigne, comme il le dit lui-même de livrer par la terre promise aux sarcasmes païens. (Pudet
dicere latitudinem terrae repromissionis, ne ethnicis occasionem blasphemandi dedisse uideamur)
338. ^ Munk, Salomon; Levy, Moritz A. (1871). Palästina: geographische, historische und archäologische Beschreibung dieses
Landes und kurze Geschichte seiner hebräischen und jüdischen Bewohner (in German). Leiner. p. 1. Image of p. 1 at Google
Books
339. ^ McLeod, Walter (1847). The geography of Palestine. pp. 51–52. MODERN DIVISIONS. 8. Palestine is now divided into
pashalicks, the most important of which are Akka and Damascus. The country is under the dominion of the Turks, and is
governed by Mehemet Pasha, who has been recently appointed the governor-general of Palestine.
340. ^ Arculf; Willibald (1848). THOMAS WRIGHT (ed.). Early travels in Palestine: comprising the narratives of Arculf,
Willibald, [and others]. Henry G. Bohn. p. 1. Image of p. 1 at Google Books
341. ^ RITTER, Carl (1866). The comparative geographie of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula. T. & T. Clark. p. 22. CHAPTER
II. REVIEW OF THE AUTHORITIES ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. ...the lists of authorities given
by Reland, Pococke, Meusel, Bellermann, Rosenmüller, Berghaus, Hammer-Purgstall, and more especially by von
Raumer and Robinson. ...Others which we have from the English and the French ...John Kitto, Munk. (Image of p. 22 at
Google Books)
342. ^ Ritter, Carl (1848). Vergleichende Erdkunde der Sinai-Halbinsel, von Palaestina und Syrien. G. Reiner.
343. ^ Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivleri, HRT 0520; Ottoman Maps of the Empire’s Arab Provinces, 1850s to the First World War;
Yuval Ben-Bassat & Yossi Ben-Artzi
344. ^ Lynch, William Francis (1849). Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. Lea and
Blanchard. pp. 425–. p. 425 at Google Books
345. ^ Schwarz, Yehoseph (1850). A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. A. Hart. p. 378. p. 378 at
Google Books
346. ^ James Redhouse (1856). An English and Turkish dictionary.
347. ^ Porter, Josias Leslie (1868). John Murray (Firm) (ed.). A Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine ... 1. J. Murray.
pp. 177–. p. 177 at Google Books
348. ^ Porter, Josias Leslie (1858). A handbook for travellers in Syria and Palestine. 2. Murray. pp. 374–. p. 374 at Google Books
349. ^ Traill, Thomas Stewart (1860). The Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature. A.
and C. Black. pp. 36–. David Kay published articles on various subjects and was one of the sub-editors on the eighth edition
of Encyclopædia Britannica. Geographical Articles from the Encyclopædia Britannica 4to David Kay Esq frgs
350. ^ Traill, Thomas Stewart (1859). 'Palestine', The Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (8 ed.). A. and C. Black. pp. 198–.
Djk6AQAAMAAJ. [Palestine] ...was finally subdued in 1517 by Selim I., the sultan of the Turks, under whom it has continued
for more than 300 years. ...until the memorable invasion of Egypt by the French army in 1798. Bonaparte being apprised that
preparations were making in the pashalic of Acre for attacking him in Egypt, resolved, according to his usual tactics, to
anticipate the movements of his enemies. He accordingly marched across the desert which divides Egypt from Palestine, and
invaded the country at the head of 10,000 troops. After taking several towns, and among the rest Jaffa, where he stained his
character by the atrocious massacre of 4000 prisoners. (Traill 1859, p. 198, 'Palestine', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 17)
351. ^ Osborn, Henry Stafford (1859). Palestine, past and present: with biblical, literary, and scientific notices. James Challen.
pp. 507–508. Image of p. 507 & p. 508 at Google Books
352. ^ Traill, Thomas Stewart (1860). The Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature. A.
and C. Black. pp. 38–. J.L.P. —Porter, Rev. J. L., Author of the "Handbook to Syria and Palestine". (p. 38 at Google Books)
353. ^ 'Syria', Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (8 ed.). Little, Brown, & Company. 1860. pp. 907–. 1TI7AQAAMAAJ. The modern
inhabitants of Syria and Palestine are a mixed race, made up of the descendants of the ancient Syrians who occupied the
country in the early days of Christianity and of the Arabians who came in with the armies of the khalifs and settled in the

90
 cities and villages. The number of the latter being comparatively small, the mixture of blood did not visibly change the type of
the ancient people. This may be seen by comparing the Christians with the Muslems. The former are undoubtedly of pure
Syrian descent, while the latter are more or less mixed, and yet there is no visible distinction between the two save what dress
makes. (1860, p. 907, 'Syria', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 20)
354. ^ 36th United States Congress (1860). The Massacres in Syria: a Faithful Account of the Cruelties and Outrages Suffered by
the Christians of Mount Lebanon, During the Late Persecutions in Syria: With a Succinct History of Mahometanism and the
Rise of the Maronites, Druses ... and Other Oriental Sects ... R.M. De Witt. pp. 11–. -mKObB86PUMC. (36th U.S. Congress
1860, p. 11 at Google Books)
355. ^ Norton, William (1865). S. C. Hall (ed.). How I Got My Cork Legs, The St. James's Magazine. W. Kent. p. 225. p. 225 at
Google Books
356. ^ Thomson, William McClure (1865). The land of promise: travels in modern Palestine [from The land and the Book].
p. 46. From Samaria to Nablûs is two hours' easy riding; first south, over the shoulder of the mountain, and then east ward,
up the lovely vale of Nablûs. Nothing in Palestine surpasses it in fertility and natural beauty, and this is mainly due to the fine
mill-stream which flows through it. The whole country is thickly studded with villages; the plains clothed with grass or grain;
and the rounded hills with orchards of olive, fig, pomegranate, and other trees. (Image of p. 46 at Google Books)
357. ^ Tobler, Titus (1867). Bibliographica Geographica Palaestinae. Leipzig: Verlag Von S. Hirzel. Retrieved 19
June 2015. Cover image at Archive.org
358. ^ John Tillotson (1871). Palestine Its Holy Sites and Sacred Story. Ward, lock and Tyler. p. 94. Map: Canaan or Palestine
359. ^ Hamidian Palestine: Politics and Society in the District of Jerusalem 1872–1908, By Johann Büssow, p5
360. ^ Khalidi 1997, p. 151.
361. ^ Zachary Foster (2016-02-09). "The Origins of Modern Palestine in Ottoman Documents". Palestine Square. Archived
from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
362. ^ William Smith, ed. (1873). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography: 2: Iabadius-Zymethus. 2. John Murray. pp. 516,
533. (Image of p. 516 & p. 533 at Google Books
363. ^ Baedeker, Karl (1875). Palaestina und Syrien: Handbuch für Reisende. Karl Baedeker. p. 60. Image of p. 60 at Google
books
364. ^ Burton, Lady Isabel (1875). The Inner Life of Syria, Palestine, and the Holy Land: From My Private Journal. H. S. King
and Company. pp. 349–. p. 349 ay Google Books
365. ^ Jump up to:a b c Zachary Foster (2016-02-18). "Who Was the First Palestinian in Modern History?". Palestine Square.
Archived from the original on 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
366. ^ Cook Thomas and son, ltd (1876). Cook's Tourists' Handbook for Palestine and Syria. T. Cook & Son. p. 118. Image
of p. 118 at Google Books
367. ^ Gerber 2008, p. 51: "Abdul Karim Rafeq, who wrote an extensive study on Ottoman Palestine, came across the term a
number of times [Footnote]: Abdul-Karim Rafeq, "Filastin fi Ahd al-Uthmaniyin", al-Mawsua al-Filistiniyya, Part 2, Special
Studies, Vol. 2, Historical Studies, Beirut: Hay’at al-Mawsua al-Filistiniyya, 1990, pp. 695–990." "Among his sources for the
late-nineteenth century was a travelogue of a Damascene traveler, Nu`man al-Qasatli. This book, still in manuscript, is called
"al-Rawda al-Numaniyya in the travelogue to Palestine and some Syrian Towns.""
[see also]: Nu`man ibn `Abdu al-Qasatli, The Forgotten Surveyor of Western Palestine, Journal of Palestinian Archaeology 1
(2000): 28-29
368. ^ Biger, Gideon (2004). The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840–1947, Gideon Biger, p15. ISBN 978-0-7146-5654-0.
Retrieved 2018-06-12.
369. ^ Albrecht Socin (University of Tubingen) (1895). "Palestine". The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences,
and General Literature, with New Maps and Original American Articles by Eminent Writers. 18 (9 ed.). Werner.
p. 181. Image of p. 181 at Google Books
370. ^ Röhricht, Reinhold (1890). Reinhold Röhricht, Bibliotheca Geographica Palestine, from the year A.D. 333 to A.D. 1878. H.
Reuther. pp. 1–. YY_bk3Jf-9QC. Google Books title image @ https://books.google.com/books?id=YY_bk3Jf-
9QC&pg=PR1&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U21AQl8wuT1bmaYDcYjnpmrNG_zEQ&ci=73%2C174%2C793%2C
1213&edge=0
371. ^ The Church Quarterly Review. S.P.C.K. 1891. pp. 259–. VJE3AAAAMAAJ. Bibliotheca Geographica Palestine.
Chronologisches Verzeichniss der auf die Geographic des heiligen Landes beziiglichen Literatur von 333 bis 1878 und
Versuch einer Cartographic. Herausgegeben von Reinhold Rohricht. (Berlin: H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1890.) The
title indicates clearly enough the general character of this book. It professes to give a list of all the books relating to the
geography of Palestine from the year A.D. 333 to A.D. 1878 and also a chronological list of maps relating to Palestine. (The
Church Quarterly Review 1891, p. 259)
372. ^ A History of Civilization in Palestine. CUP Archive. 1912. pp. 130–. GGKEY:5CEENZCZEW9. p. 130: Bibliography: Only
a small selection can be mentioned from among the books on Palestine. Bibliotheca Geographica Palestinae, (Berlin, 1890),
enumerates 3515 books, issued between 333 A.D. and 1878 A.D.
373. ^ Gerber 2008, p. 51: "Perhaps the clearest indication that it was not the British who invented the term Palestine is its usage
by the Ottoman authorities. The remnants of the correspondence of the Ottoman governors with their superiors in the first
decade of the twentieth century quite often relate to the Zionist question and the resistance to it among local inhabitants. The
country is referred to throughout as Palestine."
374. ^ Robertson, John Mackinnon (1900). Christianity and Mythology. Watts & Company. p. 422. Long before Biblical Judaism
was known, the people of Palestine shared in the universal rituals of the primeval cults of sun and moon, Nature and symbol;

91
 and the successive waves of conquest, physical and mystical, have only transformed the primordial hallucination. (Image
of p. 422 at Google Books)
375. ^ Gerber 2008, p. 48.
376. ^ Hogarth, David George (1911). "Syria". Encyclopædia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous
Literature, Enlarged and Improved. 26 (11 ed.). A. Constable. p. 307. Population.—The actual population of Syria is over
3,000,000 spread over a superficial area of about 600,000 sq. m., i.e. about 51⁄2 persons to the square mile. But this poor
average is largely accounted for by the inclusion of the almost uninhabited northern steppe land and those parts of Syria,
which are settled show a much higher rate. Phoenicia and the Lebanon have the densest population, over 70 to the square
mile, while Palestine, the north part of the western plateau east of Jordan, the oases of Damascus and Aleppo, the Orontes
valley, and parts of Commagene, are well peopled. (Image of p. 307at Google Books)
377. ^ "Arab nationalism and the Palestinians, 1850–1939, ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz ʻAyyād". Passia.org. Archived from the original on
2012-02-04. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
378. ^ Gerber 2008, p. 51: "An important source shedding light on the question is Ruhi al-Khalidi’s book on the history of
Zionism, written in the first decade of the twentieth century. It is noteworthy that whenever the name of the country appears,
it is always Palestine, never southern Syria or anything else. Al-Khalidi does not seem to be inventing it, otherwise it would
be difficult to see why he does not try to explain what he is doing, or where he found this "bizarre" name. He is simply using
what his language and his knowledge have imparted to him. [Footnote: Walid Khalidi, "Kitab al-Sionism, aw al-Mas’ala al-
Sahyiuniyya li-Muhammad Ruhi al-Khalidi al-mutwaffa sanat 1913," in Hisham Nashshabe, ed., Dirasat Filastiniyya, Beirut:
Muassasat al-Dirasat al-Filistiniyya, 1988, pp. 37–82.]"
379. ^ Grooves Of Change: A Book Of Memoirs, Herbert Samuel
380. ^ Monroe, Elizabeth (1963-09-01). Britain's Moment in the Middle East, 1914–1956, Elizabeth Monroe, p26. ISBN 978-0-
7011-0580-8. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
381. ^ Tamari 2011a.
382. ^ Tamari 2011w.
383. ^ Jump up to:a b c Grief 2008, p. 473.
384. ^ "Hansard ARAB POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES (VISIT TO PALESTINE). HC Deb 25 June 1918 vol 107 c903W".
Hansard.millbanksystems.com. 1918-06-25. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
385. ^ "Hansard search "Palestinian"". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
386. ^ "Zionist Organization Statement on Palestine, Paris Peace Conference, February 3, 1919". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
Retrieved 2011-12-11.
387. ^ "Paris Peace Conference Zionist Organisation – proposed map of Palestine". Mideastweb.org. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
388. ^ Pipes, Daniel (1992). Greater Syria: The History of an Ambition. Oxford University Press US. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-19-
506022-5.
389. ^ "Franco-British Convention on Certain Points Connected with the Mandates for Syria and the Lebanon, Palestine and
Mesopotamia" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-12-11.
390. ^ Lewis 1980, p. 12.
391. ^ Meeting on November 9, 1920, quoted in: Memorandum No. 33, "Use of the Name Eretz-Israel’," in the Report by the
Palestine Royal Commission, 1937, Memoranda Prepared by the Government of Palestine, C. O. No. 133.
392. ^ "Permanent Mandates Commission, 22nd meeting, minutes of the ninth session, Geneva, June 1926". Domino.un.org.
Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
393. ^ Palestine: Report of the Royal Commission, 1936, CAB 24/270/8 / Former Reference: CP 163 (37), 22 June 1937
394. ^ "Palestine and Israel", David M. Jacobson, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 313 (February
1999), pp. 65–74; "The Southern and Eastern Borders of Abar-Nahara," Steven S. Tuell, Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research, No. 284 (November 1991), pp. 51–57; "Herodotus' Description of the East Mediterranean Coast", Anson
F. Rainey, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 321 (February 2001), pp. 57–63; Herodotus, Histories
395. ^ Killebrew 2005, p. 202,205.
396. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e "All references to words beginning Philis*". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
397. ^ Lewis 1980, p. 1.
398. ^ Smith, 1863, p. 1546.
399. ^ Jacobson 1999, p. 65b: "However, such an explicit and unambiguous identification of Palestine with the Land of the
Philistines is not found prior to Josephus. In the earlier Septuagint translation of the books of the Pentateuch from Hebrew
into Greek, undertaken by Jewish authors and dated to the early third century B.C. at the latest, different terms are used,
transliterated from Hebrew. There, the Philistines are called Philistieim and their country, the Land of the Philistieim. Bearing
in mind that the word Palaistinē had already entered the Greek vocabulary, one might have expected the translators of the
Septuagint Pentateuch to have selected that word when mentioning the country of the Philistines unless, of course, there was
some ambiguity in the meaning of the Greek word Palaistinē by that date."
400. ^ Jump up to:a b Jobling, David; Rose, Catherine (1996), "Reading as a Philistine", in Mark G. Brett (ed.), Ethnicity and the
Bible, BRILL, p. 404, ISBN 978-0-391-04126-4, Rabbinic sources insist that the Philistines of Judges and Samuel were
different people altogether from the Philistines of Genesis. (Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 60 (Braude: vol. 1, 513); the issue
here is precisely whether Israel should have been obliged, later, to keep the Genesis treaty.) This parallels a shift in the
Septuagint's translation of Hebrew pelistim. Before Judges, it uses the neutral transliteration phulistiim, but beginning with
Judges it switches to the pejorative allophuloi. [To be precise, Codex Alexandrinus starts using the new translation at the

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 beginning of Judges and uses it invariably thereafter, Vaticanus likewise switches at the beginning of Judges, but reverts to
phulistiim on six occasions later in Judges, the last of which is 14:2.]
401. ^ Drews 1998, p. 49: "Our names ‘Philistia’ and ‘Philistines’ are unfortunate obfuscations, first introduced by the translators
of the LXX and made definitive by Jerome’s Vg. When turning a Hebrew text into Greek, the translators of the LXX might
simply—as Josephus was later to do—have Hellenized the Hebrew ‫ פְׂ לִּ ְׂש ִּתים‬as Παλαιστίνοι, and the toponym ‫ פְׂ לִּ ְׂש ִּת‬as
Παλαιστίνη. Instead, they avoided the toponym altogether, turning it into an ethnonym. As for the ethnonym, they chose
sometimes to transliterate it (incorrectly aspirating the initial letter, perhaps to compensate for their inability to aspirate the
sigma) as φυλιστιιμ, a word that looked exotic rather than familiar, and more often to translate it as άλλόφυλοι. Jerome
followed the LXX’s lead in eradicating the names, ‘Palestine’ and ‘Palestinians’, from his Old Testament, a practice adopted
in most modern translations of the Bible."
402. ^ Drews 1998, p. 51: "The LXX’s regular translation of ‫ פְׂ לִּ ְׂש ִּתים‬into άλλόφυλοι is significant here. Not a proper name at all,
allophyloi is a generic term, meaning something like ‘people of other stock’. If we assume, as I think we must, that with their
word allophyloi the translators of the LXX tried to convey in Greek what p'lištîm had conveyed in Hebrew, we must conclude
that for the worshippers of Yahweh p'lištîm and b'nê yiśrā'ēl were mutually exclusive terms, p'lištîm (or allophyloi) being
tantamount to ‘non-Judaeans of the Promised Land’ when used in a context of the third century BCE, and to ‘non-Israelites of
the Promised Land’ when used in a context of Samson, Saul and David. Unlike an ethnonym, the noun ‫ פְׂ לִּ ְׂש ִּתים‬normally
appeared without a definite article."
403. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Richard Abbott. "The Philistines". Oldtestamentstudies.net. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10.
Retrieved 2011-12-11.
404. ^ Noth, M. (1939). "Zur Geschichte des Namens Palästina". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 62 (1/2): 125–
144. JSTOR 27930226.
405. ^ Jacobson, David M. (1999). "Palestine and Israel". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 313 (313): 65–
74. doi:10.2307/1357617. JSTOR 1357617. In the earliest Classical literature references to Palestine generally applied to the
Land of Israel in the wider sense. A reappraisal of this question has given rise to the proposition that the name Palestine, in
its Greek form Palaistine, was both a transliteration of a word used to describe the land of the Philistines and, at the same
time, a literal translation of the name Israel. This dual interpretation reconciles apparent contradictions in early definitions
of the name Palaistine and is compatible with the Greeks' penchant for punning, especially on place names.
406. Beloe, W., Rev., Herodotus, (tr. from Greek), with notes, Vol.II, London, 1821, p.269 "It should be remembered that Syria is
always regarded by Herodotus as synonymous with Assyria. What the Greeks called Palestine the Arabs call Falastin, which
is the Philistines of Scripture." https://books.google.com/books?id=SyYIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA269
407. The Hellenistic settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, 2006, Getzel M. Cohen, p36-37, "... it is important
to note that despite its appearance in various literary texts of and pertaining to the Hellenistic period, the term “Palestine” is
not found on any extant Hellenistic coin or inscription. In other words, there is no attestation for its use in an official context
in the Hellenistic period."
408. ^ A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period Page 174 Lester L. Grabbe – 2008 "The place of Judah
in Coele-Syria was readily known in geographical writings. According to Strabo, Syria includes the following areas: We set
down as parts of Syria, beginning at Cilicia and Mt. Amanus, both Commagene and the Seleucis ...
409. Strabo 16.2, Geographica
410. Feldman, Louis H.; Cohen, Shaye J. D.; Schwartz, Joshua J. (2007). Studies in Josephus and the varieties of ancient
Judaism: Louis H. Feldman. ISBN 978-9004153899. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
411. The Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132-135 C.E.) by Shira Schoenberg, The Jewish Virtual Library
412. The Hellenistic settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa, 2006, Getzel M. Cohen, p36-37, " "Palestine" did
not come into official use until the early second century AD, when the emperor Hadrian decided to rename the province of
Judaea; for its new name he chose “Syria Palaestina.” 49 49. On the date of the name change — before rather than after the
Bar-Kochva revolt — see− R. Syme, JRS 52 (1962) 90; and A. Kindler, INJ 14 (2000–2002) 176–79...". Syme is at Syme,
Ronald (1962). "The Wrong Marcius Turbo". The Journal of Roman Studies. 52 (1–2): 87–
96. doi:10.2307/297879. ISSN 0075-4358. JSTOR 297879.
413. Lehmann, Clayton Miles (Summer 1998). "Palestine: History: 135–337: Syria Palaestina and the Tetrarchy". The On-line
Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. University of South Dakota. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11.
Retrieved 2008-07-06.
414. Sharon, 1998, p. 4. According to Moshe Sharon: "Eager to obliterate the name of the rebellious Judaea", the Roman
authorities (General Hadrian) renamed it Palaestina or Syria Palaestina.
415. "Hadrian was in those parts in 129 and 130. He abolished the name of Jerusalem, refounding the place as a colony, Aelia
Capitolina. That helped to provoke the rebellion. The supersession of the ethnical term by the geographical may also reflect
Hadrian's decided opinions about Jews." Syme, Ronald (1962). "The Wrong Marcius Turbo". The Journal of Roman
Studies. 52 (1–2): 87–96. doi:10.2307/297879. ISSN 0075-4358. JSTOR 297879. (page 90)
416. Lendering, Jona. "Satraps and satrapies". Livius.org. Livius. Retrieved 17 December2014.

https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Timeline_of_the_name_%22Palestine%22

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 CHAPTER II
Ancient Palestine

To the right _ Akkadian Ruler by Sumerophile (Public Domain)

94
Palestine in the ancient world was part of the region known as Canaan where the Kingdoms
of Israel and Judah were located. The term `Palestine’ was originally a designation of an area of
land in southern Canaan which the people known as the Philistines occupied a very small part of,
the Canaanites, Canaanite-Phoenicians, and the Israelites, among others, having established
themselves in the area much earlier. The Philistines are thought to have come to the area toward
the end of the Bronze Age c. 1276 BCE and established themselves on the southern coastal plain
of the Mediterranean Sea in an area afterwards known as Philistia.

The whole of the region was referred to as `Canaan’ in Mesopotamian texts and trade records
found at Ebla and Mari as early as the 18th century BCE while the term `Palestine’ does not
appear in any written records until the 5th century BCE in the Histories of Herodotus. After
Herodotus, the term `Palestine’ came to be used for the entire region which was formerly known
as Canaan.

The region is part of the so-called fertile crescent and human habitation there can be traced back
to before 10, 000 BCE. The lands were originally inhabited by nomadic hunter-gatherers who
most likely immigrated from Mesopotamia but became sedentary agriculturalists by the
Early Bronze Age (c.3300-c.2000 BCE). In the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-c.1550 BCE)) trade
with other nations expanded and Canaan prospered and in the Late Bronze Age (c.1550-c. 1200
BCE) this affluence continued as the region was incorporated into the Egyptian Empire (c.1570-
c.1069 BCE).

FOLLOWING HERODOTUS’ USE OF THE TERM IN THE 5TH CENTURY BCE, OTHER
WRITERS ADOPTED IT & `PALESTINE’ GRADUALLY REPLACED `CANAAN’ AS THE
NAME OF THE REGION.

As Egypt’s influence and power waned, that of the Assyrians grew and there were Assyrian
incursions into other lands as early as 1295 BCE. The entire Near East suffered during the so-
called Bronze Age Collapse of c. 1250-c. 1150 BCE and Canaan was no exception. According to
the biblical Book of Joshua, the Israelite general Joshua invaded the land and divided the region
among his people. At approximately the same time, however, the Sea Peoples (whose identity
remains unknown) arrived in the region and could have been responsible for the evident
destruction of towns and cities, as they were in other nations.

The Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and the armies of Alexander the Great all conquered the
region in succession and, finally, so too, the armies of Rome. By the time Rome appeared in the
land it was long known as Judea, a term taken from the ancient Kingdom of Judah which had
been destroyed by the Babylonians. It was also referred to, however, as Palestine and, after the
Bar-Kochba Revolt of 132-136 CE, the Roman emperor Hadrian renamed the region Syria-
Palaestina to punish the Jewish people for their insurrection (by naming it after their two
traditional enemies, the Syrians and the Philistines). The designations Philistia, Roman Judea,
and Palestine were all in use afterwards.

When the Western Roman Empire fell, Palestine was taken by the Eastern or Byzantine
Empire and held until c. 634 CE when it was taken by invading Muslim armies from Arabia.

95
Name

The name `Palestine’ is thought to derive from either the word plesheth (meaning `root palash’,
an edible concoction carried by migratory tribes which came to symbolize nomadic peoples) or
as a Greek designation for the nomadic Philistines. The author Tom Robbins has suggested the
term `Palestine’ originates from the ancient androgynous god Pales who was worshipped in the
region of Canaan. If this is so then `Palestine’ means `Land of Pales’.

It has been established that there was an androgynous deity named Pales (referred to in texts as
both a god and a goddess) who was recognized by the Romans as the patron deity of shepherds
and sheep and whose festivals were celebrated on 21 April and 7 July in Rome in the area of the
Palatine Hill (Adkins & Adkins, 269). There is, however, no documentation from ancient times
linking this deity to the name of the region of Palestine and, most likely, the name derives from
the Greek for `the Land of the Philistines’. Scholars J Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes support
this conclusion, writing:

Ancient Palestine/ by William R. Shepherd (Public Domain)

96
Along the southern coastal plain of the Eastern Mediterranean seaboard (roughly south of
present-day Tel Aviv) were settled the Philistines. They came to that region as a part of the
general `Sea Peoples’ migrations at the end of the Bronze Age and inhabited five main cities –
Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. Although historically the Philistines are to be
associated specifically with the coastal plain, during Classical Times the name `Philistia’ (“Land
of the Philistines”) came to be applied more generally to the whole southern end of the Eastern
Mediterranean Seaboard…In short, then, the English term `Palestine’ derives ultimately from
`Philistia’. (39-40)

Following Herodotus’ use of the term in his work in the 5th century BCE, other writers adopted
it in their own and `Palestine’ gradually replaced `Canaan’ as the name of the region.

Early History

The region of Palestine is among the earliest sites of human habitation in the world.
Archaeological evidence suggests a hunter-gatherer community living a nomadic existence in the
region pre-10,000 BCE. In the Early Bronze Age, permanent settlements were founded and
agricultural communities developed. Trade was initiated with other regions in the Near East and,
because of its location between the cities of Mesopotamia and those of Arabia and Egypt,
Palestine became an important trading hub and attracted the attention of Sargon the Great (r.
2334-2279 BCE) who absorbed the region into his Akkadian Empire c. 2300 BCE.

The affluence of the Akkadian Empire at this time encouraged the growth of urban centers
throughout the region and Palestine flourished until Akkad fell to the invading armies of the
Gutians, Elamites, and Amorites in c. 2083 BCE. After this, the cities were abandoned and the
people returned to a rural, agrarian lifestyle, possibly due to overpopulation, though the reasons
are unclear.

Middle Bronze Age

In the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-c.1550 BCE), the people again embraced urbanization and
trade flourished. International commerce had first been established between the
port city of Byblos and Egypt in c. 4000 BCE and, by 2000 BCE, Egypt was the region’s most
influential partner in trade. Egypt’s influence is evident in the pattern of burial rituals in the
region which closely mirror Egypt’s in terms of the type of grave goods included in the tombs.

This partnership continued to benefit both Egypt and the Palestine region until the arrival of the
Semitic peoples known as the Hyksos in c. 1725 BCE. The Hyksos, known in
ancient Egyptian inscriptions only as “foreign kings”, were able to use Palestine to gain a
foothold in the Delta region of Lower Egypt toward the end of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (2040-
1782 BCE) and establish themselves as a political entity at Avaris.

In time, they became powerful enough to initiate trade, muster armies, and take control of the
Delta and a large part of Lower Egypt until they were driven out by Ahmose I of Thebes in 1570
BCE. Ahmose I’s campaign pursued the Hyksos north through Palestine into Syria, leaving
ruined cities and scattered communities in his wake.

97
IN 722 BCE THE REGION WAS OVERRUN BY THE ASSYRIANS & THE PHILISTINES
WERE SUBDUED COMPLETELY & LOST THEIR AUTONOMY.

Late Bronze Age

Following the expulsion of the Hyksos, the cities of Palestine were rebuilt and Ahmose I
absorbed the region into the newly formed Egyptian Empire (also referred to as the New
Kingdom, c. 1570-c.1069 BCE). Ahmose I wanted to make sure that no other foreign power
would infiltrate Egypt’s border and so created a buffer-zone around Egypt’s borders which was
enlarged by later pharaohs to form their empire.

Some of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs ruled during the New Kingdom and patronized
Palestine in trade and through building projects. Hatshepsut (r. 1479-1458 BCE), Thutmose
III (r. 1458-1425 BCE), Amenhotep III (r. 1386-1353 BCE), and Ramesses the Great (r. 1279-
1213 BCE), among many others, encouraged trade in the region and improved its infrastructure.

Bronze Age Mediterranean Invasions & Migrations by Alexikoua (CC BY-SA)

During the reign of Thutmose III, a people known as the Habiru disturbed the peace through
raids on communities. The identity of these people (like the Hyksos and Sea Peoples) is
unknown but they appear to have been native to the region and the term `Habiru’ used to
designate those who refused to conform any longer to the rules of society. They are described as
outlaws rather than invaders and past attempts by modern-day scholars to link the Habiru with
the Hebrews have been discredited.

During the reign of Ramesses the Great, the Sea Peoples make their first appearance in Egypt’s
history. Ramesses defeated them in a sea battle off his coast in c. 1278 BCE and again
encountered them in 1274 BCE as allies of the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh. Who they were
and where they came from is still debated in the present day but they returned to wage war on
Egypt during the reign of Merenptah (r. 1213-1203 BCE) and later during the reign of Ramesses

98
III (r. 1186-1155 BCE). At the same time they were harassing Egypt, the Sea Peoples were also
wreaking havoc on the Hittite Empire and throughout the Levant. Their activities, along with
Assyrian incursions beginning c. 1300 BCE, threw the region of the Near East into chaos.

It is about this same time, c. 1250-1200 BCE, that the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite general
Joshua is thought to have occurred as related in the biblical Book of Joshua and, to a lesser
extent, in the Book of Numbers. While there is certainly evidence of a great upheaval in the land
at this time, the archaeological evidence does not fit with the biblical narrative and it is possible
the land was overrun by the Sea Peoples.

The first mention of Israel comes from the stele of Merenptah who claims that “Israel is
devastated” in the description of his victory over the Libyans (who were allies of the Sea
Peoples). The stele seems to be referring to `Israel’ as a people, not as a kingdom or city-state,
and it is possible that the Israelites joined with the Sea Peoples and Libyans in a push against
Egypt, though this is speculative.

King David & Solomon/by Unknown Artist (Public Domain) TO RIGHT-Philistine Coffin Lid
from Tell Nabasha/by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (CC BY-NC-SA)

99
At some point after the alleged invasion by general Joshua, however, the Israelites are firmly
established in Palestine and, by c. 1080 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel is founded in the north.
Israel would flourish as a united kingdom until after the death of King Solomon (c. 965-931
BCE) when it split in two as the Kingdom of Israel with its capital at Samaria in the north and
the Kingdom of Judah with the capital at Jerusalem in the south. Throughout the reigns of the
early Israelite kings, and later, the Philistines are repeatedly referenced in the Bible as their
sworn enemies.

The Philistines & Foreign Conquerors

The Philistines (thought to be from Crete and, most likely, from the Aegean area) landed on the
southern Mediterranean coast of Canaan in circa 1276 BCE after being repulsed in their invasion
of Egypt (along with the Sea Peoples) by Rameses III. By 1185 BCE they had established
themselves firmly in settlements along the coast known as Philistia. Other, older, settlements
were already thriving in the area upon their arrival and the Philistines went quickly to work to
subdue them.

According to biblical narratives, the Philistines were organized and efficient enough to cause the
early Israelite tribes and cities a great deal of trouble. They posed a significant threat to the
Israelite King Saul (r. c. 1080-1010 BCE), were defeated by his successor, King David (r. c.
1035-970 BCE), and were still enemies of Israel under King Solomon but, in spite of Israelite
victories over them, they continued to thrive along the coast and harass their neighbors.

In 722 BCE, the region was overrun by the Assyrians and the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed.
At this same time, the Philistines were subdued completely and lost their autonomy. The Neo-
Assyrian Empire claimed Palestine and their king Sennacherib (r.705-681 BCE) launched a
campaign in the region in 703 BCE. Although he failed to take Jerusalem, he succeeded in
making Judah a vassal state.

The Assyrians held the region until the fall of their empire in 612 BCE to a coalition led by
Babylonians and Medes and, shortly after, the Babylonians invaded Palestine in 598 BCE and
sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple of Solomon, and took the leading citizens among the
Israelites back to Babylon (a period in Jewish history known as the Babylonian Captivity). They
returned between 589-582 BCE and destroyed the rest of Judah, scattering the Philistines at the
same time.

Babylon fell to Cyrus the Great (d. 530 BCE) who absorbed the region into the Achaemenid
Empire and allowed the Jews to return from Babylon to their homeland. The Persian Empire fell
to Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) and, after him, the Seleucids controlled the region until c.
168 BCE when the Maccabees revolted against foreign rule and the imposition of
foreign religion and established the Hasmonean Dynasty, the last independent Judean kingdom.
Rome involved itself in the region’s affairs in 63 BCE and, after Augustus became emperor,
Palestine became a province known as Roman Judea in c. 31 BCE.

The Jewish-Roman Wars

100
The Romans installed a king of their choice, Herod the Great, to rule the region and imposed the
same tax levies on Judea as they did other provinces in the empire. The people resented Roman
rule and occupation, however, and Judea proved an especially problematic region for Rome.

The years 66-73 CE saw the First Jewish-Roman war which resulted
in Titus destroying Jerusalem, including the Second Temple (leaving only the Western Wall )and
leading to the martyrdom of the defenders of Masada. Although the people of the land were free,
within reason, to adhere to their own cultures and religious beliefs, they were still under Roman
rule and wanted their independence.

In 115-117 CE, the conflict known as the Kitos War broke out (so-named from a corruption of
the name of the Roman general, Lucius Quietus, who commanded the Roman legions). This
conflict also ended in a Roman victory and a relative peace was restored. In 132 CE,
however, the Bar-Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE) broke out and proved the most costly to both
sides (although the Judeans suffered the worse casualties with over 500,000 combatants killed,
not counting many others). The Emperor Hadrian was so enraged by Jewish resistance that he re-
named the province Syria Palaestina (after the two traditional enemies of the Jews, the Syrians
and the Philistines) and banished all Jews from the region, building his city Aelia Capitolinia on
the ruins of Jerusalem. The Bar-Kochba Revolt was the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars and,
afterwards, Rome held the region without further serious incident.

Bar Kochba Coin

101
 by Nick Thompson (CC BY-NC-SA)

Conclusion

The emperor Diocletian (r.284-305 CE) divided the Roman Empire in two, the Western Empire
which controlled Europe and the Eastern Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire) which
administrated affairs in the Near East and, of course, held Syria-Palaestina. When the
emperor Constantine the Great (r.306-337 CE) legitimized Christianity and made it the state
religion, Syria-Palaestina became a Christian province and an important center for the new faith.

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE but the Byzantine Empire continued on relatively
unchallenged until the 7th century CE and the rise of Islam in the region. In 634 CE, the Muslim
armies from Arabia took Syria-Palaestina and renamed it Jund Filastin (“Military District of
Palestine”). The Muslims felt they had as much of a religious stake in the region as the Christians
or as the Jews before them and churches were turned into mosques in the same way that earlier
temples had given way to churches.
Palestine came to be referred to by European Christians as the Holy Land and the First
Crusade was launched to win it back from Muslim occupation in 1096 CE. This effort was
followed by many more, supported by the Byzantine Empire, through 1272 CE at enormous cost
of life and property but with nothing finally gained. The Byzantine Empire fell in 1453 CE,
greatly reducing Christian influence in the region, and Palestine was held by the Ottoman Turks.
The region continued to be contested throughout the next few centuries until the British involved
themselves in 1915 CE during World War I at which time the western powers first devised plans
to partition the Middle East for their own purposes and benefit.
Palestine continued to be a war-torn and much-contested region up through World War II when,
afterwards, the United Nations declared the area the State of Israel and established it as a
homeland for the Jewish people. This mandate by the United Nations, and the resulting country
of Israel, remains controversial and the region continues to be as troubled in the present day as it
was in ancient times.
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Bibliography
 Palestine: HistoryAccessed 1 Dec 2016.
 Durant, W. Ceasar and Christ. Simon and Schuster, 1956.
 Robbins, T. Skinny Legs and All. Bantam, 1995.
 Adkins, L. & Adkins, R. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 1998.
 Durant, W. Our Oriental Heritage. Simon & Schuster, 1954.
 Kerrigan, M. The Ancients in Their Own Words. Fall River Press, 2018.
 Leick,G. The A to Z of Mesopotamia. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
 Mellor, R. Historians of Ancient Rome: An Anthology of the Major Writings. Routledge, 2012.
 Miller, J. M. & Hayes, J. H. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Westminster Press, 1986.

102
 Shaw, I. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2016.
 Van De Mieroop, M. A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC. Wiley-Blackwell,
2015.
 Von Soden, W. The Ancient Orient. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994.
 Wise Bauer, S. The History of the Ancient World. W. W. Norton & Company, 2007.
Translations
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About the Author
Joshua J. Mark
A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York,
Joshua J. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He has taught
history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level.

The Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE-The Roman Empire in the early 1st century CE was often
regarded...

TIME LINE
1. c. 3500 BCE - c. 2000 BCE

a. Nomads settle the region and initiate agriculture during the Early Bronze Age.
b. 2000 BCE - c. 1550 BCE

103
 c. Cities develop and trade expands in the region during the Middle Bronze
Age. Palestine becomes important trade hub.
d. 1550 BCE - c. 1200 BCE
e. Palestine is absorbed by the Egyptian Empire, flourishes in trade.

2. c. 1276 BCE

a. Philistines arrive in Palestine and settle on coast.

b. 1250 BCE - 1200 BCE
c. General upheaval in the region, possibly caused by Israelite conquest under
General Joshua.
d. 1080 BCE
e. Rise of the kingdom of Israel.

3. c. 1080 BCE

a. Kingdom of Israel is founded in Palestine.

4. 1000 BCE

a. David captures Jerusalem.

b. 931 BCE
c. Kingdom of Israel splits in two after death of Solomon; Kingdom of Judah
founded.

5. 722 BCE

a. Palestine invaded by Assyrian Empire; Kingdom of Israel destroyed and Kingdom

of Judah subjugated.

6. 598 BCE - 582 BCE

a. Babylonians invade Palestine; Kingdom of Judah destroyed, region subjugated.

b. 539 BCE
c. Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon; Palestine claimed by the Persian Empire. .
d. 334 BCE
e. Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire and claims Palestine.

7. c. 168 BCE

a. Maccabean Revolt frees Palestine from foreign rule and allows for rise of
Hasmonean Dynasty.
104
 b. 63 BCE
c. Palestine taken by Rome.

8. 66 CE - 136 CE

a. The Jewish-Roman Wars; Rebellion in Palestine is crushed and citizens deported.

9. 634 CE
a. Muslim armies invade and conquer Palestine.

Mark, J. J. (2018, October 25). Palestine. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.ancient.eu/palestine/

105
 CHAPTER III
CULTURE OF PALESTINE

The Culture of Palestine is the culture of the Palestinian people, located across Historic
Palestine as well as in the Palestinian diaspora. Palestinian culture is influenced by the many
diverse cultures and religions which have existed in historic Palestine, from the
early Canaanite period onward. Cultural contributions to the fields
of art, literature, music, costume and cuisine express the Palestinian identity despite the
geographical separation between the Palestinian territories, Palestinian citizens and the diaspora.
Palestinian culture consists of food, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular
beliefs, customs, and comprising the traditions (including oral traditions) of Palestinian culture.
The folklorist revival among Palestinian intellectuals such as Nimr Sirhan, Musa Allush, Salim
Mubayyid, and the emphasized pre-Islamic (and pre-Hebraic) cultural roots, re-constructing
Palestinian identity with a focus on Canaanite and Jebusite cultures. Such efforts seem to have
borne fruit as evidenced in the organization of celebrations like the Qabatiya Canaanite festival
and the annual Music Festival of Yabus by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture.
Palestinian costumes

Girls in Bethlehem costume pre-1885

Foreign travelers to Palestine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the
rich variety of traditional clothing among the Palestinian people, and particularly among
the fellaheen or village women. Until the 1940s, a woman's economic status, whether married or
single, and the town or area they were from could be deciphered by most Palestinian women by
the type of cloth, colors, cut, and embroidery motifs, or lack thereof, used for the robe-like dress
or "thoub" in Arabic.
The 1948 Palestinian exodus led to a disruption in traditional modes of dress and customs, as
many women who had been displaced could no longer afford the time or money to invest in
complex embroidered garments.[5] New styles began to appear the 1960s. For example, the "six-
branched dress" named after the six wide bands of embroidery running down from the
waist.[6] These styles came from the refugee camps, particularly after 1967. Individual village
styles were lost and replaced by an identifiable "Palestinian" style. The shawal, a style popular in

106
the West Bank and Jordan before the First Intifada, probably evolved from one of the
many welfare embroidery projects in the refugee camps. It was a shorter and narrower fashion,
with a western cut.
Dance:

Palestinian 'Dabke folk dance as performed by men

Dabke (Arabic: ‫ دبكة‬, is an Arab folk dance native to the Levant countries.[9] It is popular in
Palestinian culture, and many troupes perform the dance throughout the world. The Dabke is
marked by synchronized jumping, stamping, and movement, similar to tap dancing.
Folk Tales: Traditional storytelling among Palestinians is prefaced with an invitation to the
listeners to give blessings to God and the Prophet Mohammed or the Virgin Mary as the case
may be, and includes the traditional opening: "There was, in the oldness of time ..." Formulaic
elements of the stories share much in common with the wider Arab world, though the rhyming
scheme is distinct. There are a cast of supernatural characters: Jinss and Djinns who can cross the
Seven Seas in an instant, giants, and ghouls with eyes of ember and teeth of brass.
Music of Palestine

Kamanjeh performer in Jerusalem, 1859.

Traditional Palestinian songs have no set lyrics but rather a set rhythm to them, allowing for
improvised folk poetry lyrics. A form of this style of folk singing is Ataaba; it consists of 4
verses, following a specific form and meter. The distinguishing feature of ataaba is that the first
three verses end with the same word meaning three different things, and the fourth verse serves
as a conclusion. The Ataaba continues to be performed at weddings and festivals in Arab
localities in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza strip.
Other traditional Palestinian song styles include zajal, Bein Al-dawai, Al-Rozana, Zarif – Al-
Toul, Al-Maijana, Sahja/Saamir and Zaghareed.

107
Over three decades, the Palestinian National Music and Dance Troupe (El Funoun) and Mohsen
Subhi have reinterpreted and rearranged traditional wedding songs such as Mish'al (1986), Marj
Ibn 'Amer (1989) and Zaghareed (1997).
Architecture of Palestine

Dome of the Rock mosaic art

Traditional Palestinian architecture covers a vast historical time frame and a number of different
styles and influences over the ages. The urban architecture of Palestine prior to 1850 was
relatively sophisticated. While it belonged to greater geographical and cultural context of
the Levant and the Arab world, it constituted a distinct tradition, "significantly different from the
traditions of Syria, Lebanon or Egypt." Nonetheless, the Palestinian townhouse shared in the
same basic conceptions regarding the arrangement of living space and apartment types
commonly seen throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The rich diversity and underlying unity
of the architectural culture of this wider region stretching from the Balkans to North Africa was a
function of the exchange fostered by the caravans of the trade routes, and the extension
of Ottoman rule over most of this area, beginning in the early 16th century through until the end
of World War I.
Sports and Olympics
Palestinian athletes have competed at every Olympic Games since the 1996 Summer Olympics.
The Palestinian Olympic committee did not work with the Israeli Olympic committee to train for
the 2012 Olympic games, and participation in the 2013 Mediterranean Games.
There is a West Bank Premier League, and Gaza Strip League. The Palestine national football
team played Afghanistan in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They visited Australia for
the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
The Beit Jala Lions is a West Bank Rugby Union team.
The Turmus Aya Equestrian Club, established in 2007, is a riding club dedicated to the mission
of providing affordable access to horses for Palestinians. Ashraf Rabi, the founder, maintains that
"this is part of the development of Palestine. Horses are a big part of our Arab culture and we
must embrace it."
Palestinian art

108
Mosaic plate at Khirbat Al-Mafjar near Jericho c. 735 CE
Similar to the structure of Palestinian society, the Palestinian field of arts extends over four main
geographic centers:

1. the West Bank and Gaza Strip

1. the Palestinian diaspora in the Arab world

2. Europe, the United States and elsewhere.
Contemporary Palestinian art finds its roots in folk art and traditional Christian and Islamic
painting. After the 1948 Palestinian exodus, nationalistic themes have predominated as
Palestinian artists use diverse media to express and explore their connection to identity and
land. In the 1990s Salam Dyab, Hisham Zreiq, Issa Dibe and others began to adopt modern styles
and symbolism.
Palestinian cuisine

A Palestinian youth serving Falafel in Ramallah/Kanafeh in a pan

Maqluba
Palestine's history of rule by many different empires is reflected in Palestinian cuisine, which has
benefited from various cultural contributions and exchanges. Generally speaking, modern
Palestinian dishes have been influenced by the rule of three major Islamic groups: the Arabs,
the Persian-influenced Arabs, and the Turks. The original Bedouin Arabs in Syria and Palestine

109
had simple culinary traditions primarily based on the use of rice, lamb and yogurt, as well as
dates.
The cuisine of the Ottoman Empire, which incorporated Palestine as one of its provinces
between 1512 and 1514, was partially made up of what had become by then a rich Arab cuisine.
After the Crimean War, many foreign communities (namely
the Bosnians, Greeks, French and Italians) began settling in the area; Jerusalem, Jaffa and
Bethlehem were the most popular destinations for these groups. The cuisine of these
communities, particularly those of the Balkans, contributed to the character of Palestinian
cuisine. Nonetheless, until the 1950s and 1960s, the staple diet for many rural Palestinian
families revolved around olive oil, oregano (za'atar) and bread, baked in a simple oven called
a taboon.
Palestinian cuisine is divided into three regional groups: the Galilee, West Bank and Gaza area.
Cuisine in the Galilee region shares much in common with Lebanese cuisine, due to extensive
communication between the two regions before the establishment of Israel. Galilee inhabitants
specialize in producing a number of meals based on the combination of bulgur, spices and meat,
known as kibbee by Arabs. Kibbee has several variations including it being served raw, fried or
baked. Musakhan is a common main dish that originated in the Jenin and Tulkarm areas of the
northern West Bank. It consists of a roasted chicken over a taboon bread that has been topped
with pieces of fried sweet onions, sumac, allspice and pine nuts, cooked and finished with a
generous helping of olive oil.[30] Other meals common to the area are maqluba and mansaf, the
latter originating from the Bedouin population of Jordan.
The cuisine of the Gaza Strip is influenced both by neighboring Egypt and its location on the
Mediterranean coast. The staple food for the majority of the inhabitants in the area is fish. Gaza
has a major fishing industry and fish is often served either grilled or fried after being stuffed
with cilantro, garlic, red peppers, cumin, and then marinated in a mix of coriander, red peppers,
cumin, and chopped lemons.[31][32] The Egyptian culinary influence is also seen by the frequent
use of hot peppers, garlic and chard to flavor many of Gaza's meals.[30] A dish native to the Gaza
area is Sumaghiyyeh, which consists of water-soaked ground sumac mixed with tahina, which is
then added to sliced chard, pieces of stewed beef, and garbanzo beans.[31]

Musakhan; The Palestinian National dish

There are several foods native to Palestine that are well known in the Arab world, such
as, Kinafe Nabulsi, Nabulsi cheese (cheese of Nablus), Ackawi cheese (cheese of Acre),
Rumaniyya (from Jaffa), Sumaghiyyeh (a stew from Gaza) and Musakhan. Kinafe originated in
Nablus, as well as the sweetened Nabulsi cheese used to fill it. Baqlawa, a pastry introduced at
the time of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is also an integral part of Palestinian
cuisine.[33]

110
Chick-pea based falafel, which substituted for the fava beans used in the original Egyptian
recipe, and added Indian peppers, introduced after the Mongol invasions opened new trade
routes, are a favorite staple in Mediterranean cuisine.[34]
Entrées that are eaten throughout the Palestinian Territories include waraq al-'inib, boiled grape
leaves wrapped around cooked rice and ground lamb. Mahashi is an assortment of stuffed
vegetables such as zucchinis, potatoes, cabbage and, in Gaza, chard.
Palestinian cinema

The Alhambra Cinema in Jaffa, 1937, bombed December 1947/Mahmoud Darwish,

a Palestinian poet

Palestinian cinema is relatively young compared to Arab cinema overall and many Palestinian
movies are made with European and Israeli support.[36] Palestinian films are not exclusively
produced in Arabic; some are made in English, French or Hebrew. More than 800 films have
been produced about Palestinians, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and other related topics;
notable examples are Divine Intervention and Paradise Now.
Palestinian handicrafts
A wide variety of handicrafts, many of which have been produced by Palestinians for hundreds
of years, continue to be produced today. Palestinian handicrafts include embroidery and
weaving, pottery-making, soap-making, glass-making, and olive wood and Mother of Pearl
carvings
Intellectuals: In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Palestinian intellectuals were
integral parts of wider Arab intellectual circles, as represented by individuals such as May
Ziadeh and Khalil Beidas. Educational levels among Palestinians have traditionally been high. In
the 1960s, the West Bank had a higher percentage of its adolescent (15 to 17 years of age)
population enrolled in high school than Israel; the West Bank had a 44.6% high school
enrollment rate versus a 22.8% enrollment rate in Israel.[38] Claude Cheysson, France’s Minister
for Foreign Affairs under the first Mitterrand Presidency, held in the mid eighties that "even
thirty years ago, [Palestinians] probably already had the largest educated elite of all the Arab
peoples."

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Diaspora figures like Edward Said and Ghada Karmi, Arab citizens of Israel like Emile Habibi,
and Jordanians like Ibrahim Nasrallah[40] have made contributions to a wide number of fields,
exemplifying the diversity of experience and thought among Palestinians.
Palestinian literature
The long history of the Arabic language and its rich written and oral tradition form part of the
Palestinian literary tradition as it has developed over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Since 1967, most critics have theorized the existence of three "branches" of Palestinian literature,
loosely divided by geographic location: 1) from inside Israel, 2) from the occupied territories, 3)
from among the Palestinian diaspora throughout the Middle East.
Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often
attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting
traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town. After the 1948 Palestinian exodus,
poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism. From among those Palestinians who
became Arab citizens of Israel after the passage of the Citizenship Law in 1952, a school of
resistance poetry was born that included poets like Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim,
and Tawfiq Zayyad. The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for
years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. This
changed after Ghassan Kanafani, another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon, published an
anthology of their work in 1966. Palestinian poets often write about a sense of loss and existence
in the diaspora.

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 CHAPTER
Palestinian music

Musicians in Jerusalem, late 19th century

The music of Palestine (Arabic: ‫) الموسيقى الفلسطينية‬is one of many regional subgenres of Arabic
music. While it shares much in common with Arabic music, both structurally and instrumentally,
there are musical forms and subject matter that are distinctively Palestinian. Palestinian music

As we know, the Palestinian Culture has always took a big, important part of the Arab culture,
and has always represented that new, deep, interesting side of the Arab World. We all know how
much it played that magnificent role and how much it contributed to shape and form what we
have now, from the united Arab Culture. And if we want to have a look on what is the special
thing of the Palestinian Culture that enabled it to do all of this, we can tell you that the answer is
the Palestinian Culture's sides.. Those many sides that strengthen and deepen the Palestinian
Heritage and identity inside of everyone living in Palestine.. Those sides are: Music, clothes,
dancing, customs, and many other ways of living.. And these various sides, of course, unite us as
a Palestinian people, and form our own Heritage which covers all the fields of the Palestinian
people's life , which is the most essential thing for us as it represents the past and the history of
Palestine and its people.. It is the first point that our antecedents start with.. So we should keep it
contemporary for next generations.

And in this Chapter, we are going to present about one of the side of the Palestinian Culture, as
we see it, it is the most interesting topic for us and for you, which is the Palestinian Folk Music.

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We can define the Palestinian Folk Music as it is the folk music which includes all of the musical
actions and practices that are related to the folk cultural groups. And most of these groups are
villagers, who are distinct from others with the ability of keeping this culture and protect it. And
so, the folk music that is related to these groups is the outcome of rhythms, tools and musical
instruments.

The Heritage of Palestinian Folk Music circulates orally, and it doesn't need an exact education,
or exact, professional artists to perform it. Heritage's musical instruments are simple to make,
connected with the people, and doesn't need a factory or a maker to make it, and doesn't need a
school to study the way to play these instruments. This folk music also doesn't need experts to
create its rhythms. Simply, Palestinian Folk Music is made by the Palestinian people themselves,
who use the simplest materials to make its musical instruments.

Evidently, many communities all over the world use musical instruments as symbols of their
cultural identities. Traditionally, and in the African and Western setting, musical instruments
have often been used in special occasions such as wedding ceremonies, for entertainment, and
during ceremonies for passage of rights. Palestinians, like other peoples of the world, have
resorted to use musical instruments along side the popular singing at weddings, religious and
national occasions, and has become a complete, integral part of their heritage which is rooted in
the depths of history. And there are musical instruments that Palestinian people make and use,
such as:
A) Tablah or Derbekkeh: It is one of the types of drums, with the difference in shape, made
of clay or copper, or aluminum, and it is played with both hands.
B) Drum
C) Tambourine and Zills
D) Baza
Percussion instruments:
E) Fuqashat or Dancing Wood: It is made from two hollow pieces of wood that you wear in
the Thumb and in the middle finger
Percussion instruments:
F) Naqarat : Made of wood, the first one is less different than the other, with two small,
woody sticks
Stringed instruments: A) Rababah
Stringed instruments: B) Oud
Stringed instruments: C) Kanun or Zithe
3) Wind instruments:
A) Nye or Shababah
B) Oboe
C-D) Almjos and Alergoul : They are two Clarinets that are combined together. It has a
round opening hole. It needs a lot of practice to play it well, 'cause it needs the ability of keep
blowing without stopping for a long time

And if we want to have a look on the Western Music and how it is same or different from
ours.. Western Folk Music is the Western Traditional Music, which is made by musicians to
the people .. Western People are always proud of it, and of course, we as Palestinians, and
even the Arab World itself respects and supports such a culture and music. So, let's start
mentioning the Western Musical Instruments:
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1) Guitar: It was developed from Oud.
2) Cello : It was developed from Violin.
3) Violin : It was developed from Rababah.
4) Piano : It was developed from Kanun or Zither
5) Drum : It was developed from Tablah
6) Flute : Same of Nye and Oboe
7) Clarinet : Same of Nye and Oboe

From here, we can figure out the great overlap between the Palestinian Culture and the
western one. We can see how much our culture is important and has an effect on many
various cultures. This influence leads us to the bottom line, Palestinian culture is a basic
culture, is the first point that helped forming and shaping other cultures. And we think the
main point it could make its influence appear, was in the Music.

But also, we can't deny the influence of the western culture on ours, example: Beginning in
the late 1990s, Palestinian youth forged a new Palestinian musical subgenre – Palestinian rap
or hip hop – which blends Arabic melodies and Western beats, with lyrics in Arabic, English
and even Hebrew.

Folk song is an important aspect of popular folklore in the field of its anecdotal arts. They are
a kind of folk creativity, rich in thought and melodies, has great sense and feelings, are lovely
for people, and people keep singing them in occasions.

The Palestinian Folk Song is a song that may has an old, traditional, folk rhythm and also
may not. But it depends on using the slang language. It aims to have an effect on people, and
spread it between them whether they know singer or its time, or even not. Beside the
Palestinian Folk Song, there always must be a traditional, modern poetry, which is empty
from the element of folk rhythm. But all aim to reach to people's hearts.

So, Palestinian Folk Songs has many characteristics: 1) Has a traditional rhythm (In groups)
2) Has not an exact singer or an exact time 3) The rhythms circulates orally, "Circulate the
rhythm from place to place, person to another, and from generation to another in oral way" 4)
Poetry 5) Spontaneous 6) Truthful expression 7) Contemporary 8) Defined based on the
place it was spread in, not the place it was found in.

Songs: Songs circulates from generation to another. A woman who perform them must have
the ability of good expression. She's called, "Baddaa“ B) Men Songs: Divided into: First:
Songs circulates from generation to another by people called, "anecdotist" Second: Songs for
special singer, 'cause he's its own writer and singer, who play it on Rababah. He's called
Zajjal, and his art called ZajalThe Palestinian Folk Song is kind of the emotional, melodious
type of songs that is full of blues. At the same time, it has vitality, 'cause the original,
traditional dancing still as it was. The most famous traditional rhythms are: Al-YadiAl-
Shorokeh GafraDalounaMeiganaMawwal Al- Ataba Abu El- Zuluf Asmar El- Loun
MishaalLayya w layya Ya Zareef Al-Tul Ghzayyel

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Palestinian oud performer in Jerusalem, 1859/Amal Murkus is a contemporary Palestinian
singer.
In the areas now controlled by both Israel and Palestine, multiple ethnic
groups and religions have long held on to a diversity of cultures. Mandatory Palestine
population with Arabs (including urban and rural Muslim classes, Arab Christians, Druze and
Muslim Bedouin) constituted the largest group, followed
by Jews (including Sephardim, Mizrahim and Ashkenazim), Samaritans, Circassians, Armenians,
Dom and others. Wasif Jawhariyyeh was one oud player, famous for his post 1904-diary.

Folk music

Early in the 20th century, Palestinian Arabs lived in cities and in rural areas, either as farmers or
as nomads. The fellahin (farmers) sang a variety of work songs, used for tasks
like fishing, shepherding, harvesting and making olive oil. Traveling storytellers and musicians
called zajaleen were also common, known for their epic tales. Weddings were also home to
distinctive music, especially the dabke, a complex dance performed by linked groups of dancers.
Popular songs made use of widely varying forms, particularly the mejana and dal'ona.
After the creation of Israel in 1948, large numbers of Arab Palestinians fled to, or were forced
into, refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The most popular recorded musicians at
the time were the superstars of Arab classical music, especially Umm Kulthum and Sayed
Darwish. The centers for Palestinian music were in the Palestinian towns of Nazareth and Haifa,
where performers composed in the classical styles of Cairo and Damascus. A shared Palestinian
identity was reflected in a new wave of performers who emerged with distinctively Palestinian
themes, relating to the dreams of statehood and the burgeoning nationalist sentiment.
In the 1970s, a new wave of popular Palestinian stars emerged, including Sabreen and Al
Ashiqeen. After the First Intifada (1987), a more hard-edged group of performers and
songwriters emerged, such as al- Funoun, songwriter Suhail Khoury, songwriter Jameel al-
Sayih, Thaer Barghouti's Doleh and Sabreen's Mawt a'nabi.
In the 1990s, the Palestinian National Authority was established, and Palestinian cultural
expression began to stabilize. Wedding bands, which had all but disappeared during the fighting,

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reappeared to perform popular Egyptian and Lebanese songs. Other performers to emerge later in
the 90s included Yuad, Washem, Mohsen Subhi, Adel Salameh, Issa Boulos, Wissam
Joubran, Samir Joubran, and Basel Zayed with his new sound of Palestine and Turab group
founded in 2004 with the CD Hada Liel.
The Diaspora Palestinian Reem Kelani is one of the foremost present day researchers and
performers of music with a specifically Palestinian narrative and heritage.[3] Her 2006 debut solo
album Sprinting Gazelle – Palestinian Songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora comprised
Kelani's research and arrangement of five traditional Palestinian songs, whilst the other five
songs were her own musical settings of popular and resistance poetry by the likes of Mahmoud
Darwish, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Rashid Husain and Mahmoud Salim al-Hout. All the songs on
the album relate to pre-1948 Palestine.
A large part of Palestinian music comprises wedding songs and dances. Due to the large amount
of weddings in Palestinian culture, wedding singers have been able to maintain the tradition of
Palestinian songs whilst incorporating modern vocals and rhythms. Wedding singers draw from a
repertoire of ceremonial material including henna songs sung at the henna ceremony, wedding
processionals (zeffat), and popular debkah and dance songs.

Classical music

Before 1948, the Palestinians formed a part of the Arab cultural mosaic in the Levant, and it was
difficult to separate them from the cultural and musical composition of the Syrian people.
Although the popular music was limited to the genre of folk music that served the needs of ritual
and social events varied, but the beginnings of a serious musical phenomenon began to form in
Palestine with the presence of profound composers of the first generation, such as Salvador
Arnita and Augustine Lama, and then the second generation of proverbs Patrick Lama & Amin
Nasser. This phenomenon continued quietly and silently after 48 years through successive
generations (Habib Touma, Nasri Fernando Dueri, Mounir Anastas, Bichara El Khail and Sam
Gebran). The Israeli occupation, the transfer of the identity of the Palestinian society from the
sphere of integration and near-total identification with the Syrian identity within what was called
Greater Syria to the formation of the Palestinian identity within the context of confrontation
existential and cultural and political with the Zionists. From this confrontation with the
occupation emerged the movement of the poetry of the resistance, and with it emerged national
Palestinian song against the occupation. During the occupation, Palestinian classical music
continued to rise, with new names in the realm of classical music along with the founding of
many symphony orchestras (such as the Palestinian Youth Orchestra PYO, and West-Eastern
Divan, founded by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said) as well as string quartets and quintets,
which gave the Palestinian Territories the highest number of orchestras among Arab countries.
Names of Palestinian composers: Salvador Arnita (1914-1985), Habib Hasan Touma (born in
Nazareth, 1934, died in Berlin 1998), Nasri Fernando Dueri (born 1932), François Nicodeme
(born in Jerusalem 1935) and his brother William Nicodeme (born Amin Nasser in Ramleh
1935), Patrick Lama, Abdel-Hamid Hamam, Mounir Anastas, Samir Odeh-Tamimi (1970) and
Wisam Gibran (born in Nazareth 1970) dominated the Palestinian classical music scene.

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Music & Identity:

Mohammed Assaf is a Palestinian pop singer.

Palestinian music reflects Palestinian experience.[5] As might be expected, much of it deals with
the struggle of living under Israeli occupation, the longing for peace, and the love of the land of
Palestine. A typical example of such a song is Baladi, Baladi (My Country, My Country), which
has become the unofficial Palestinian national anthem:
Palestine, Land of the fathers,
To you, I do not doubt, I will return.
Struggle, revolution, do not die,
For the storm is on the land.
"Zareef et Tool" is one of the most popular Palestinian songs of today and can be traced back
decades. The song encourages Palestinians not to leave their homeland.
‫ تاقلك وقّف الطول زريف يا‬... ‫أحسنلك بالدك و عالغربة رايح‬
‫ تتملك و تروح زريف يا خايف‬.. ‫أنا تنساني و الغير تعاشر و‬
O, elegant and tall one stop so I can tell you
You are going abroad and your country is better for you
I am afraid you will get established there
And find someone else and forget me

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 Forms of Traditional Songs:

Armure Hijaz 01

Armure Hijaz 02

Armure Hijaz 03
Unlike many other cultures, traditional Palestinian songs have no set lyrics but rather a set
rhythm. The singers are usually family members or close friends who make up the lyrics on the
spot. At modern Palestinian events there may be a professional singer, but the forms mentioned
below, still very popular today, were created before the popularization of professional singers.
Therefore, the song lyrics differ from city to city. Many types of Palestinian songs, including
Atab/Mejana and Dal'ona, have transcended time. Due to the relevance of the subject matter and
the need to maintain tradition and culture, traditional types of Palestinian songs can still be heard
at events of today, such as weddings or gatherings. They still remain extremely popular
throughout the Palestinian culture. Among the forms:[7]

 Ataaba is the most popular type of song in Palestine. It is often sung by farmers, workers,
and shepherds as a work song. However, weddings are the main environment for the songs.
As with the other forms of songs, Mejana is based on poetry. Usually the singer starts with
the long sound of "Ooaaaff". Then the verses of ataba follow. Ataba is composed of four
verses of poetry. The first three end with the same word in sound but different meanings. The
fourth verse ends with a word that usually ends with a sound like "Aab or Aywa!
 Dal'ona is the second most popular type of song in Palestine. It is easier to compose than
ataba because it does not require the similar sound of the ends of the first three verses.
However, like ataba, dal'na has four verses of poetry, where the first three have similar
endings and the fourth usually ends with a sound like "Oana". Dal'ona is the sound of the
Palestinian popular dance, dabka, where the dancers sing it along with the sound of the
shubbabah (flute), yarghool or mijwiz.
 The Sahja is another popular form of Palestinian song usually sung at weddings. It may be
done by men or women and involves clapping to the rhythm of the song that is being sung to

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 the bride by women, or groom by men. The men gather in two lines facing each other, or
surround the groom. Then the zajal leads the sahja. The zajal is a talented singer or close
family member who sings the sahja on the spot. The zajal leads the sahja with a verse, and
the entire group repeats. The sahja done by women carries out the same process but with
many women leading (usually older women) while the young women repeat. Also, the
women may add a loud, "Lolololeey" during and at the end of the sahja. There is no female
zajal.
 Zaghareet (pl), one of the oldest forms of Palestinian song, is another important form of song
during Palestinian weddings. The zaghreet is traditionally sung by women at weddings or
important events. One woman starts the zaghroot with a loud "Heeey Hee..." or "Aweeha...".
She then continues with a short poem or few rhyming words. After the women are done, they
all join with a loud, "Lolololoolololoeeeey" sound. Unlike the women's sahja, the zaghroot
involves no clapping, and only one woman must take turns to offer a zaghareet.
Palestinian hip hop
It was reportedly started in 1998 with Tamer Nafar's group DAM. These Palestinian youth
forged the new Palestinian musical subgenre, which blends Arabic melodies and hip hop beats.
Lyrics are often sung in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and sometimes French. Since then, the new
Palestinian musical subgenre has grown to include artists in Palestine, Israel, Great Britain, the
United States and Canada.
Borrowing from traditional rap music that first emerged in New York in the 1970s, "young
Palestinian musicians have tailored the style to express their own grievances with the social and
political climate in which they live and work." Palestinian hip hop works to
challenge stereotypes and instigate dialogue about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Palestinian hip
hop artists have been strongly influenced by the messages of American rappers. Tamar Nafar
says “when I heard Tupac sing “It’s a White Man’s World” I decided to take hip hop
seriously”.[3] In addition to the influences from American hip hop, it also includes musical
elements from Palestinian and Arabic music including “zajal, mawwal, and saj” which can be
likened to Arabic spoken word, as well as including the percussiveness and lyricism of Arabic
music.
Historically, music has served as an integral accompaniment to various social and religious
rituals and ceremonies in Palestinian society (Al-Taee 47). Much of the Middle-Eastern and
Arabic string instruments utilized in classical Palestinian music are sampled over Hip-hop beats
in both Israeli and Palestinian hip-hop as part of a joint process of localization. Just as the
percussiveness of the Hebrew language is emphasized in Israeli Hip-hop, Palestinian music has
always revolved around the rhythmic specificity and smooth melodic tone of Arabic. “Musically
speaking, Palestinian songs are usually pure melody performed monophonically with complex
vocal ornamentations and strong percussive rhythm beats”.[4] The presence of a hand-drum in
classical Palestinian music indicates a cultural esthetic conducive to the vocal, verbal and
instrumental percussion which serve as the foundational elements of Hip-hop. This hip hop is
joining a “longer tradition of revolutionary, underground, Arabic music and political songs that
have supported Palestinian Resistance”. This subgenre has served as a way to politicize the
Palestinian issue through music.
Themes: Many Palestinian hip hop artists address themes that directly affect Palestinians in the
occupied territories, living in Israel and those in exile. These artists use hip hop to address issues

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including patriarchy, drugs, violence, corruption and police brutality. Unlike the ideals of
American rap, Palestinian rappers focus on exposing the lived conditions of the Palestinian
people, especially the denial of Palestinian self-determination in their homeland. Palestinian
nationalism is at the center of all Palestinian hip hop, regardless of the artists.[3] The current
living conditions of Palestinians living in the occupied Palestine and within Israel is addressed in
the songs 'Who is the Terrorist' by DAM and "Free Palestine" by the Hammer Brothers. Rather
than succumbing to the violence that surrounds them, Palestinian hip hop artists instead, attempt
to spread their politically conscious messages to the world.

Israel/Palestinian Conflict

Palestinian rappers have been explicit in their criticism of the current situation between Israel
and Palestine. The song "Who is the Terrorist" by DAM is the most explicit criticism of the
relationship between Israel and Palestine. These rappers want to address the "paradox inherent in
the notion of a state that claims to be both democratic and Jewish"

Living conditions

All Palestinian artists, regardless if they are within Palestine or abroad, have addressed their
lived experience as Palestinians. For rapper Mahmoud who lives in Israel, he describes his
experience as "whenever I walk the streets, my enemy steps to me in ignorance, he demands my
ID, sees I’m an Arab. It drives him crazy. He begins to interrogate me, tells me I’m a suspected
terrorist".[6] Similarly, in the song, "Who Is The Terrorist", DAM describes the physical
conditions, rapping: "Crawling on the ground, smelling the rotting bodies? Demolished homes,
lost families, orphans, freedoms with handcuffs?". The Palestinian female rap duo from Acre,
Israel, Arapeyat, address challenges among the Palestinian community by rapping "what’s
happening to our society, we’re imprisoning ourselves, with crimes and drugs, we need to make
change now"

Establishment of an independent state

Palestinian rappers have addressed the need and right to establish an independent Palestinian
state in the Palestinian territories. For these rappers, "Palestinian liberation is obviously a key
touchstone topic of identity...their music deals not just with issues of cultural identity but also of
global politics".[7]

Palestinian unity and Pride

For many Palestinian rappers, especially those in exile, their aim is to raise consciousness. In
their song "Prisoner," DAM raps, "our future is in our hands, there is still good in the world my
brothers, the sky is wide open, take flight my brothers".[6] The song "Born Here" delivers a
similar message by saying "when we said hand in hand we should stand, we didn’t mean just a
finger, cuz in order to achieve power we shall all be together". Despite location or overall theme,
Palestinian rappers all support and wish to give hope to Palestinians. In his song "Sarah,"
Emirati-Born Palestinian rapper Ortega Da ALCz who released a promotional track with
Palestinian singer Rim Banna.

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Palestinian hip hop is not limited to the Palestinian Territories. Rappers and hip hop groups that
consider themselves Palestinian hip hop artists have emerged around the world. These "Arab and
Palestinian American hip hop artists are part of a transnational hip hop movement that includes
young artists in Palestine/Israel". In Gaza, Ortega Da ALC'z (Alhassan) who released many
albums he lives in United Arab Emirates, MC Gaza (Ibrahim Ghunaim), Palestinian Rapperz and
MWR rap about positive expression, everyday struggles, and the conditions of living in the
occupied territories. Similarly, rappers Arapyat, Saz and The Happiness Kids discuss the
experience of Palestinian youth in the West Bank. In Israel, DAM rap the experience of the
Arabs who live in Israel. Internationally, Palestinian American rappers Excentrik, the Philistines,
Iron Sheik, Ragtop and the Hammer Brothers all touch on themes of alleged racial profiling and
discrimination against Arabs in the United States while expressing solidarity with Palestinians in
the Palestinian Territories and in the diaspora. Refugees Of Rap Palestinian hip-hop group.
Based in Paris, France, it Was in 2007, in a Palestinian refugee camp in Yarmouk, Syria, that the
brothers, Yaser and Mohamed Jamous, created this group. Their texts offer a glimpse of life in
the camp and denounce the situation in Syria . Shadia Mansour, a British-born female rapper, has
brought attention to Palestinian hip hop in Europe along with others, Ettijah, a female rap group
from Dheisheh Refugee Camp who are the first Palestinian female refugee rappers.

Media: American filmmaker Jackie Salloum's 2008 feature-length documentary Slingshot Hip
Hop traces the history and development of Palestinian hip hop in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
Strip from the time DAM pioneered the art form in the late 1990s. DAM, Palestinian Rapperz,
Mahmoud Shalabi, and female artists Arapeyat and Abeer Zinaty are all featured in the
documentary. The film was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Palestinian youth forged a new Palestinian musical subgenre –
Palestinian rap or hip hop – which blends Arabic melodies and Western beats, with lyrics in
Arabic, English and even Hebrew.
Borrowing from traditional rap music that first emerged in the ghettos of Los Angeles and New
York in the 1970s, "young Palestinian musicians have tailored the style to express their own
grievances with the social and political climate in which they live and work."[8]
DAM were pioneers in forging this blend. As Arab citizens of Israel, they rap in Arabic, Hebrew,
and English, often challenging stereotypes about Palestinians and Arabs head-on in songs like
"Meen Erhabe?" ("Who's a terrorist?")
More peculiar is the West Bank group Ramallah Underground, found by the two brothers
Aswatt, Boikutt and Stormtrap. Their sound is a mix of hip hop, trip hop, and downtempo
alongside traditional Arab music. There are many rappers who defend Palestinian nationalism,
and the best of them, Ortega Da ALCz (Alhassan) who caused a sensation in the Israeli media in
2012 because of his songs' hostility to Israel. Ortega Da ALC'z is considered a better performer
of Palestinian rap in the Persian Gulf region, because he was born in the United Arab Emirates.
In the diaspora are the Abu-Ghaben brothers, who founded Jaffa Phonix in Cairo, Egypt. They
blended big-beat, hip hop, and vocal punk elements.

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According to the human rights organization Freemuse, Palestinian musicians feared what was
going to happen in the Palestinian territories where Islamic fundamentalists have become
increasingly assertive since the militant Hamas group scored political gains in the Palestinian
Authority local elections of 2005.
In 2005 an outdoor music and dance performance in Qalqiliya was suddenly banned by the
Hamas led municipality, for the reason that such an event would be forbidden by Islam. The
municipality also ordered that music no longer be played in the Qalqiliya zoo, and mufti
Akrameh Sabri issued a religious edict affirming the municipality's decision. In response, the
Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish warned that "There are Taliban-type elements in
our society, and this is a very dangerous sign".
The Palestinian columnist Mohammed Abd Al-Hamid, a resident of Ramallah, warned that this
religious coercion could cause the migration of artists, and said "The religious fanatics in Algeria
destroyed every cultural symbol, shattered statues and rare works of art and liquidated
intellectuals and artists, reporters and authors, ballet dancers and singers – are we going to
imitate the Algerian and Afghani examples?
Musical Instruments

Palestinian shepherd flutist in traditional dress, c.1910–1920/ Palestinian Oud player/Palestinian

Kamanjah player

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American radio personality and record producer DJ Khaled, of Palestinian descent/
Our final words are collected in short sentences: Your Palestinian Culture is really great in the
whole meaning, when we made this presentation, we figured out many special, simple, little
things that made us adore our culture someway somehow. Now we are totally proud of what we
have now from Palestinian Culture and Palestinian people of course, all thanks for them who
shaped the beautiful Palestinian Culture and helped and still helping to keep the original one with
its blues, its music and its parts as they were in the past. So, we should always help them with
that, and let our print and efforts appear as much as we can.

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 CHAPTER IV
PALESTINE: RECIPES AND CUISINE

For a people struggling to establish their own state, traditional food is an important part of the
national heritage, and for Palestinians in the West Bank that goes well beyond the standard
hummus (chickpea paste).In Hebron, a biblical town in the Israeli-occupied territory, Eyad Abu
Seena runs his family’s qedra shop, where potted meat bakes over rice in an open oven in the
wall. For many, Hebron has the best food in the West Bank.

“The qedra is part of the heritage of the people of Hebron,” Abu Senena says. “People come
from all over – from Amman, from Jerusalem, from (West Bank towns in) the north like Jenin
and Tulkarm. They come especially to Hebron to eat the qedra.”

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In the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, captured by Israel along with the West Bank in a 1967 war,
Yasser Taha presides over the famed Abu Shukri hummus and falafel (fried chickpeas)
restaurant. The 70-year-old owner inherited the recipes from his father and will pass them on to
his son.

“Everyone who comes to Jerusalem must eat at Abu Shukri,” he said.

Palestinian cuisine isn’t just about hummus or falafel. There are other beloved traditions, like
vine leaves and mashed vegetables stuffed with rice and minced meat.

Another favorite is maqlouba, made from layers of meat, rice, and fried vegetables such as
cauliflower, eggplant, potatoes, and carrots. It is cooked in a large pot, then turned over –
maqlouba means “upside down” in Arabic – and topped with fried nuts or fresh herbs.

“Everyone has their own way of making it,” said Raida Salhout, who lives in the East Jerusalem
neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber and often cooks a big vat for her family’s lunch.

Usually made at home, maqlouba is an economically flexible dish: when prices rise or money is
tight, Palestinians opt for chicken or more potatoes instead of meats like beef and lamb.

In the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Ahmed Ighbary expertly lowers a rack of spiced chicken,
vegetables and rice into an oven dug into the ground. Then he covers it with dirt and blankets.
After several hours, the result – called zarb – is a hearty meat and rice dish that is particularly
popular during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and other festivities.

He learned the art of zarb from his father, who cooked it for fun. A few years ago, he decided to
open a restaurant with a wedding hall and special zarb oven to keep the tradition going.

Passion for keeping culinary heritage alive is what makes the knafa of Nablus so renowned, said
Basil al-Shantir.

The West Bank city is known for its sweets, and particularly Knafa Nablusiya, a super sweet
semolina and cheese pastry topped with more syrup. For more than 70 years, Shantir’s family
has been dishing out the signature dessert at the Aqsa shop nestled inside Nablus’s historic
covered market. Some people even make a knafa sandwich. 1

Palestinian cuisine shares many dishes in common with other countries in the region,
including Lebanon and Syria to the north and Egypt to
Southwest. Falafel, sfiha, tabouli, hummus -baba ghanoush are ubiquitous. Some of the
dishes most popular with the Palestinian people include musakhan, maqluba and rice-stuffed
chicken called djej mahshi.
Palestinian cuisine consists of foods from or commonly eaten by Palestinians—,
Palestinian, Jordan, refugee camps in nearby countries as well as by the Palestinian diaspora. The
cuisine is a diffusion of the cultures of civilizations that settled in the region of Palestine,
particularly during and after the Islamic era beginning with the Arab Ummayad conquest, then
the eventual Persian-influenced Abbasids and ending with the strong influences of Turkish

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cuisine, resulting from the coming of the Ottoman Turks. It is similar to other Levantine cuisines,
including Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian.
Cooking styles vary by region and each type of cooking style and the ingredients used are
generally based on the climate and location of the particular region and on traditions. Rice and
variations of kibbee are common in the Galilee. The West Bank engages primarily in heavier
meals involving the use of taboon bread, rice and meat and coastal plain inhabitants frequent
fish, other seafood, and lentils. The Gaza cuisine is a variation of the Levant cuisine, but is more
diverse in seafood and spices. Gaza's inhabitants heavily consume chili peppers too. Meals are
usually eaten in the household but dining out has become prominent particularly during parties
where light meals like salads, bread dips and skewered meats are served.
The area is also home to many desserts, ranging from those made regularly and those that are
commonly reserved for the holidays. Most Palestinian sweets are pastries filled with either
sweetened cheeses, dates or various nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pistachios. Beverages
could also depend on holidays such as during Ramadan, where carob, tamarind and apricot juices
are consumed at sunset. Coffee is consumed throughout the day and liquor is not very prevalent
among the population, however, some alcoholic beverages such as arak or beer are consumed
by Christians.

Village oven, taboun, in Palestine. Photo taken between 1898 and 1914 by American Colony,
Jerusalem.
The region of the southern Levant has a varied past and as such, its cuisine has contributions
from various cultures. After the area originally inhabited by Jews, Edomites, Moabites and
Ammonites was conquered by the Muslims in the 7th century CE, it became part of a Bilad al-
Sham under the name Jund Filastin. Therefore, many aspects of Palestinian cuisine are similar to
the cuisine of Syria—especially in the Galilee. Modern Syrian-Palestinian dishes have been
generally influenced by the rule of three major Islamic groups: the Arabs, the Persian-influenced
Arabs (Iraqis) and the Turks. Levantine cuisine is the traditional cuisine of the Levant, known in
Arabic as the Bilad al-Sham and Mashriq, which covers a large area of the Eastern
Mediterranean. It continues to carry an influentially mainstream character in a majority of the

129
dishes today. It is found in the modern states of Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Syria,
and parts of southern Turkey near Adana, Gaziantep, and Antakya (the former Vilayet of
Aleppo). Conversely, some of the dishes listed below may have early origins in neighboring
regions, but have long since become traditions in the Levant.
The most distinctive aspect of Levantine cuisine.is meze including tabbouleh, hummus and baba
ghanoush

Ottoman Syria also Levent

The Arabs that conquered Syria and Palestine initially had simple culinary traditions primarily
based on the use of rice, lamb, yogurt and dates. This cuisine did not advance for centuries until
the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, that established Baghdad as its capital and integrated elements
of Persian cuisine into the existing Arab cuisine. The Jerusalemite geographer al-
Muqaddasi said this of Palestine's foods:
From Palestine comes olives, dried figs, raisins, the carob fruit... from Jerusalem comes cheeses
and the celebrated raisins of the species known as Ainuni and Duri, excellent apples... also pine
nuts of the kind called 'Kuraish-bite', and their equal is not found elsewhere... from Sughar
and Baysan come dates, the treacle called Dibs.

 Levantine salad : A salad of diced tomato, cucumber, onion, and sometimes parsley, dressed
with lemon juice and olive oil. Other famous salads include: Artichoke salad, Beet salad,
Avocado salad, Fattoush and Tabouli.
 Arak (‫)عرق‬: A clear, colourless alcoholic spirit.
 Awameh (‫)عوامة‬: is a kind of fried-dough Levantine pastry similar to doughnut holes, made
of deep fried dough, soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon, and sometimes sprinkled
with sesame.
 Baba ghanoush (‫)بابا غنوج‬: A dip made from baked, mashed eggplant mixed with lemon,
garlic, olive oil and various seasonings.
 Baklava (‫)البقالوة‬: A dessert made of phyllo pastry filled with chopped nuts and soaked in
syrup.
 Bamia (‫)بامية‬: A stew prepared with chunks of lamb meat with okra in a tomato-based sauce,
served over rice.
 Basbousa (‫)بسبوسة‬: A Middle Eastern small, sweet cake of cooked semolina soaked in rose

130
 water syrup, topped with almonds or walnuts.
 Couscous (‫( ُك ْس ُكس‬: Steamed balls of crushed durum wheat semolina or othercereals
traditionally served with a stew spooned on top.
 Dolma (‫)محشي‬: Various vegetables,
typically aubergines, courgettes, onions, peppers and/or tomatoes stuffed with minced meat
and rice.
 Falafel (‫)الفالفل‬: Spiced mashed chickpeas formed into balls or fritters and deep-fried, usually
eaten with or in pita bread and hummus.
 Fasoulia (‫)فاصوليا‬: A stew prepared with dry white beans and meat served over rice.
 Fatteh (‫)فتّة‬: Chicken over rice, topped with yogurt and pita bread.
 Fattoush (‫)فتوش‬: A salad consisting of chopped cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, and other
vegetables together with fried or toasted pita bread.
 Ful medames (‫)فول مدمس‬: Ground fava beans and olive oil.
 Ful medames salad (‫)سلطة فول مدمس‬: It typically consists of fava beans,
chopped tomatoes, onion, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and salt.
 Freekeh (‫)فريكة‬: A cereal food made from green durum wheat that is roasted and rubbed to
create its flavour, then served with cumin, cinnamon, and fresh lamb tail fat.
 Halva (‫ )حالوة‬: A flour or nut-based confection including fruit or nuts.
 Hummus (‫)الحمص‬: A thick paste or spread made from ground chickpeas and olive oil, lemon,
and garlic; also common in Egypt.
 Hummus salad (‫)سلطة حمص‬: is an Arab salad. It typically consists of dry chickpea, soda
carbonate, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, salt, olive oil, and cumin.
 Ka'ak (‫)كعك‬: A type of biscuit/cookie shaped into a ring, occasionally sprinkled with sesame
seeds.
 Kabsa (‫)كبسة‬: A rice-based dish commonly eaten with meat, lamb or chicken, cooked in a
variety of spices and topped with nuts over rice.
 Kanafeh (‫)كنافة‬: A dessert made with shredded filo and melted cheese soaked in a sugary
syrup.
 Kebab (‫)كباب‬: A dish consisting of ground beef or lamb grilled or roasted on a skewer.
 Kebab karaz (‫)كباب كرز‬: A type of kebab consisting of lamb meatballs in a cherry-based broth
with pine nuts and sour cherries over pita bread.
 Kibbeh (‫)كبة‬: A dumpling-like dish of ground lamb with bulgurwheat or rice and seasonings,
eaten cooked or raw.
 Kibbeh nayyeh (‫)كبة نيئة‬: A mezze consisting of minced raw meat mixed with fine bulgur and
various seasonings.
 Labneh (‫)لبنة‬: Yogurt that has been strained to remove its whey. Most popular as a breakfast
food.
 Lentil soup (‫)شوربة عدس‬: A soup based on lentils; it may be vegetarian or include meat, and
may use brown, red, yellow or black lentils, with or without the husk.
 Limonana (‫)ليمون نعناع‬: type of lemonade made from freshly-squeezed lemon juice and mint
leaves.
 Ma'amoul (‫)معمول‬: Semolina cookies filled with dates or walnuts, commonly sprinkled with
sugar.
 Makdous (‫)مكدوس‬: Stuffed oil-cured baby aubergines, said to increase appetite.

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 Manakish (‫)مناقيش‬: A pizza-like flatbread garnished with minced meat, thyme and/or za'atar.
Commonly eaten during breakfast and dinner.
 Mansaf (‫)المنسف‬: Lamb or chicken cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served
over rice.
 Malfouf salad (‫)سلطة ملفوف‬: is a salad of Arab salads, typically consists of juice, olive
oil, garlic, salt and a healthy dose of fresh dried mint.
 Kousa Mahshi (‫)كوسا محشي‬: Courgettes baked and stuffed with minced meat and rice in a
tomato-based sauce.
 Maqluba (‫)مقلوبة‬: A rice-based casserole which includes meat, rice, and fried vegetables
placed in a pot, which is then flipped upside down when served, hence the name "maqluba",
which translates literally as "upside-down".
 Markook (‫)مرقوق‬: A thin, unleavened flatbread baked on an iron griddle known as a saj.
 Mfarakeh (‫)مفركة‬: is an Arab dish made of potato, egg, ghee, cumin powder, salt and pepper,
in addition chopped corianderleaf for garnish.
 Muhammara (‫)محمرة‬: A hot pepper dip made from fresh or dried peppers, breadcrumbs, olive
oil, spices and ground walnuts.
 Mujaddara (‫)مجدرة‬: Cooked lentils together with groats, generally rice, and garnished with
sautéed onions.
 Mulukhiyah (‫)ملوخية‬: A type of stew cooked with mallow leaves that are mucillagenous like
okra, and eaten with chicken in a thick broth.
 Musakhan (‫)مس ّخن‬: A classic Palestinian dish, composed of a whole roasted chicken baked
with onions, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts served over taboon bread.
 Pita (‫)خبز عربي‬: A soft, slightly leavened flatbread baked from wheat flour.
 Qamar al-Din (‫)قمر الدين‬: A thick, cold apricot drink typically served during the month of
Ramadan.
 Qatayef (‫)قطايف‬: A dessert commonly served during the month of Ramadan, a sort of
sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts.
 Qidra (‫)قدرة‬: A stew consisting of lamb mixed with chickpeas, garlic and spices, commonly
served over rice.
 Quzi (‫)قوزي‬: A hearty dish of roasted lamb with raisins, nuts and spices over rice or wrapped
within taboon bread.
 Raheb (‫)سلطة راهب‬: is a salad with aubergines and tomatoes. It is popular in the Middle East.
 Sambusac (‫)سمبوسك‬: A triangular savory pastry which is fried in ghee or oil and contains
spiced vegetables or meat.
 Sfiha (‫)صفيحة‬: Open-faced meat pies made with ground mutton or now lamb or beef.
 Shanklish (‫)شنكليش‬: Cow's or sheep's milk cheese formed into balls of approximately 6 cm
diameter, rolled in Aleppo pepper and za'atar, and then aged and dried.
 Shashlik (‫)شاشليك‬: A dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat.
 Shawarma (‫)الشاورما‬: Roasted meat, especially when cooked on a revolving spit and shaved
for serving in sandwiches.
 Shish kebab (‫)شيش كباب‬: Grilled or roasted chunks of meat prepared on a skewer, commonly
served over flatbread or rice.
 Sumaghiyyeh (‫)السماقية‬: The ground sumac is first soaked in water and then mixed
with tahina (sesame seed paste), additional water, and flour for thickness. The mixture is

132
 then added to sautéed chopped chard, pieces of slow-stewed beef, and garbanzo beans.
 Tabbouleh (‫)تبولة‬: A salad of bulgur mixed with finely chopped parsley, along with minced
onions and tomatoes.
 Tahini (‫)طحينة‬: A condiment prepared from grounded and hulledsesame seeds. It is a primary
ingredient which composes baba ghanoush and hummus.
 Tepsi (‫)التبسي‬: A casserole baked with minced meat, aubergine, potato and tomato slices.
Served with pickles, rice and salad.
 Toum (‫)التوم‬: A paste containing garlic, olive oil and salt, typically used as a dip.
 Turkish coffee (‫)قهوة تركية‬: A method which involves simmering coffee beans, then served in
a cup which the grounds finally settle.
 Warbat (‫)وربات‬: A sweet pastry with thin layers of phyllo pastry filled with custard.
Popularly eaten during Ramadan.
 Za'atar (‫)زَ ْعتَر‬: A condiment made from the dried herb(s), mixed with sesame seeds, dried
sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices.
 Zalabia (‫)زالبية‬: A fried dough pastry fried in balls or discs and dipped in a sweet syrup.
 Zibdieh (‫)زبدية‬: Shrimp cooked with red peppers, garlic and peeled tomatoes.

Palestinian breakfast and labneh./Nabulsi cheese/Falafel and Hummus.

The cuisine of the Ottoman Empire—which incorporated Palestine in 1516—was partially made
up of what had become, by then a "rich" Arab cuisine. After the Crimean War, in 1855, many
other communities including Bosnians, Greeks, French and Italians began settling in the area
especially in urban centers such as Jerusalem, Jaffa and Bethlehem. These communities' cuisines
contributed to the character of Palestinian cuisine, especially communities from the Balkans.
Until around the 1950s-60s, the main ingredients for rural Palestinian cuisine was olive oil,
oregano and bread baked in a simple oven called a taboon. Author G. Robinson Lees, writing in
1905, observed that "The oven is not in the house, it has a building of its own, the joint property
of several families whose duty is to keep it always hot.
List of Palestinian dishes by region
There are three regions of Palestinian food; The Galilee, which is the northern part of mandated
Palestine which is now under the control of the State of Israel, in addition to the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. In the Galilee, bulgur and meat (beef or lamb) are primary ingredients that are often

133
combined to form several variations of dishes ranging from a family-sized meal to a side dish.
However, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the populations have a cooking style of their
own. In the West Bank, meals are particularly heavy and contrast from the foods of the
northern Levant. Main dishes involve rice, flatbreads and roasted meats. The staple food of the
inhabitants in the Gaza Strip is fish due to its location on the Mediterranean seacoast. Their
cuisine is similar to that of the Levant's; however, other spices are used more frequently. These
generally include chili peppers, dill seed, garlic, and chard to flavor many of Gaza's meals.
Although the cuisine is diverse, generally Palestinians are not restricted to the foods of their
specific region and there is constant culinary diffusion amongst them. Although, because of
Gaza's isolation from other Palestinian and Levantine Arab areas, their cooking styles are less
known in the region.
Galilee
The cuisine of the northern Galilee is very similar to Lebanese cuisine, due to the extensive
communication between the two regions. The Galilee specializes in a number of meals based on
the combination of bulgur, spices and meat, known as kubbi by Arabs. Kubbi bi-siniyee is a
combination of minced lamb or beef mixed with pepper, allspice and other spices wrapped in a
bulgur crust, then baked. Kubbi bi-siniyee could serve as the main dish during a Palestinian
lunch. Kubbi neyee is a variation of kubbi, that is served as raw meat mixed with bulgur and a
variety of spices. It is mostly eaten as a side dish and pita or markook bread is used for scooping
the meat. Since the dish is raw, whatever is not eaten is cooked the next day in either the baked
version or as fried kibbee balls.
A special occasion meal in the Galilee consists of Roasted Lamb or any other type of meat
complemented by a mixture of rice with chopped lamb and flavored with an assortment of
spices, usually garnished with chopped parsley and toasted nuts. shish kebab or lahme
mashwi and shish taouk are grilled meats on skewers and are commonly eaten after an array of
appetizers known as the maza.
The mezzeh consists of a wide variety of appetizers, usually including hummus (sometimes
topped with meat), baba ghannouj, labaneh, tabbouleh, olives and pickled vegetables. Akkawi
cheese, a semi-hard cheese common throughout the Middle East and among the Arab diaspora,
originated in the city of Akka, from which the cheese receives its name.
West Bank

A plate of kubbi balls with a garnishing of mint leaves/Musakhan bread/Mansaf

Musakhan is a common main dish that originated in the Jenin and Tulkarm area in the northern
West Bank. It consists of a roasted chicken over a taboon bread that has been topped with pieces

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of fried sweet onions, sumac, allspice and pine nuts. Maqluba is an upside-down rice and baked
eggplant casserole mixed with cooked cauliflowers, carrots and chicken or lamb. The meal is
known throughout the Levant but among Palestinians especially. It dates back to the 13th
century.

.
Mansaf is a traditional meal in the central West Bank and Naqab region in the southern West
Bank, having its roots from the Bedouin population of ancient Arabia. It is mostly cooked on
occasions such as, during holidays, weddings or a large gathering. Mansaf is cooked as a lamb
leg or large pieces of lamb on top of a taboon bread that has usually been smothered with yellow
rice. A type of thick and dried cheesecloth yogurt from goat's milk, called jameed, is poured on
top of the lamb and rice to give it its distinct flavor and taste. The dish is also garnished with
cooked pine nuts and almonds. The classic form of eating mansaf is using the right hand as a
utensil. For politeness, participants in the feast tear pieces of meat to hand to the person next to
them.

Maqluba with lamb/ Qidra. A siniyyeh of Mansaf./A style of Mujaddara

In addition to meals, the West Bank's many subregions have their own fruit-based jams. In the
Hebron area, the primary crops are grapes.
Families living in the area harvest the grapes in the spring and summer to produce a variety of
products ranging from raisins, jams and a molasses known as dibs. The Bethlehem area, Beit
Jala in particular, and the village of Jifna are known regionally for their apricots and apricot jam
as is the Tulkarm area for its olives and olive oil.
Gaza
The Gaza Strip's cooking style is similar to culinary styles adopted by the rest of the Levant
countries, and is also influenced by the Mediterranean coast. The staple food for the majority of
the inhabitants in the area is fish. Gaza has a major fishing industry and fish is often served either
grilled or fried after being stuffed with cilantro, garlic, red peppers and cumin and marinated in a
mix of coriander, red peppers, cumin, and chopped lemons. Besides fish, as well as other types
of seafood,[7] Zibdieh, is a clay pot dish that consists of shrimp baked in a stew of olive oil,
garlic, hot peppers, and peeled tomatoes. Crabs are cooked and then stuffed with a red hot pepper
paste called shatta.

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Sumaghiyyeh
A dish native to the Gaza area is sumaghiyyeh, consisting of water-soaked ground sumac mixed
with tahina. The mixture is added to sliced chard and pieces of stewed beef and garbanzo beans
and additionally flavored with dill seeds, garlic and hot peppers. It is often eaten cool with
khubz. Rummaniyya is prepared differently depending on the time of the year and is made up of
unripened pomegranate seeds, eggplant, tahina, garlic, hot peppers and lentils. Fukharit adas is a
slow-cooked lentil stew flavored with red pepper flakes, crushed dill seeds, garlic, and cumin; it
is traditionally made during winter and early spring.[12]
Qidra is a rice dish named after the clay vessel and oven it is baked in. Rice is cooked with
pieces of meat inside of the vessel, often using lamb, whole garlic cloves, garbanzo
beans, cardamom pods, and various other spices such as, turmeric, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg
and cumin. Plain rice cooked in meat or chicken broth and flavored with mild spices including
cinnamon is known as fatteh ghazzawiyyeh. The rice is layered over a thin markook bread
known as farasheeh, smothered in ghee and topped with stuffed chicken or lamb. The meal is
eaten with green peppers and lemon sauce.
Type of Meals - Rice meals
Rice is the basic ingredient in ceremonial dishes, and is a very important element of Palestinian
meals.[4] Rice dishes are usually the main dish of Palestinian dinner, because they consist of a
variety of ingredients commonly found within the Palestinian land. Rice is usually not served
alone or as a side dish (see ruz ma lahma below), but rather it is incorporated within a larger dish
or tabeekh (dish), that would include soups, vegetables, and meat (chicken or lamb). Meat is
almost always present in Palestinian dishes.
Mansaf is a very popular dish that is usually served during important events, such as a traditional
wedding, engagement, funeral, baptism and circumcision. It is a dish incorporating all the
elements of Palestinian land, such as bread, laban (yogurt) soup, rice, nuts (pine nuts), parsley
and lamb, making it an important cultural dish. The meal is oftentimes served the traditional way
in a large common plate, a sidr. The meal is usually eaten without the use of tableware, but rather
each person sits beside each other eating from the same large plate.
Maqluba means "upside down" in Arabic, and it is a dish made with a meat, fried vegetables and
rice. The dish is cooked with the meat at the bottom of a large pot, then layered with fried
vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and eggplant. Rice is then added to the dish as
it completes cooking. When served, Maqluba is flipped upside down with the meat now at the
top, hence the name. Maqluba is a popular dish, commonly served with salad and yogurt by
Palestinians.

136
Quzi is a rich rice dish with chopped vegetables and roasted meat made in the Taboon served
with it. The dish is seen as comparatively simpler in its cooking than other Palestinian dishes,
because it is cooked with basic rice (with diced vegetables) and a meat served on top of it. The
meal is served in a large sidr, similar to mansaf, decorated with chopped parsley and pine nuts or
chopped almonds. Another variant of this is the Zarb which has bread dough instead of rice
although this is due to the Jordanian influence in the region.
Ruz ma Lahma is generally the only rice side dish in most Arab and Palestinian cooking, with
simply cooked rice, spices, ground beef and nuts. It is usually served with a full lamb, kharoof,
as the main dish.
Type of meals -Stews
Stews are basic fare for every day family cooking and are always served with vermicelli rice or
plain rice. They are popular because they provide a wide range of nutrients from the meat, the
vegetables and the rice. The extra liquid is also essential in such dry climate. Stews are also
economically beneficial, as they provide relatively small amount of meat into feeding large
families, especially within the poorer population.
Palestinian Spinach and
Chickpea Stew
 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided.
 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
(2 cups)
 1 tsp. cumin powder.
 1 tsp. coriander powder.
 4 medium garlic cloves, coarsely
crushed.
 1/2 tsp. ground allspice.
 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper.
 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg.
Cook for 15 min-depending on how you
like your spinach.

Mloukhiyeh is a stew made from Corchorus. The Corchorus is picked during harvest time, and is
either frozen or dried. It is widely popular in the middle east, as it is commonly grown in dry
climate areas. The stew is cooked with lemon juice and water, and served with cut lemons and
rice. The meal can be served with either chicken or lamb however it can be served without either
(unlike many other Palestinian meals).
Adas is a healthy lentil soup, common in the Middle East. Unlike other parts of the Middle East,
Palestinians do not incorporate yogurt or other ingredients into this soup. Rather, it is made with
lentils and chopped onions and served with sliced onions and bread on the side.
Bread meals

137
Sfiha patties/Manakish made with za'atar.
Palestinians bake a variety of different kinds of breads: they include khubz, pita
and markook and taboon. Khubz is an everyday bread and is very similar to pita. It often takes
the place of utensils; It is torn into bite size pieces and used to scoop various dips such as
hummus or ful.[7] Markook bread is a paper-thin unleavened bread and when unfolded it is
almost transparent. Taboon receives its name from the ovens used to bake them.

A Palestinian woman baking markook bread in the village of Artas near Bethlehem
Musakhan is a widely popular Palestinian dish composed of roasted chicken, with fried onions,
sumac, allspice, safron and pine nuts atop one or more taboons. The dish is usually eaten with the
hands and served with cut lemon on the side. In April 2010, Palestinians were entered into the
Guinness Book of World Records for largest Musakhan dish.

Pita
Palestinian cuisine also includes many small pizza-like foods,
including Manakish, sfiha, fatayer, sambusac, and ikras. Sfiha is a baked miniature flatbread,
topped with lamb and cooked red peppers or tomatoes. Manakish is a baked flat bread, usually
topped with za'atar and olive oil. Sfiha are meat patties decorated with spices and
peppers. Sambusac and fatayer are baked or sometimes fried doughs stuffed with minced meat
and cooked onions or snobar (pine nuts).[7] Fatayer is usually folded into triangles and
unlike sambusac, it could be filled with arabic cheese or za'atar. Ikras is similar

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to sambusac and fatayer, by using dough stuffed with either meat or spinach, however they are
not fried (like sambusac), and are usually served as a meal rather than meal addition or side dish.

Falafel balls. /tO THE RIGHT A family-sized serving of waraq al-'ainib

Sandwiches usually using markook or khubz, such as Shawarma and Falafel are also common
bread meals. Shawarma can be served as a sandwich or meal with shaved meat and bread.
Shawarma can be chicken or beef, and is adorned with a variety of garnishes. These can include
pickles, hummus, or a garlic yogurt mix. Falafel, fried chickpeas, parsley and onion are fried into
small patties and are adorned with similar toppings as shawarma.
Mahshi

Mahshi (pl. mahshi) dishes are composed of rice stuffed vegetables such as, eggplants, baby
pumpkins, potatoes, carrots and marrows as well as a variety of leaf vegetables, primarily grape
leaves, cabbage leaves and less often chard. Mahshi requires delicacy and time—the main reason
it is prepared before the day it is cooked and served. Many female family members participate in
the rolling and stuffing of the vegetables, relaxing the amount of individual effort required, with
great attention to detail.
Waraq Dawali (stuffed grape leaves), is a mahshi meal reserved for large gatherings. The grape
leaves are normally wrapped around minced meat, white rice and diced tomatoes, however meat
is not always used. Dawali is an excellent representation of the attention to detail commonly
found in Palestinian and Levant cuisine, with each piece being tightly wrapped to the size of
cigarette morsels (some families differ in their structure).It is then cooked and served as dozens
of rolls on a large plate usually accompanied by boiled potato slices, carrots and lamb
pieces. Kousa mahshi are zucchinis stuffed with the same ingredients as waraq al-'ainib and
usually served alongside it heavy meals. If made with a large number of zucchinis as well as
dawali it is known as waraq al-'ainib wa kousa.
Dips and side dishes
See also: List of Palestinian dips and List of Palestinian cheeses

139
Hummus topped with ful and tahini/Baba ghanoush./ A plate of hummus, garnished
with paprika and olive oil and pine nuts

Bread dips and side dishes such as, hummus, baba ghanoush, mutabbel and labaneh are
frequented during breakfast and dinner.
Hummus is a staple in Palestinian side dishes, in particular in hummus bi tahini, in which boiled,
ground beans are mixed with tahini (sesame paste) and sometimes lemon juice. Hummus is often
slathered in olive oil and sometimes sprinkled with paprika, oregano and pine nuts; the latter are
especially popular in the West Bank. Chick peas are also mixed with ful (fava beans), resulting
in an entirely different dish, mukhluta, with a distinct flavor and brownish color.

Baba ghanoush is an eggplant or aubergine salad or dip with several variants. The root of all the
variants is broiled and mashed eggplant and tahini lathered with olive oil, which can then be
flavored with either garlic, onions, peppers, ground cumin seeds, mint and parsley. Mutabbel is
one of the spicier variants that receives its zest from green chili peppers.
Jibneh Arabieh or jibneh baida is a white table cheese served with any of the above
dishes. Ackawi cheese is a common variation of jibneh baida. Ackawi cheese has a smoother
texture and a mild salty taste.[22] Labaneh is a pasty yogurt-like cream cheese either served on a
plate with olive oil and za'atar—which is generally called labaneh wa za'atar—or in a khubz
sandwich.

Salads and dips

Baba ghanoush..Tahini with lemon and garlic..Galayet bandora

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 Arabic salad - Salad made of tomato, cucumber, onion, olive oils and lemon juices.
 Palestinian salad - made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, parsley
 Baba ghanoush - Aubergine salad
 Hummus - Ground garbanzo beans with tahina and olive oil
 Fattoush - Mixed leaf vegetable salad with deep fried pita bread pieces and sumac
 Ful medames - Ground fava beans and olive oil
 Mutabbel - Spicier version of aubergine salad
 Tabbouleh - Parsley and bulgur salad with diced tomatoes, onions and lemon juice
 Tahini - Hulled Sesame seeds paste
 Malfouf salad - is a salad of Arab salads, typically consists of juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and
a healthy dose of fresh dried mint.
 Mfarakeh - is an Arab dish made of potato, egg, ghee, cumin powder, salt and pepper, in
addition chopped coriander leaf for garnish.
 Galayet bandora - Eaten in Palestine and Jordan. It is served in the morning for breakfast,
lunch, or dinner, consisting of tomatoes, olive oil, chili pepper and salt.

Tabbouleh with lettuce and wedges of lemon

The most served Palestinian salad is a simple type known as salatat bandura (tomato salad),
similar to Arab salad. It is composed of diced tomatoes and cucumbers combined with olive oil,
parsley, lemon juice and salt. Depending on the area of Palestine, the recipe may
include scallions and garlic as well.
Tabbouleh is a Mediterranean-style table salad originating in the Levant. The salad is made from
parsley pieces, bulgur, diced tomatoes, cucumbers and is sautéed with lemon juice and vinegar.
In 2006, the largest bowl of tabbouleh in the world was prepared by Palestinian cooks in
the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Fattoush is a combination of toasted bread pieces and parsley with chopped cucumbers, radishes,
tomatoes and scallions and flavored by sumac.[25] Dagga is a Gazan salad usually made in a clay
bowl and is a mix of crushed tomatoes, garlic cloves, red hot peppers, chopped dill and olive oil.
Its seasoned with lemon juice immediately before being served.
Salatah arabieh or "Arab salad" is a salad used with most meals. Romaine lettuce, tomatoes and
cucumbers are the main ingredients. Lettuce is cut into long strips, then chopped into thin
strands, the tomatoes and cucumbers are chopped into cubes. Finely chopped parsley and mint
give it a "particular zest" according to chef Ali Qleibo. A pinch of salt, the juice of a whole fresh
lemon and several tablespoons of olive oil are used for final touch ups
Sweets

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A siniyyeh of Kanafeh/Baklawa Sweets from Nablus
Palestinian desserts include baklawa, halawa and kanafeh, as well as other semolina and wheat
pastries. Baklawa is a pastry made of thin sheets of unleavened flour dough (phyllo), filled
with pistachios and walnuts sweetened by honey. Burma Til-Kadayif, or simply Burma,
especially popular in East Jerusalem, has the same filling as baklawa, but is cylndrical in shape
and made with kanafeh dough instead of phyllo. Halawa is a block confection of sweetened
sesame flour served in sliced pieces. Muhalabiyeh is a rice pudding made with milk and topped
with pistachios or almonds.
Kanafeh, a well-known dessert in the Arab World and Turkey. Made of several fine shreds of
pastry noodles with honey-sweetened cheese in the center, the top layer of the pastry is usually
dyed orange with food coloring and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. Nablus, to the present day
is famed for its kanafeh, partly due to its use of a white-brined cheese called Nabulsi after the
city. Boiled sugar is used as a syrup for kanafeh.
Snack foods
It is common for Palestinian hosts to serve fresh and dried fruits, nuts, seeds and dates to their
guests. Roasted and salted watermelon, squash and sunflower seeds as well as, pistachios
and cashews are common legumes.
Watermelon seeds, known as bizir al-bateekh and pumpkin seeds, known as bizir abyad are eaten
regularly during various leisurely activities: playing cards, smoking argeelah, conversing with
friends or before and after meals.
Meal Structure: Palestinian culture and life revolves around food in every aspect, whether it is
an ordinary day or a special occasion such as a wedding or holiday. Meals are structured in a
cyclical order by Palestinians and span into two main courses and several intermediate ones
like coffee, fruits and sweets as well as dinner. Like in most Arab cultures, meals are a time to
spend with family and could last 1–2 hours depending on the specific time of the day. Unlike
other cultures, lunch is the primary course and breakfast and dinner are lighter in contents.

 Fatur/Iftur (lit. 'breakfast') is a term for breakfast, usually consists of fried

eggs, olives, labaneh, olive oil, za'atar, or jams. Hummus bi tahini is also eaten primarily
during this time the day.
 Ghada is a term for lunch, usually late in the afternoon. Lunch is the heaviest meal of the
day and main ingredients could include rice, lamb, chicken, cooked vegetables and forms
of mahashi.

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 Asrooneh Derives from the word 'Aasr (lit. 'afternoon') is a term for the consumption of a
variety of fruits and legumes after gheda.
 'Asha is a term for supper, usually eaten anytime from 8-10 pm. 'Asha is simpler
than gheda and some foods consumed include fatayer, hummus bi tahini, a variety of salads
and a Levantine-style omelette called ijee.
 'Hilew Sometimes after or just before 'asha as well as when hosting guests come various
sweets. Baklawa is common and is usually purchased from pastry shops instead of made at
home like muhallabiyeh.
 Shay wa Kahwah Tea and coffee are served in throughout the day in before, after and
between fatur, ghada and 'asha.

_________________________________________________________

A maqhah in Jerusalem during Ottoman rule in Palestine, 1858/ Palestinian women

grinding coffee, 1905

Dining out
Restaurants or mata'im offer a brilliant array of cold appetizers known as the mezze.
Notably, hummus bi tahini, mukhluta, sometimes nearly a dozen variations of eggplant
salad, tabbouleh, fattoush, chili pepper and red cabbage salads and dishes made up by the chef
are served. Kibbee balls and sfiha are the primary hot appetizers available. Heavy meals are
rarely provided by restaurants, instead however, the entrées include shish kebab, shish taouk,
rack of lamb and chicken breasts. Falafel shops or Mahal falafel offer mainly falafel and
shawarma with several different contents. They also offer hummus or tabbouleh to be served
with the meal.
Coffeehouses (called al-maqhah in Arabic) serve hot beverages and soft drinks and are
sometimes restricted to male customers—who take part in leisurely activities like playing cards
or backgammon and smoking argileh (Arabic for hookah). Sweet shops or mahal al hilaweyat,
can be found in the souks of cities and major towns, they offer a wide range of sweets common
with Palestinians, such as, kanafeh, baklawa and anise-flavored cookies. Family-run shops often
serve at least one type of sweet that they themselves created.[30] The city of Nablus in particular
are world famous for their exquisite Arabic sweets, and have some of the oldest sweet shops in
Palestine.

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List of Palestinian beverages

Soft drinks
Soft drinks are also common in Palestinian homes and the city of Ramallah contains a Coca-
Cola and Faygo bottling plant, while Gaza, Hebron and Nablus have distribution centers.
A Pepsi-Cola plant in Gaza was shut down in 2007.
Homemade fruit juices are also a common household drink during warm days and
during Ramadan, the holy month for fasting by Muslims.In the Palestinian culture, coffee and tea
is traditionally served to adults during a visit or gathering, while juice is served to everyone.
Drinks such as tamar hind or qamar deen are served during special occasions to everyone. Tamar
hind, originally from Africa is a sweet and sour pulp of tamarind fruit concentrated with water
and certain amount of sugar to make the traditional sharbat syrup drink- liquorice drink made by
soaking or infusing liquorice sticks, and adding lemon juice. Qamar deen is traditionally served
to break the Ramadan fast (as is water), and is an iced drink made from a dry sheet of apricots
soaked in water, and mixed with lemon juice or syrup.
Rose or mint water is a drink commonly added to Palestinian sweets and dishes. However, it is
also a popular drink on its own, and is seen as refreshing in the heated summers. Herbs such as
sage can also be boiled with water to create a drink that is sometimes used for medicinal
purposes.A warm drink made from sweetened milk with salep garnished with walnuts, coconut
flakes and cinnamon, is known as sahlab and is primarily served during the winter season.
Coffee and tea
Two hot beverages that Palestinians consume is coffee—served in the morning and throughout
the day—and tea which is often sipped in the evening. Tea is usually flavored with na'ana (mint)
or maramiyyeh (sage). The coffee of choice is usually Turkish or Arabic coffee. Arabic coffee is
similar to Turkish coffee, but the former is spiced with cardamom and is usually unsweetened.
Among Bedouins and most other Arabs throughout the region of Palestine, bitter coffee, known
as qahwah sadah (Lit. plain coffee), was a symbol of hospitality. Pouring the drink was
ceremonial; it would involve the host or his eldest son moving clockwise among guests—who
were judged by age and status—pouring coffee into tiny cups from a brass pot. It was considered
"polite" for guests to accept only three cups of coffee and then end their last cup by
saying daymen, meaning "always", but intending to mean "may you always have the means to
serve coffee".
Liquor
A widely consumed liquor among Palestinian Christians is Arak. Arak is a clear anise-flavored
alcoholic drink that is mixed with water to soften it and give it a creamy white color. It is
consumed during special occasions such as holidays, weddings, and gatherings or with
the mezze. Beer is also a consumed drink and the Palestinian town of Taybeh in the central West
Bank contains one of the few breweries in Palestine. In addition to regular beer, the brewery
produces non-alcoholic beer for observant Muslims. The nearby town of Birzeit is also home to
Shepherds Brewery.

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Holidays Eating: There is a sharp difference of Palestinian courses eaten on a daily basis in
comparison to those reserved for holidays—which include family and religious occasions for
both Muslims and Christians.
Ramadan

Palestinian style ka'ak with ma'amoul/Freekeh/Mulukhiyah and rice/Palestinian style ka'ak

with ma'amoul
In the past, during the fasting month of Ramadan, the Musaher of a town would yell and beat his
drum to wake up the town's residents for suhoor (lit. 'of dawn')—usually very early in the
morning, ranging from 4-6 am. The meals eaten during this time are light and foods include
labaneh, cheese, bread and fried or boiled eggs along with various liquids to drink.
The muezzin's call to dawn prayers signaled the beginning of sawm or fasting.
Breaking the day's fasting traditionally begins with the brief consumption of dates and a chilled
beverage. Palestinians make a variety of fruit-based beverages, including the flavors, tamar
Hindi or tamarind, sous or licorice, kharroub or carob and Qamar Eddine.Tamar Hindi is made
by soaking tamarinds in water for many hours, then straining, sweetening and mixing it with rose
water and lemon juice Kharroub is made similarly except instead of tamarind, carob is
used. Qamar Eddine is made of dried apricots boiled into a liquid and chilled.
The term iftar has a different meaning in Ramadan where it is used to describe the 'breaking of
fasting' unlike its common meaning of breakfast in the morning. Iftar begins with soup, either
made from lentils, vegetables or freekeh. Shurbat freekeh ("freekeh soup") is made from cracked,
green wheat cooked in chicken broth. There is a wide variety of meals served during iftar,
ranging from small plates or bowls vegetable-based courses or saniyyehs (large plates or trays)
of a particular meat. Common small dishes on the dinner table are bamia—a name for okra in
tomato paste, mloukhiyeh—a corchorus stew—or maqali, an array of fried tomatoes, aubergines,
potatoes, peppers and zucchini. Pilaf or plain freekeh are normally served alongside the dinner
meat. Each household prepares extra food to provide for their neighbors and the less fortunate—
who must receive an equal version of the food eaten at home.
Holiday sweets

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Qatayef
A common Palestinian dessert reserved only for Ramadan is qatayef, which could be provided
by the numerous street vendors in several major Palestinian cities or towns as well as typical
Palestinian households.[37] Qatayef is the general name of the dessert as a whole, but more
specifically, the name of the batter that acts as a base. The result of the batter being poured into a
round hot plate appears similar to pancakes, except only one side is cooked, then folded. The
pastry is filled with either unsalted goat cheese or ground walnuts and cinnamon. It is then baked
and served with a hot sugar-water syrup or sometimes honey.[38]
Ka'ak bi 'awja is a semolina shortbread pastry filled with ground dates called 'ajwa or walnuts.
The dessert is a traditional meal for Christians during Easter,[39] however, ka'ak bi awja is also
prepared towards the end of Ramadan, to be eaten during Eid al-Fitr—a Muslim festival
immediately following Ramadan, as well as during Eid al-Adha. During Mawlid—the holiday
honoring the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—Zalabieh which consists of small,
crunchy deep fried dough balls in dipped in syrup, is served. The dough is made from flour, yeast
and water.
A special pudding called meghli is prepared for a new born child, to celebrate new life. The
dessert is made of ground rice, sugar and a mixture of spices, garnished with almonds, pine nuts
and walnuts. Meghli is commonly made by Christian Palestinians during Christmas to celebtate
the birth of the baby Jesus.
An infant's new tooth is celebrated with bowls of sweetened wheat or barley and sweets served
after a child's circumcision include baklava and Burma. Christian families in mourning serve
a sweet bun known as rahmeh. It is a food eaten in remembrance of the dead and as a gesture of
blessing the soul of the deceased person. The Greek Orthodox Church offer a special tray with
cooked wheat covered with sugar and candy after a memorial service
The following is a list of Palestinian dishes. For the cuisine, see Palestinian cuisine
Main Dishes by Region- Galilee

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Maqluba

 Kibbeh balls - Minced meat in bulgur crust, fried into ball shapes
 Kibbee bi-siniyyeh - Oven baked kibbeh
 Kibbeh nayyeh - Raw meat with bulgur, onions and spices
 Mansaf - Lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur
 Maqluba - An "upside-down" dish, made with fried vegetables, meat (lamb), rice and
eggplant.
 Musakhan - Large taboon bread topped with sumac, and onions.
 Ruz wa Lahme ma' Laban - Mix of rice and lamb topped with a mildly spicy yogurt
 Shish taouk - Chicken pieces on skewers
 Kebab Halabi - kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper
West Bank

Musakhan

 Fasoulya Beyda - White beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice.
 Fasoulya Khadra - Green beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice.
 Kafta b'thine - Kafta balls cooked with thine sauce and served with rice.
 Kafta harra - Kafta cooked in tomato sauce and potatoes. It can be eaten alone or in Pita
bread.
 Mahshi Lift - A specialty of Hebron, turnips stuffed with rice, minced lamb meat and spices,
cooked in Tamarind sauce.
 Mandi - also called Ruz ma Lahma in the West bank, it is made by cooking meat, rice and
vegetables in a Taboon, Similar to other Arab States.
 Mansaf - Lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice or bulgur
 Maqluba - An "upside-down" dish, made with fried vegetables, meat (chicken/lamb) and rice
 Musakhan - Large taboon bread topped with sumac, onions and pepper.
 Zarb - same as Mandi but it is cooked under high pressure in an airtight oven. Usually rice is
substituted by bread. Influenced by Jordanians.
Gaza

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Sumaghiyyeh./ Mujaddara

 Fukharit 'adas - Lentil flavored with red peppers, dill, garlic and cumin.
 Maqluba - upside-down eggplant, rice, meat and cauliflower casserole.
 Qidra - Rice and meat pieces cooked with cloves, garlic and cardamom.
 Rummaniyya - Mix of eggplant, pomegranate seeds, tahina, red peppers and garlic.
 Sumaghiyyeh - Beef and chickpea stew flavored with sumac, tahina and red peppers.
 Zibdieh - Shrimp cooked with red peppers, garlic and peeled tomatoes
National

 Ari'ih - "Rice and minced meat stuffed in pumpkins"

 Bamia - "Okra cooked with tomato sauce and onions"
 Waraq al-'anib - "Rice and minced meats rolled in grape leaves"
 Fatta - "Dishes involving bread crumbs."
 Shurbat freekeh - "Green wheat soup, usually with chicken."
 Kousa Mahshi - Rice and minced meat stuffed in zucchinis
 Maftul - Large couscous like balls, garbanzo beans and chicken pieces cooked in chicken
broth.
 Malfuf - Rice and minced meat rolled in cabbage leaves
 Maqluba - An upside-down eggplant, rice, meat and cauliflower casserole.
 Mujaddara - Lentil and bulgur casserole
 Mloukiyyeh - Corchorus stew
 Musakhan - Large taboon breads with chicken, onions, sumac, and allspice.
 Shawarma
 Falafel
SIDE DISHES- Salads and dips

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Baba ghanoush/Tahini with lemon and garlic/Galayet bandora

 Arabic salad - Salad made of tomato, cucumber, onion, olive oils and lemon juices.
 Palestinian salad - made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, parsley
 Baba ghanoush - Aubergine salad
 Hummus - Ground garbanzo beans with tahina and olive oil
 Fattoush - Mixed leaf vegetable salad with deep fried pita bread pieces and sumac
 Ful medames - Ground fava beans and olive oil
 Mutabbel - Spicier version of aubergine salad
 Tabbouleh - Parsley and bulgur salad with diced tomatoes, onions and lemon juice
 Tahini - Hulled Sesame seeds paste
 Malfouf salad - is a salad of Arab salads, typically consists of juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and
a healthy dose of fresh dried mint.
 Mfarakeh - is an Arab dish made of potato, egg, ghee, cumin powder, salt and pepper, in
addition chopped coriander leaf for garnish.
 Galayet bandora - Eaten in Palestine and Jordan. It is served in the morning for breakfast,
lunch, or dinner, consisting of tomatoes, olive oil, chili pepper and salt.

Cheeses and yogurts

Nabulsi cheese

 Ackawi - White salty and smooth table cheese

 Jibneh Arabieh - Any white table cheese
 Jameed - cheesecloth yogurt
 Labeneh - Strained yogurt

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 Nabulsi - Sweet white cheese
 Halloumi
 Kashk

Pita In Nablus/ A Palestinian man from Ramallah using an aleb falafel while frying falafel/
Markook

 Khubz
 Markook
 Pita
 Taboon
 Ka'ak
Bread dishes

 Falafel (could be served plain) - Fried hummus, spice and parsley ball
 Fatayer - Spinach, za'atar or beef pie
 Manakish - Taboon bread topped with za'atar and olive oil
 Sambusak - Fried dough balls stuffed with meat, pine nuts and onions
 Sfiha - Flat bread topped with beef and red peppers
 Shawarma - Pita bread roll of meat, tahini and various vegetables

Condiments:

 Qizha
 Za'atar
 Duqqa
 Sumac
 Baharat
Beverages
Arak or araq (Arabic: ‫( عرق‬is a Levantine unsweetened distilled spirit (≈40–63% alc/vol or
≈80–126 proof in the anise drinks family. It is a translucent white anise-flavored drink.
Arak is traditionally made of only two ingredients, grapes and aniseed. Aniseeds are the seeds of
the anise plant, and when crushed, their oil provides Arak with a slight licorice taste.

150
The word arak comes from Arabic ʿaraq (‫ﻋﺮﻕ‬, meaning 'perspiration')
Its pronunciation varies depending on local varieties of Arabic: [ʕaˈraʔ], [ʕaˈraɡ]. Arak is not to
be confused with the similarly named liquor, arrack (which in some cases, such as in
Indonesia—especially Bali—also goes by the name arak). Another similar-sounding word
is aragh, which in Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia is the colloquial name of vodka, and
not an aniseed-flavored drink. Rakı, mastika, and ouzo are aniseed-flavored alcoholic drinks,
related to arak, popular in Turkey, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Greece respectively.
Related products include rakı, absinthe, ouzo, pastis, sambuca, and aragh sagi.
Arak is the traditional alcoholic beverage in Western Asia, especially in the Eastern
Mediterranean, as well in Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.
Arak is a stronger flavored liquor, and is usually mixed in proportions of approximately one part
arak to two parts water in a traditional Eastern Mediterranean water vessel called an ibrik The
mixture is then poured into ice-filled cups, usually small, but can be consumed in regular sized
cups too. This dilution causes the clear liquor to turn a translucent milky-white color; this is
because anethole, the essential oil of anise, is soluble in alcohol but not in water. This results in
an emulsion whose fine droplets scatter the light and turn the liquid translucent, a phenomenon
known as louching. Arak is commonly served with mezza, which may include dozens of small
traditional dishes. In general, arak drinkers prefer to consume it this way, rather than alone. It is
also consumed with raw meat dishes or barbecues, along with dishes flavored with toum (garlic
sauce).
If ice is added to the drinking vessel before the water, the result is the formation of an
aesthetically unpleasant layer on the surface of the drink, because the ice causes the oils to
solidify. If water is added first, the ethanol causes the fat to emulsify, leading to the characteristic
milky color. To avoid the precipitation of the anise (instead of an emulsion), drinkers prefer not
to reuse a glass which has contained arak. In restaurants, when a bottle of arak is ordered, the
waiter will usually bring a number of glasses for each drinker along with it for this reason.

Aniseed
Manufacturing begins with the vineyards, and quality grapevines are the key to making good
arak. The vines should be very mature and usually of a golden color. Instead of being irrigated,
the vineyards are left to the care of the Mediterranean climate and make use of the natural rain
and sun. The grapes, which are harvested in late September and October, are crushed and put in
barrels together with the juice (in Arabic el romeli) and left to ferment for three weeks.
Occasionally the whole mix is stirred to release the CO2.

151
Numerous types of stills exist, most usually made of stainless steel or
copper. Pot and column stills are two types; which will affect the final taste and specificity of the
arak. The authentic copper stills with a Moorish shape are the most sought after.
The alcohol collected in the first distillation undergoes a second distillation, but this time it is
mixed with aniseed. The ratio of alcohol to aniseed may vary and it is one of the major factors in
the quality of the final product. The finished product is produced during a final distillation which
takes place at the lowest possible temperature. For a quality arak, the finished spirit is then aged
in clay amphoras to allow the angel's share to evaporate. The remaining liquid after this step is
the most suitable for consumptio

 Arak - Anise-flavored alcoholic beverage

 Helba - Fenugreek beverage
 Kharroub - Carob juice
 Qamar Eddine - Apricot juice
 Sahlab - boiled milk with starch, covered with smashed coconut and cinnamon
 Tamar Hindi - Tamarind juice
 Zanjabeel - Ginger beverage
 Lemonade
 Limonana - type of lemonade made from freshly-squeezed lemon juice and mint leaves
 Arabic coffee - is the most popular form of coffee brewed in Arab countries.
 Turkish coffee

Kanafeh/Baklawa Sweets from Nablus/Awameh

 Kanafeh - Cheese pastry soaked in sweet sugar-based syrup

 Baklava - Sweet pastry made of layers of filo
 Qatayef - Sweet dumpling filled with cream or nuts
 Ma'amoul - Shortbread pastries filled with dates, pistachios or walnuts
 Warbat
 Meshabek

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 Batata b'kaak
 harīsa
 Awameh - is Arabic for “Floater”, is a kind of fried-dough Levantine pastry similar
to doughnut holes, made of deep fried dough, soaked in sugar syrup or honey and cinnamon,
and sometimes sprinkled with sesame.
 halawa
 Muhallebi
 Ghoriba
 maftoul
 she'reya
 saḥlab

REFERENCES
1. Palestinians share appetite for traditional food, Miriam Berger, REUTERS, 2017

153
 CHAPTER V
EDUCATION in PALESTINE TODAY

The occupied territories of Palestine, often referred to as the West Bank, reached their current
form over a number of decades dating back to the war of 1967 (Efrat 2006), but must be seen in
the context of the history of the Palestinian people since the establishment of the state of
Israel or even decades before (Tessler 2009). At present, the Israeli administration divides
the occupied territories into three areas, often called zones. Only Area A, the enclave
around Ramallah, has the appear-ance of normalcy, although not during any intifada (Peretz
1990) nor during what UNRWA describes as ‘security spikes’. Nablus, the focus of the
current work, is however very different, being in ‘Area C, in which full Israeli military and
civilian control prevails, form 18.1 percent of the overall land space of the Occupied Ter-
ritories’. (Handel 2009:180). It is one of the largest cities in occupied Palestine,
described as ‘the West Bank’s northern population hub’, ‘also one that has seen some of
the roughest action, given the stringent resistance to Israeli occupation that simmers there’
(Thomas et al. 2010:323).There are three obvious expressions of Israeli control and occupation;
firstly, the separation fence, started in 2007, built on appropriated land, based solely on Israeli
perceptions of security (Efrat 2006, p. 107); secondly, the settlements, compounds for Israeli
citizens, built in strategic positions, regarded as illegal by most of the inter-national
legal opinions (Barak-Erez 2006; Falk and Weston 1991; Darweish 2010); and thirdly,
the apartheid roads, separate and autonomous road systems, one serv-ing the settlements
and connecting them back to Israel, the other, back roads and minor roads, for Palestinians
(Efrat 2006, p. 80). There has however also been a steady relentless appropriation of Palestinian
land and property over decades:The Israeli government instituted a series of mandatory laws and
regulations to ‘legalise’ the acquisition of Palestinian refugees’ land and property after 1948,
while preventing them from returning to their land. Palestinian land was deemed ‘absentee
property’ through the Absentee Property Law (1950) and control of this land was passed to
the state or quasi-state entities. Under this law, Pales-tinian refugees were considered
‘absentees’ and internally displaced Palestinians were regarded as ‘present absentees’.Any
account of the physical realities and the lived realities of Palestinians hap-pens (Allen
2008) in the context of the apparent Israeli (or Zionist) mission over the last half-
century; the literature is, however, sparse and the language is emo-tive (Veracini 2013),
but the Zionist position, dating back more than a century, is encapsulated in:A land without
people for a people without land.(Atran et al. 2007:1040)For Palestinians, those non-people on
the land in question:The outcome of the barriers is that the space becomes divided into small
cells, and passage between them is nearly impossible.(Handel 2009, p. 184)over which they can
no longer walk or roam (Shehadeh 2010), or farm or visit.As a final piece of background, this is
a companion piece to an earlier work (Traxler 2018) that outlined the need to define a
digital literacy curriculum for the Palestin-ian community. It made the point that the dominant
conceptions of digital literacy spring from a largely European context, in terms of politics,
culture, infrastructure, institutions and educational sectors. An authoritative, but not
definitive, European definitions said:Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of

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individuals to appropri-ately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate,
eval-uate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media
expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to
enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process.(Martin 2005)Subsequent
publication seems to have moved on from ‘digital literacy’ to ‘digital com-petences’ (e.g. Ferrari
2013), but an analysis by experts (Janssen et al. 2013) implicitly reinforces the sense that our
concerns about digital literacy are inherited by the digital competences literature .

Majed Abusalama -I fear for Gaza’s children

Growing up in Gaza, I always felt a sense of emergency. My family was always prepared for the
worst, because the worst could knock on our door at any time, as it did during the attacks on
Gaza in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014. As a child, I knew that living in fear every single day was
not normal. In my heart, I rejected the normalisation of everyday horrors, because I did not want
to lose touch with my humanity. Yet I eventually had to come to terms with the situation I was
born into and my surroundings.

When will the world stop ignoring what is happening in Gaza?-If the world continues to treat our
situation as ‘normal’, it may soon be too late to save my homeland and my people.

Explosion illuminates the night sky after Israeli warplanes hit several targets on August 16, 2020
in Khan Yunis, Gaza. [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu]

For my family, and for the people of Gaza, August has been horrific. Israel bombed the Strip on
an almost daily basis, making us feel like we were stuck at the epicentre of a never-ending
earthquake. The explosions, at times barely a kilometre from our home, were so loud, my two-
year-old niece could not sleep at night. Every time she heard a loud bang she quickly gathered
her toys around her, as if to protect them from Israel’s bombs.

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Last month was indeed horrific, but it was not extraordinary in any way. Israel’s soldiers,
warplanes, drones and gunships have been harassing, intimidating, and killing the people of Gaza
regularly, and with impunity, for decades. Israel’s attacks are part of the daily routine in Gaza.
To be able to survive, and to lead something that resembles a normal life, us Gazans have no
choice but to accept as normal the violence being inflicted on us.

Now, my niece and thousands of other children living under Israeli siege in Gaza, are growing up
with the same fears and the same sense of constant emergency. As they try to sleep through the
sounds of bombs, and protect their toys from the horrors that are just outside the door, they are
being forced to accept as normal a violent reality that no child should ever even witness.

In recent years, there has barely been a day in which Israel did not bomb, shoot into, or
physically invade what is not only one of the most densely populated areas on the planet, but also
a place which has been besieged for more than 13 years, with major shortages of the
basics required for normal human life.

Israel’s colonial infrastructure controls the sky above us and the land and sea around us, and is
even capable of penetrating into our most intimate spaces to show us its power. In Gaza,
wherever you look, you see tools of oppression, occupation and urban warfare – border fences,
separation walls, armoured trucks, warplanes and checkpoints shape the landscape we live in.
Even when you are at home, the whirring sound of military drones remind you that you are
imprisoned, and you can be attacked at any moment.

I believe Israel makes a conscious effort to constantly remind Gaza Palestinians of its presence.
By making its occupation so visible, and the power it has over us so obvious, it is sending us a
message: We will never allow you to be normal people, and live normal lives.

To Israel, Gaza is not a place where two million men, women, and children call home, but an
“enemy entity” – an alien space whose inhabitants do not deserve to be treated with human
decency. Israel’s propaganda machine, with help from its allies around the world, works
tirelessly to dehumanise the people of Gaza, brand them as senseless, violent “extremists”, and
create the perception that Israel’s occupation is “humane” and “civilised”.

Of course, the reality is very different. And despite Israel’s efforts to terrorise us into silence, we,
the people of Gaza, are not willing to allow our occupier to tell our story. We turn our fears,
vulnerabilities and frustrations into resistance and reach out to the world in every way that we
can to expose our tragic reality, demand our rights and shame our oppressors.

Like many Gazans living on the Strip and across the world, I have spent a lifetime fighting
Israel’s colonial policies. I have been on the forefront of the Palestinian struggle for justice and
freedom, first in my refugee camp in Gaza, and later Germany. For my efforts, I have
been threatened, persecuted, intimidated and even shot at. But I never gave up, because I know
resistance is the only way to ensure that there is a decolonised future worth living for me, my
family and my beloved Gaza.

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But, sadly, the world seems not to be interested in hearing us. Israel’s continuing crimes against
the Palestinians have been exposed, over and over again, by journalists, UN rapporteurs, activists
and Palestinians themselves. Yet, most world governments did nothing to pressure Israel to stop
to this day. Some issued empty statements to “condemn” Israel, and “urge” it to stop its attacks
against the Palestinians, but continued to give Israel diplomatic, political and military support.
Others chose to remain completely silent and turned a blind eye to our sufferin, which is another
moral betrayal.

But the international community cannot continue to ignore our plight. The UN said some three
years ago that it expects Gaza to become “unlivable” by 2020. Since then, Israel not only refused
to take action to reverse Gaza’s rapid deterioration into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but
intensified its attacks on the Strip, hindering efforts by activists, NGOs and locals to keep this
open prison habitable for a little longer. With the novel coronavirus now spreading throughout
refugee camps and communities across Gaza, we cannot afford to wait any longer for the world
to acknowledge our suffering and take action.

Every year on May 15, Palestinians mark the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, referring to the ethnic
cleansing of Palestine and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society in 1948. Since that
tragic day, Israel’s primary strategic goal has been to keep Palestinians in a state of
catastrophe. It has achieved this goal by building a colonial infrastructure to prevent us from
escaping its structural violence.

Today, Israel is trying to maintain this state of catastrophe through regular military assaults, daily
bombardments and aggressive surveillance. It is trying to force us into compliance by brutally
attacking peaceful protests against its occupation and illegal settlement. It is trying to silence us
through media campaigns that paint us as “terrorists” and “savages”. It is trying to make us
forget our humanity and stop fighting for our right to live freely and with dignity by restricting
our access to electricity, forcing us to eat inedible food and drink poisoned water.

Israel has kept Palestine in a state of catastrophe for so long that our situation now seems
“normal” to the world. But there is nothing normal about Israel’s continuing efforts to destroy
our communal and personal lives.

Palestinians will undoubtedly continue to resist Israel’s colonial policies and build beautiful
narratives of grassroots resilience. But we cannot win our righteous, just and moral fight for
freedom, equality and dignity without the support of the international community, like it was the
case in apartheid South Africa.

This is why we call for the international community to sanction and isolate Israel for its repeated
crimes against humanity in colonised Palestine. If the world continues to treat our situation as
“normal” and fails to take action, it may soon be just too late to save my homeland and my
people.

On March 23, Germany announced nation-wide measures to prevent the further spread of the
coronavirus. People were advised to stay at home and public gatherings were banned; restaurants

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and pubs were closed. Days earlier, schools were shuttered followed by gyms, cinemas,
museums and other public places. And so life began under lockdown.

For many of my German friends, this was the first time in their lives they were experiencing such
government-imposed restrictions. For me, the lockdown in Berlin, where I live now, brought
back memories from the first Intifada.

Gaza protest bring back memories of early Palestinian resistance. How Palestinian women led
successful non-violent resistance. What happened to Palestine’s youth-led struggle?Stories
from the first Intifada: ‘They broke my bones’

I was just a baby when the uprising started in December 1987 in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza,
my birthplace. By the time it ended, I was a school-age boy. Lockdowns, curfews and a variety
of restrictions were all I knew for the first six years of my life.

The Intifada broke out after Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians at a checkpoint at our camp.
When crowds of Palestinians went out to protest against the deaths, Israeli soldiers opened fire,
killing another Palestinian man.

The killings were just the spark; the real reason was the decades of brutal military occupation
and apartheid my people had endured while watching our land being colonised by European and
American Jewish settlers arriving from abroad.

The whole of historic Palestine erupted in protest. To Israeli tear gas and bullets, Palestinians
responded with slingshots and stones. The Israeli occupation army and Israeli
“civilians” killed close to 1,500 Palestinians, more than 300 of them children.

Facing a people-wide uprising that deadly repression could not put out, the Israeli government
started imposing various forms of lockdowns to try to control the Palestinian population, which
had launched a sustained grassroots resistance campaign.

The curfews would come and go. The Israelis would impose them for days, weeks, even months
at a time. According to American scholar Wendy Pearlman, in the first year of the Intifada, the
Israeli occupation army put various Palestinian communities under round-the-clock curfews
more than 1,600 times.

During those curfews, we would not be allowed to go out. Sometimes, we would run out of food,
and my grandmother and aunts would risk their lives to go outside and look for supplies to buy.

Food was scarce, as farmers were not allowed to go to the fields. Many crops lay rotting, with no
one to harvest them.

Universities and schools were closed, leaving a whole generation of Palestinian children and
youth falling behind on their education. We had no parks, no public gardens to go to and play in.
The beach, too, was “closed” by the Israelis.

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But the many restrictions, the constant harassment and persistent killings did not bring down the
Palestinian spirit. All across historic Palestine, popular resistance committees were established
which coordinated various activities to provide for the people. My father, Ismael, was involved
in organising the committee in our camp.

Women grew food at homes and on rooftops and founded agricultural cooperatives which they
called victory gardens, to create an autonomous Palestinian economy and enable the boycott of
Israeli products. Trade committees organised strikes; health committees established makeshift
clinics, educational committees set up underground classes. Everyone put in whatever effort they
could to help their community and no one was left without communal support.

That, of course, angered the Israelis. I clearly remember, when I was four years old, Israeli
soldiers broke into our home and started destroying our belongings. It was a punishment for my
father’s political activities – one that so many families endured repeatedly.

My father was also often questioned and detained for weeks, sometimes months at a time.
During one of these episodes, after an hours-long interrogation, an Israeli commander asked him
if he had anything to say. My father answered he wanted to get a permit to be allowed to go to
his bees. The commander laughed, saying, “You might go to prison now, and you are thinking of
your bees?” My father responded that he must take care of them or they would die, and those
bees fed his family. My father was detained that time for a week. The bees did not survive.

We became reliant on my mother’s salary. She was working as a nurse in an UNRWA clinic.
She had to go to work every day even during curfew, so she had a permit to cross the Israeli
checkpoints. She would treat many of the children who were beaten or injured by Israeli soldiers
in our camp. According to Save the Children NGO, in the first two years of the uprising, between
23,600 and 29,900 sought medical help for injuries.

In the summer of 1991, my mother went into labour. As there were very few phones in the
refugee camp at the time, we could not call an ambulance; besides, no ambulances were allowed
into the camp under the curfew. As a result, my mother was forced to walk to the UNRWA
clinic, a kilometre away. She made her way leaning on my grandmother, who was waving a
white scarf, hoping the Israeli soldiers would not shoot at them.

Not far from our home, Israeli soldiers pointed their guns at them and made them stop. They
started questioning my mother about why they were breaking the curfew, even though it was
obvious she was about to give birth; she could hardly stand on her feet. “It was a frightening
moment,” my mother would recall later. “I was trying to protect my belly away from their guns
as the painful contractions came one after the other.”

The soldiers eventually let them go, and that evening my mother gave birth to my sister, Shahd.
In the morning they braved the curfew again and walked back home. We were all happy to see
them and my baby sister.

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Life was extremely difficult for us, but my parents always recall the Intifada as a time of
liberation, often saying, “We did not give up on our resistance. We did not become subdued
victims.” Indeed, Palestinians set an example for a grassroots struggle rarely seen at that time.

And here I am today, three decades later, again under a lockdown – but a much different one.
There are no rubber bullets, live ammunition or tear gas canisters shot at people walking in the
streets; there are no checkpoints; no violent repression, the way I have experienced in Palestine.

Like my German friends, I too am anxious about the situation in Germany, but most of the time,
my mind is wandering towards Gaza.

My family still lives in the densely-populated Jabalia refugee camp where social distancing is
impossible. Our camp has more than 113,000 people living in an area that covers a bit more than
half a square kilometre.

Already 17 people tested positive in Gaza. The local authorities and international organisations
have warned of an impending catastrophe.

I can feel my parents’ worries, especially my mother, who is still working in the UNRWA clinic.
She takes a big risk every time she goes to work, where she sees dozens of people every day.
Gaza’s healthcare system has been damaged by years of a suffocating siege imposed by Israel
and Egypt on the strip and by multiple destructive wars waged by the Israeli military against my
people. It is extremely vulnerable and a major coronavirus outbreak would spell disaster.

Unlike Germany, where the government is already relaxing lockdown measures and talking
about a return to “normal” at some point in the future, in Gaza, my people are preparing for the
worst. The death and suffering this epidemic could inflict on Palestinians will be yet another
entry in the long list of war crimes the Israelis have committed against us and it will weigh
heavily on the conscience of the international community which has abandoned us.

These days I keep asking myself: Has the world forgotten us, having accepted our life in
inhumane conditions? Or will it do something this time to hold Israel accountable?

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Majed is rushed away by friends after being shot in the leg by an Israeli soldier [Yaser Murtaja/Al
Jazeera]

what is the impact of the Israeli occupation of Palestine on the professional lives of
teachers?’, ‘how are they using digital technologies to deliver learning and support learners?’,
and ‘how does this challenge the ideas of digital literacy
In a specific Palestinian context, these concerns about digital literacy, and by extension
with digital competences, include the following:• The focus on the individual with no
mention of the community and the culture• The lack of recognition of the hegemony of
global English or of American digital technology, or of the synergy between them• The role
of digital space and digital identity for a community and culture with severely constrained its
physical space and its physical identity• The need to express digitally widespread trauma, loss
and pain in circumstances where meeting or demonstrating may be prohibited or problematic.

The education systems in Palestine (meaning the West Bank, just to be clear, and
embracing Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA) and others such as missionary, charitable or private) are educationally
comparable to many others in the region, and in fact, UNRWA is the best. There are of course
institutional and organisational differences; there are cul-tural and ethnic differences; there
are pedagogic and educational differences. What makes Palestine profoundly different,
however, is that education and life in general take place within the context of ongoing
occupation by Israeli armed and police forces and by periodic security ‘spikes’, shootings,
riots, curfews, lock-downs, unrest and disturbances. We can review these later, and we are not
discounting the political and security situations that afflict the education systems in, say,
Lebanon, Syria, Gaza or even Jordan and Egypt

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There is no doubting the emotional and educational damage involved or the tenacity and
commitment of the teachers in exploiting digital technology to mitigate these. study showed that
there were statistically significant differences in students’ reading skills due to the method of teaching in
favor of the experimental group. This study recommended that training programs could be offered to train
teachers on using the short stories technique. Students need to be provided with opportunities to practice
using it. Based on those findings, the study recommended the necessity of implementing modern methods
of teaching short stories for better outcomes in students' reading skills, and more studies should be
conducted on different variables and subjects were recommended. Aspirations: Earlier studies
demonstrated that Palestinian students have exceptionally high educational aspirations in spite of
living under Israeli occupation and in dire poverty. We discovered the students work hard in
school and are supported by their parents. Interestingly, intifada participation was not related to
school performance as those who were heavily involved in the conflict earned just as good
grades as those who did not participate. Sadly, these youth realize that their lofty educational
aspirations are not likely to be fulfilled because of their families' poverty and the disruptive
influence of the Israeli occupation.

Impediments in education: The movement of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories

is restricted by bureaucratic and physical obstacles. To date, no studies have examined the
barriers that Palestinian medical students face in accessing hospitals for clinical training. The
objectives of this study were to characterize these barriers and understand how they affect
Palestinian students’ medical education and quality of life.In a study on medical students they
expressed facing numerous challenges during their clinical training. Students emphasized the
difficulties of obtaining permits to train at Jerusalem hospitals, including arbitrary permit
rejections and long wait times. Significant delays, searches, and mistreatment at checkpoints
during their commute to hospitals were particularly burdensome. The majority of students who
participated in the focus groups felt that their education and quality of life had been strongly
negatively affected by their experience trying to access hospital training sites.

Thefindings suggested that medical students living and studying in the occupied Palestinian
territories receive sub-optimal training due to ambiguous permit rules, barriers at checkpoints,
and the psychological burden of the process. These results highlight the impact that military
occupation has on the education and quality of life of Palestinian medical students in a setting in
which there is regular violence and many health indicators are already poor.

Health care workers:

The history of the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), which consist of the West Bank, East
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, has been turbulent. Due to a military occupation that began in
1967, the movement of Palestinians within the occupied territories is constantly restricted [1, 2].
Palestinians in the OPT can carry one of 3 ID types, each of which defines where they are
allowed to freely travel within the region. The Jerusalem ID allows holders to reside in Jerusalem
and enter the West Bank; the West Bank ID prevents those living in the West Bank from
entering Jerusalem without applying for special permission; and the Gaza ID prevents residents
from leaving Gaza. Beyond ID status, movement is largely restricted within and from the West
Bank by a complex series of bureaucratic and physical obstacles, including the need for special

162
permits to enter Jerusalem, military checkpoints, roads forbidden to Palestinians, and an eight-
meter high, 700 km-long concrete Separation Wall that separates the West Bank from Jerusalem
and Israel [3]. In 2015, there were 96 permanent military checkpoints within the West Bank, 361
temporary “surprise” checkpoints monthly, and 39 checkpoints that regulate movement out of
the West Bank and into Jerusalem and other cities [4, 5].

The current geopolitical context of the OPT poses challenges to healthcare delivery and access
[1, 6]. The OPT has a fragmented landscape of healthcare providers with hospitals representing a
mix of governmental, private, and non-governmental organization (NGO) entities [3]. The
Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem are considered the most advanced in the OPT and for
decades, they have served the people of the West Bank and Gaza, especially for complex cases
or medical specialties unavailable locally [7]. The tertiary hospital for the OPT, Al-Makassed
Hospital, serves over 60 % of the population and is located in East Jerusalem. The construction
of the West Bank Separation Wall beginning in 2002 has made the hospital difficult to access by
Palestinian patients and health care staff living in the West Bank or Gaza due to the need for
permits to enter Jerusalem and because of the arduous commutes through checkpoints [7, 8].
These obstacles contribute to poor health in the OPT [6] and may potentially restrict the
education and clinical training of Palestinian medical students.

There are 4 medical schools in the OPT, the premier of which is Al-Quds University Medical
School in Abu Dis, two miles east of Jerusalem. Palestinian medical students at Al-Quds rely
heavily on the teaching hospitals of East Jerusalem, namely Al-Makassed Hospital, for their core
clinical training.

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Figure 1 shows a map of the OPT and the routes Palestinians must take through checks

Map of Palestinian medical students’ routes to Jerusalem hospitals. Shown are several routes that
Palestinian medical students at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis take to commute to one of their
main teaching hospitals, Al-Makkased Hospital, located in East Jerusalem. Most medical
students at Al-Quds carry West Bank IDs and must take public transit or taxis to and from
checkpoints along the Separation Wall that separates their homes in the West Bank from
teaching hospitals in Jerusalem. The green route shows how students who live in dormitories at
Al-Quds University in the West Bank travel by bus to Zeitouna checkpoint, through which they
walk and are searched by Israeli soldiers. They then take another bus or taxi from the checkpoint
to Al-Makassed Hospital. The blue route shows how students living in Ramallah, one of the
biggest cities in the West Bank, travel by bus to Qalandiya checkpoint, then take another bus or
taxi from Qalandiya to the hospital. In contrast, the minority of medical students living in
Jerusalem with a Jerusalem ID can more readily reach the hospital and their University with their
own cars along well-paved highways (shown by the purple route). Map by Aaron Reiss

medical students living and studying in the occupied Palestinian territories receive sub-optimal
training due to ambiguous permit rules, barriers at checkpoints, and the psychological burden of
the process. These results highlight the impact that military occupation has on the education and
quality of life of Palestinian medical students in a setting in which there is regular violence and
many health indicators are already poor. New transparent policies and a larger context of peace
and sovereignty will be required to build an effective health care system in which Palestinian
medical students can pursue adequate clinical training that will prepare them to care for their
people in a resource-poor and war-torn setting.

164
Studies about the attitudes of Palestinian students toward cultural normalization with
Israel. Despite the fact that Israel still occupies the Palestinian territories, a major part of
Palestinian students supported normalizing cultural relations between Palestinians and Israelis.
This support for normalization was significantly associated with social class or father's
occupation. Students from the working class were more supportive of cultural cooperation with
Israelis than those from other classes. This is explained by the working-class families' greater
experience of contact with Israelis and a greater dependence on the Israeli labour market.

THERE IS HOPE

BIBLIOGRAPHY and REFERENCES to

1. (2) (PDF) Living under occupation: Palestinian teachers' experiences and their digital
responses. John Traxler etbal, Research in Learning Technology
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336104746_Living_under_occupation_Palestini
an_teachers'_experiences_and_their_digital_responses, 2020].
3. The Geography of Occupation: Palestinian Education Today-Jamal Nafi,November 2018
4. Educational Attitudes and Trends in Palestine,CAMILLE FRONK,RAY L.
HUNTINGTON &A. CHADWICK,2010-https://doi.org/10.1080/03055699997927
5. Attitudes of Palestinian medical students on the geopolitical barriers to accessing
hospitals for clinical training: a qualitative study,Sarrah Shahawy & Megan
Diamond,Conflict and health volume 10, Article number: 5 (2016)
6. https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13031-016-0067-8ckpoints
at the Separation Wall to enter Jerusalem.

7. . Attitudes of Palestinians toward Normalization with Israel-Mahmoud Mi'Ari,Journal of

Peace Research,Vol. 36, No. 3 (May, 1999), pp. 339-348 (10 pages),Published By: Sage
Publications, Ltd.
8. Majed Abusalama https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/9/13/when-will-the-world-
stop-ignoring-what-is-happening-in-gaza/

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 CHAPTER VI

CINEMA

The first motion picture frames that were taken in Palestine can be credited to Auguste and Louis
Lumière’s cameramen, who travelled to many countries after introducing film to the world. The
date is not well documented, although most sources list 1896 as the year of the first film shot in
Palestine. The scenes that were filmed featured quotidian details; trains entering the station,
people waiting on platforms, the landscape around Jerusalem, and so on (Tryster 1995). These
early silent movies were frequently played in the movie houses scattered around major
Palestinian cities. Edison cameras also toured the Middle East region as early as 1903, releasing
films such as Arabian Jewish Dances and Jerusalem’s Busiest Street. In 1908 Pathé released a
film entitled Jerusalem, which was part of a world tour (Travel Film Archive at
www.travelfilmarchive.com). A simple internet search for ‘Palestine’ and ‘early film’ yields
numerous results. The Travel Film Archive website has twentythree films taken in Palestine from
the early 1920s silent era to the mid-1940s. The themes of the films are quite diverse, including
religious tours, folk dances, architectural exploration and travelogues. Following the Lumière
brothers, other foreign film crews documented the country while others filmed dramatic
adaptations of New Testament stories. The documentaries of this period were Orientalist in
nature, did not grant Palestinians agency and generally presented them as primitive (Gertz &
Khleifi 2008. 1

“Gaza is hungry for a cinema ... depriving people of cinemas and theatres in Gaza is a violation
of their humanity,” said Basel Al-Attawna, a Gaza theater director who had in the past watched
movies at the old movie houses. This from an article in Reuters in 2016 said that - Palestinians
in the Gaza Strip are enjoying their first night out at the movies since political tensions led to the
torching of cinemas in the enclave 20 years ago.The projectors were rolling again, in a newly-
opened cinema whose shows have been limited so far to films about the Palestinian struggle for
statehood. Cinema once flourished in Gaza. Back in the 1950s, when Egypt ran the enclave,
residents used to frequent movie houses to watch Arab, Western and Asian films. Those cinemas
were set on fire in 1987 when the first Palestinian uprising erupted. All were repaired, but were
torched again during internal violence in 1996.

Faded movie posters, some in Hebrew and dating back two decades when Gaza was under Israeli
occupation, still hang on the charred walls of what had been one of the territory’s biggest
cinemas.Its windows were smashed long ago and graffiti either glorifying the fight against Israel
or advertising local businesses have been scrawled on the building. Now families come for a
night out and once the lights dimmed, some in the audience used their cellphone cameras to
make a movie of their own of the event.

. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-gaza-cinema-idUSKCN0W21I9

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One by one, Palestine’s classic cinemas are being erased.

Municipal bulldozers razed Nablus’ al-Assi cinema in late June after the abandoned property was
purchased from its owners.

It was the second Palestinian cinema in the West Bank to be demolished in less than a year, after
Cinema Jenin was razed last December.

Al-Assi, which opened in the early 1950s, was shuttered during the first intifada in 1987 and
reopened a decade later. A few years later, during the second intifada, it closed for good.

There are currently only two dedicated cinemas in continuous operation in Palestinian cities in
the West Bank – Cinema City, opened in Nablus in 2009, and Palestine Tower, opened in
Ramallah in 2014.2

Several hundred Gazans will be able to go to the cinema on Saturday for the first time in more
than 30 years, albeit for one night only.

The Samer Cinema in Gaza City, the oldest in the strip but closed for decades, will host a special
screening of a film about Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Hamas has ruled Gaza for 10 years and there are currently no functioning cinemas in the
Palestinian territory where two million people live in cramped conditions under an Israeli
blockade.

Ghada Salmi, an organizer, told AFP the one-night showing was “symbolic” of wider efforts “to
bring back the idea of cinema to Gaza”.

The movie theatre was built in 1944 but shut in the 1960s.

The enclave’s remaining cinemas closed in the late 1980s during the first Palestinian intifada, or
uprising.

There was a fire at one cinema in 1987 which was widely thought to have been the work of
militants.

“The rest of the cinemas were scared to show films after that,” Salmi said.3

Cinema of Palestine is relatively young in comparison to Arab cinema as a whole. Palestinian

films are not exclusively produced in Arabic and some are even produced
in English, French and Hebrew. The films of Palestinian director Elia Suleiman are made with
support from Europe and Israel. On What Was, and What Remains: Palestinian Cinema and the
Film Archive Hend Alawadhi Abstract Palestinian cinema is intricately tied to the memory of a
pre-1948 Palestine and the desire of return; one that must be understood in the context of sixty
years of exile and dispersion. It is also concerned with making what has been forcibly made
invisible, visible. The individuality of the Palestinian people and their cultural identity, which is
frequently marginalised in today’s media, is given a chance to rediscover its voice in films that

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are fuelled by an archival fever (Derrida & Prenowitz 1995). Items like keys, title deeds, family
photographs, newspaper clippings, school certificates, and marriage licenses are the foundation
of Palestinian memory, and hence are a decisive part of Palestinian cinema, alongside landscape
and trauma. Although the Palestinians are a dispersed people, and their films originate from
different places: the West Bank, Gaza, the Arab world, Europe and the United States, they
represent a collective identity, an identity that is primarily based on ancestral memory and one
which is facing continual crises that threaten its existence. This paper is about Palestinian cinema
and the themes of disaster, displacement and memory. It also focuses on the Palestinian Film
Archive that went missing during the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982. The archive is perhaps the
ultimate representation of the silenced Palestinian with no permission to narrate (Edward Said,
1984). I take a close look at two short documentaries made about the archive, as well as
interviews and personal accounts, deeply rooted in nostalgia, twice removed from the memories
of a utopian Palestine. 4
The first period: The beginning, 1935–48
The first Palestinian film to be made is generally believed to be a documentary on King Ibn Saud
of Saudi Arabia's visit in 1935 to Palestine, made by Ibrahim Hassan Sirhan, based in Jaffa (also
spelled Ibrahim Hasan Serhan). Sirhan followed the King and around Palestine,
"from Lod to Jaffa and from Jaffa to Tel Aviv". The result was a silent movie that was presented
at the Nabi Rubin festivals. Following this documentary, Sirhan joined Jamal al-Asphar to
produce a 45-minute film called The Realized Dreams, aiming to "promote the orphans' cause".
Sirhan and al-Asphar also produced a documentary about Ahmad Hilmi Pasha, a member of
the Higher Arab Commission.[5][7] In 1945 Sirhan established the "Arab Film Company"
production studio together with Ahmad Hilmi al-Kilani. The company launched the feature
film Holiday Eve, which was followed by preparations for the next film A Storm at Home. The
films themselves were lost in 1948, when Sirhan had to flee Jaffa after the town was bombarded.
The second period: The epoch of silence, 1948–67
The 1948 Palestinian exodus (known in Arabic as the Nakba) had a devastating effect on the
Palestinian society, including its nascent film industry. Cinematic endeavours, requiring
infrastructure, professional crews, and finance, nearly ceased for two decades.[9] Individual
Palestinian participated in the film-production of neighbouring countries. It is reported that
Sirhan was involved with the production of the first Jordanian feature film, The Struggle in
Jarash (1957), and another Palestinian, Abdallah Ka'wash, directed the second Jordanian feature
film, My Homeland, My Love, in 1964.
The third period: Cinema in exile, 1968–82
After 1967 Palestinian cinema was founded under the auspices of the PLO, funded by Fatah and
other Palestinian organisations like PFLP and DFLP. More than 60 films were made in this
period, mostly documentaries. The first film festival dedicated to Palestinian films was held
in Baghdad in 1973, and Baghdad also hosted the next two Palestinian film festivals, in 1976 and
1980. Mustafa Abu Ali was one of the early Palestinian film directors, and he helped found the
Palestinian Cinema Association in Beirut in 1973. Only one dramatic movie was made during
the period, namely Return to Haifa in 1982, an adaptation of a short novel by Ghassan Kanafani.
The film archives disappearance, 1982

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The different organisations set up archives for Palestinian films. The largest such archive was
run by PLO's Film Foundation/Palestinian Film Unit. In 1982, when the PLO was forced out of
Beirut, the archive was in storage (in the Red Crescenty Hospital), from where it "disappeared"
under circumstances which are still unclear. Recently, several films from the archive were
located in the Israel Defense Forces Archive in Tel HaShomer by scholar and curator Rona
Sela.[14] Sela has called for the release of these films, and for the declassification of other
Palestinian films that remain closed in the IDF Archive.
The fourth period: The return home, from 1980 to the present
The 1996 drama/comedy Chronicle of a Disappearance received international critical
acclaim and it became the first Palestinian movie to receive national release in the United
States. A break-out film for its genre, it won a "New Director's Prize" at the Seattle International
Film Festival and a "Luigi De Laurentiis Award" at the Venice Film Festival. Notable film
directors in this period are especially: Michel Khleifi, Rashid Masharawi, Ali Nassar and Elia
Suleiman.
An international effort was launched in 2008 to reopen Cinema Jenin, a cinema located in
the Jenin Refugee Camp.In 2008, three Palestinian feature films and an estimated eight shorts
were completed, more than ever before. In 2010, Hamas, the governing authority in the Gaza
Strip, announced the completion of a new film. Titled The Great Liberation, the film depicts the
destruction of Israel by Palestinians.Currently in the Gaza Strip, all film projects must be
approved by Hamas' Culture Ministry before they can be screened in public. Independent
filmmakers have claimed that the Culture Ministry cracks down on content not conforming to
Hamas edicts. In a notable 2010 case, Hamas banned the short film Something Sweet, directed by
Khalil al-Muzzayen, which was submitted at the Cannes Film Festival. Hamas banned it from
being shown locally due to a four-second scene where a woman is shown with her hair
uncovered. In 2011, a film festival hosted by the Gaza Women's Affairs Center which included
documentaries and fictional pieces on women's issues, but the Culture Ministry censored
numerous scenes. One film had to remove a scene where a woman lowered one shoulder of her
dress, and another had to remove a scene of a man swearing.

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Mai Masri, a Palestinian filmmaker/Emad Burnat is a Palestinian farmer and filmmaker.

 Yahya Barakat
 Azza El-Hassan
 Hany Abu-Assad
 Mahdi Fleifel
 Scandar Copti
 Mustafa Abu Ali
 Mohammed Bakri
 Tarek Al Eryan
 Annemarie Jacir
 Michel Khleifi
 Rashid Masharawi
 Mai Masri
 Montaser Marai
 Rosalind Nashashibi
 Ali Nassar
 Mohammad Al-Sawalma
 Hazim Bitar
 Elia Suleiman
 Leila Sansour
 Refat Adi
 Sameh Zoabi
 Tawfik Abu Wael
 Ameen Nayfeh
 Mohammad Shihadeh Hmedat

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 Najwa Najjar

 A World Not Ours [1]

 They Don't Exist [2]
 Wedding in Galilee (1987) (International Critics Prize, Cannes),
 Tale of the Three Jewels (1994)
 Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996) (“Luigi De Laurentiis” Award for a Debut Film at the
1996 Venice Film Festival)
 Divine Intervention (2002).
 Olive Harvest, The (2003)
 Arna's Children (2003)
 Jeremy Hardy vs. the Israeli Army (2004)
 Women in Struggle (2004)
 Waiting (2005)
 Paradise Now (2006) (Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film winner)
 The Color of Olives (2006)
 Iron Wall (2006)
 Goal Dreams (2006)
 First Picture (2006)
 Maria's Grotto (2007) (Silver Muhr Award, Dubai International Film Festival)
 Kaffa! (2007) (Silver Award for Short Film, Cairo International TV and Media
Festival)(Gold Award for Best Script, Tunis International TV and Media Festival)
 Salt of this Sea (2008)
 Taste the Revolution (2008)
 The View (2008) (Best Short Film ($75,000), Middle East International Film Festival)
 Till When? (2008) (Officially selected in Cergy Pontoise Film Festival in Paris, Honorable
Mention in Digicon 6 Festival in Tokyo)
 Spider Web (2009)
 Beyond the Sun (2010) (Audience Choice, Bagdad International Film Festival)
 cup final (1991) takes place during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
 The Uppercut (2012) A Short Documentary Shot in Jordan Telling a Story of a Slum
Kickboxing Club
 Solomon's Stone (film) (2015)

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The DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival (DCPFAF) logo/The Alhambra Cinema in Jaffa,
1937, bombed December 1947

 Toronto Palestine Film Festival

 Boston Palestine Film Festival
 Muestra de Cine Palestino de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires Palestine Film Festival)
 Chicago Palestine Film Festival
 DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival
 London Palestine Film Festival
 Al-Kasaba International Film Festival [3], in Ramallah, West Bank
 Muestra de Cine Palestino de Madrid (Madrid Palestine Film Festival)
 The Poppies of Palestinian Film Festival - Kuwait
 Muestra de Cine Palestino de Santiago (Santiago Palestine Film Festival)
 Muestra de Cine Palestino de Sevilla (Sevilla Palestine Film Festival)
 Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen Montpellier (Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival)
 Mostra de Cinema Àrab i Mediterrani de Catalunya (Arab and Mediterranean Film Festival
of Catalonia) – Barcelona
 Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival
 Al Ard [doc] Film Festival

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Al Assi

REFERENCES

1. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2017/08/26/Gaza-gets-its-first-proper-cinema-
in-three-decades-

2. . https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestines-disappearing-cinemas/21876

3. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2017/08/26/Gaza-gets-its-first-proper-cinema-
in-three-decades-

4. . The IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication and Film,2013

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 CHAPTER VII
WOMEN IN PALESTINE

Over the past decades Palestinian history and politics have been covered extensively by scholars
on the Middle East; more recently, economic and social issues have become the subject of in-
depth study and investigation. The role of Palestinian women, however, had not yet benefited
from a systematic and comprehensive examination. Palestinian women have for a long time been
involved in resistance movements in Palestine as well as in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. They
established many female nationalist organizations, including the Palestinian Federation of
Women's Action Committees in the West Bank and Gaza.
Despite the change in parental views, however, contemporary women in Palestine are reported to
be experiencing adversity due to political discord, Israeli occupation, and the "denial of full
rights and protection by Palestinian society" in general.
The differences in the economic structures of the West Bank and Gaza Strip affect the role of
women. Women in the West Bank work mostly in agriculture, while in the Gaza Strip their main
employment is in professional, technical and related work (53 per cent of the female
employment). This reflects the limited opportunities for women outside public service
employment in the Gaza Strip. On the West Bank, slightly over one quarter of the economically
active women were employed in the public sector and half were employed on the farms. In the
Gaza Strip, almost two thirds were employed in the public sector (United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women, 1989: 9). In the Gaza Strip there is also evidence that while males are
to some extent employed outside the occupied territory, females do not have this same
opportunity (ibid., 1989: 10). There are no data on income differentials by sex in the occupied
territory nor on the specific effects of the intifada on the economy and particularly on the
employment and income of women and children.

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The other determinants of the role of Palestinian women is the structure of the family which may
be a nuclear unit, a transitional unit, or a hamula unit (hamula means "extended family", the
most common family structure in Palestinian society). The significant influences to the rights of
women in Palestine include the patriarchal tradition and the teachings of the Quran among
Muslim Palestinians or the Bible among Palestinian Christians. On the other hand, female
Palestinians were not expected to secure income for the family, but women were expected to
adapt to the customary roles of women in Palestinian society. However, females are traditionally
equal to men in all aspects.
However, there had been a gradual change in the attitudes of parents regarding the education of
their Palestinian daughters since the middle of the 1970s. From the middle part of the 1970s,
several numbers of Palestinian women achieved education from universities, instead of only
receiving education at the secondary level. Reasons for the change of parental attitude were the
"increased demand for women on the labour market", changes in the status of the economy in
the West Bank territory, the "economic interests" of the parents, and the idea that a well-educated
Palestinian woman has a better place and opportunity on the "marriage market". In addition to
this, armed with earned education, an unmarried daughter can financially support herself and her
parents.
A survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics from 2011 showed that 35 percent of
married women in Gaza had been on the receiving end of physical violence by their husband
during the previous twelve months, and that 40 percent of unmarried women had been physically
abused by a member of their household. In 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza
after Hamas rulers prohibited women, including Palestinian women from Gaza, to participate in
the race.

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Arab Women's Association, Jerusalem, (LEFT PIC), 1929
There was a shift in that social order in 1844 when women first participated alongside men in
protesting against the first Jewish settlements[near the town of Afulah. Between 1900 and 1910,
as the region of Palestine (which included what is now Jordan) was under Ottoman rule, Arab
women initiated the creation of numerous associations and societies. These organizations were
formed mostly in the larger cities, and especially in cities with large Christian populations such
as Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Acre. In 1917, they took part in large demonstrations at the time
of the Balfour Declaration, and later formed a 14-member delegation that demanded that the
Balfour Declaration be revoked and that Jewish immigration to Palestine be halted. In 1921,
Palestinian women organized by setting up their own society known as the Arab Women's
Association, (fr) based in Jerusalem. The society organized demonstrations against
the Palestinian Jewish settlements. Due to the lack of funding[and the social and political
pressure which was put on the women of the Arab Women's Association, the group ceased to
exist after two years. Women formed a 'rescue committee' to collect donations in order to revive
it. In the 1929 Palestine riots, women took part in multiple protests and demonstrations which
resulted in women being killed by the British Mandate forces. They[ organized a Women's
Conference, where they sent out a protest letter to King George V and to the League of Nations.
Following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the participation of Palestinian women in
opposition was almost non-existent due to a strict social order in society at the time. The
displacement and loss of land for the Palestinians created an economic issue. This created a
demand for women in the workforce despite the social restrictions.
Following the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, helped
create the sect known as the Palestinian Women’s Association, which allowed women to take
part in the first session of the Palestinian National Council that was held in Jerusalem.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has seriously affected the Palestinian women. Hundreds of
thousands of women were banished and displaced from their homelands after the 1948 Arab–
Israeli War, and more during the 1967 War such as poet May Sayegh. The majority of them and
their descendants are still refugees. Many measures taken by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) have
affected the Palestinian women's physical, psychological, health, education, economic
security.[8] A press release issued by the Ma'an News Agency in 2007 reported that many women
suffered psychological and sexual violence at the Israeli checkpoint in Beit Safafa. These cases
reported forced strip searches under the pretext of security measures.

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Women’s rights: In November 2019, the PA government raised the minimum marriage age to
18 for both genders in an effort to reduce rates of early marriage. Previously, the minimum age
for marriage in the West Bank was 15 for females and 16 for males, while in the Gaza Strip it
was 17 for females and 18 for males. Judges had the power to approve an earlier marriage.
According to statistics, 37% of married Palestinian females married when they were under the
age of 18, including 5% who married before the age of 15. 63% of young married women suffer
violence at the hands of their husband, and 95% would not recommend early marriage for their
daughters. Child marriage is thought to contribute to the high rate of divorce in the Palestinian
territories, where 67% of women who divorced in 2018 were aged 18 to 29.
Divorce rights for women depend on the personal status laws that apply to Muslims, which state
that a man can divorce his wife for any reason, while women can request divorce only under
certain circumstances. If a woman proceeds to a divorce she does not need to present any
evidence, but would give up any financial rights and must return her dowry. The Ministry of
Women's Affairs in Palestine, established in 2003, is the main governmental agency responsible
for promoting and protecting women's rights. Government ministries promote reform of
discriminatory laws and gender units have been established in each ministry.
In March 2018, the PA repealed its marry-your-rapist law, a provision that allowed an accused
rapist to evade punishment by marrying his victim.[12] However, because the Gaza Strip is de
facto controlled by Hamas, the Egyptian-derived marry-your-rapist law still applies there.
Educating their daughters : Since the mid-1970s, families have been moving towards educating
their daughters highly and enrolling them in universities rather than just getting a high school
diploma. The reason for this change is that women are becoming needed in the labor market,
changing the economic situation in the West Bank. The idea that an educated young woman is
desirable for marriage is firmly established. Finally, the young woman is able to afford her
expenses and the expenses of her family in the event of her marriage.
UNCTAD examined the unique set of issues confronting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, do Palestinian women have a special role to play in the economic and social life of their
society? In the present context of Palestinian society, where and how do women contribute to
the process of development? In what way have Palestinian women combined their growing and
active political involvement with efforts geared to enhance their economic and social
status? What are the problems encountered by Palestinian women in their efforts to participate
actively in improving their economic and social situation? What immediate measures could
enhance participation of Palestinian women in the economic and social life of their
society? These and other issues related to the role of Palestinian women are addressed in this
study within the context of developments that have marked Palestinian society, especially during
the past 25 years since Israeli occupation. 1

“In the Palestinian setting, a radical change in economic relationships may be difficult to achieve
in the immediate future. However, the basis of authority of men over women can nonetheless be
challenged by transformations in law and education, through the struggle for civil law and
equality sanctioned by law, for the exercise of the right of equal inheritance, the right to own, the
right to travel freely, and the right to vote, to name only a few pressing demands. Activists and
leaders from three of the four women's committees cite as critical clarification of the legal status
of women and the introduction of civil legislation alongside the Shari'a (Islamic law). The
problem of the gender-based division of labour in the home, child care and housework can also

177
be addressed by calling for publicly-subsidized nurseries, bakeries, restaurants and
laundries. Equal opportunity in work is another demand voiced by certain women activists.”
This was in 1990.

“Between 1990 and 2017, only 2% of mediators, 8% of negotiators, and 5% of witnesses and
signatories in major peace processes. Were women. Only three out of 11 agreements signed in
2017 contained provisions on gender equality, continuing last year’s worrisome downward trend.
Of 1,500 agreements signed between 2000 and 2016, only 25 raise the role of women’s
engagement in the implementation phase. Women are excluded from key positions despite
evidence that they have been critical to working across political divides, building grassroots
support for peace, and providing essential expertise on human rights- women in key decision-
making positions, including in Palestinian Authority institutions, is barely 5%. Women are being
shut out of Palestinian politics and excluded from peace talks, according to Randa Siniora, the
first female Palestinian campaigner to address the UN security council.

According to herf, while women in the occupied territories often face the greatest violence, they
are overlooked in the country’s political and humanitarian responses.The Israeli occupation and
the resulting humanitarian crisis are deeply gendered and exacerbate existing gender inequalities.
Women disproportionately endure the violence of occupation borne by all Palestinians, and often
with gender-specific consequences. Palestinian women face attacks and discrimination by the
Israeli military on a daily basis, she explained, adding that spikes in political violence lead to
increased violence in the home.Domestic violence is high, and femicide is on the increase. There
is a lack of services and little access to justice for women who suffer such abuses.UN statistics
show that, despite international efforts, the representation of women in peace processes has
either stalled or declined.2

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 Women have been active in the Palestinian struggle since its early days. In the 1920s, they
protested side by side with men against British control of their country. They formed charitable
organisations and expressed themselves politically.

After the state of Israel was created in 1948, the majority of Palestinians were forced to flee into
exile, and here too women played a key role as protectors of their families, and repositories of
the “national story”. It was vital that Palestinians, wherever they were in the world, did not forget
what had happened and continued to insist on their right of return to their homeland. Women
passed their memories of Palestine down to subsequent generations.

Participating in politics
In the 1960s, with the emergence of a Palestinian liberation movement, dedicated to regaining
the lost homeland, some women turned to more militant activities. Leila Khalid, for example,
hijacked several airliners on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and
became a familiar face in the Western media.

Mural of Leila
Khaled on a wall in Bethlehem. Rehgina/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Gradually, women also started to engage in formal politics, through membership of the main
Palestinian political factions. Although Palestinians tend to be socially conservative and are
anxious to shield women and girls from what might be considered “dishonourable” or
nontraditional behaviour, many younger women found a new kind of freedom through education
and political mobilisation.

A largely non-violent intifada (or “uprising”) began in 1987. Women, men and children
combined efforts to resist the 20-year occupation of their land. They did so in innovative ways,
for example by establishing alternative educational facilities for children after all the schools
were closed, creating an alternative economy based on home produce, as well as engaging in
large-scale protests.

There were also attempts at dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli women. For example, in
July 2006, members of the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable

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Palestinian-Israeli Peace (IWC) convened an emergency meeting in Athens. They urged the
international community to intervene. In their words:

Civilians, mainly women and children, are paying the price daily for this vicious cycle of
retaliation and counter-retaliation. This is a time of great danger … If no action is taken today,
tomorrow will be too late.
Although no resolution came out of this or similar calls, initiatives involving women from the
two sides were judged to have been among the most promising.

Telling the world

Such activities ended in 2000, with the start of the second intifada. The resistance was no longer
a shared endeavour involving all sectors of society – it was an armed confrontation.
Women suffered greatly from rising levels of violence and decreasing security for civilians.

No one felt safe. Girls travelling from their homes to university were likely to experience
harassment at Israeli army checkpoints and, as a result, many parents started to keep their
daughters at home, and even to marry them off at the earliest possible opportunity; the age of
marriage began to fall.

As the economic situation deteriorated, women had fewer opportunities for employment.
Incidences of mental illness rose and women exhibited deep anxiety about the safety of their
children.

Many Palestinians feel that they have no control over their own lives. Under a harsh Israeli
regime, it has been very difficult to exercise agency and Palestinian political parties have seemed
weak and ineffectual. The Islamist party Hamas seemed to offer a more assertive form of
opposition, and many women were attracted by its grassroots organising and evident ability to
confront the Israeli occupation. Some became militants.

While it may be tempting to argue that the participation of women in violence is a sign of a
society that has lost its way, the reality is more complex. Many Palestinian women point out that
their community is powerless; it has neither the political leadership nor the weapons to fight a
conventional war. Instead, it relies on all its members to participate and “tell the world” what is
happening to them.

By protesting at the Gaza-Israel border to mark the anniversary of al-nakbah (“the catastrophe”),
Palestinians are reminding the world that they were dispossessed 70 years ago and this injustice
has still not been remedied. Palestinian women, as much as men, have a vital stake in finding a
solution to the conflict, that will provide safety and certainty for the next generation.2

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12 Palestinian Women Worth Talking About This Women’s Day3

Today is International Women’s Day. And yes, while we agree that every day is Women’s Day,
we’re still eager to take advantage of the occasion to celebrate a few women who deserve some
extra frosting.
We’ve curated a mashup of unapologetically defiant quotes, colorful hijabs, a variety of
passports, and a few servings of sass. Here are 12 women from different industries changing the
game, challenging the status quo, and adding a splash of inspiration to your morning coffee.

Laila Shawa

“I come from a long line of strong women. My grandmothers were very powerful… I grew up
as an equal, and always believed in the power of women.”
Born in 1940 to one of Gaza’s old landowning families, Laila Shawa was 8 years old when her
family was forced to flee Palestine. She has since lived and worked from London and Vermont,
staying closely affiliated with Palestine by way of humanitarian aid and art. Shawa studied at the
Leonardo da Vinci School of Art in Cairo and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Her work has
since forged a space in which she lends a voice to the Palestinians in a time when they cannot

181
speak for themselves. With work featured in exhibitions all over the world, Shawa has most
recently started a socio-political critique of the role of women in the Arab world, bringing issues
of colonialism, patriarchy, extremism, and sexism to light. Above all, Shawa’s artworks are acts
of creative defiance.

Linda Sarsour

“When we are protected, when we are respected, when we are able to thrive and given the
same opportunities as our male counterparts, when we are given space to lead and rise — our
nation will rise.”
A kaleidoscope of a woman, Linda Sarsour is “an award-winning racial justice and civil rights
activist, community organizer, social media maverick, every Islamophobe’s worst nightmare and
mother of three.”
Ambitious, outspoken and bold, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also
treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim American and a self-
proclaimed “pure New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn!” Sarsour has been at the forefront
of major civil rights campaigns, calling for an end to unwarranted surveillance of New York’s
Muslim communities and working to build solidarity amongst American Muslim communities.
She is a member of the Justice League NYC, a group of activists and artists dedicated to
reforming the criminal justice system. She was a leading organizer of the Women’s March this
past January.

Maysoon Zayid

“I hope that together, we can create more positive images of disability in the media and in
everyday life.”

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A Palestinian woman from New Jersey, Maysoon Zayid is a stand-up comedian with cerebral
palsy. Her disability proved to be a strength early in her acting career when she realized that
embracing it with humor was the key to more stage time. As she told the BBC, “It became very
obvious to me that in the United States of America, a fluffy ethnic disabled chick was never
going to get a job unless she did stand-up.” Using comedy to address and challenge issues of
gender inequality, Arab stereotypes, American politics, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Zayid
is an activist with wit and flair.
The comedian is a co-founder of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival, now entering
its 14th year. She spends several months of the year in Palestine running workshops for disabled
and orphaned kids in refugee camps, using art to help them deal with trauma.

Susan Abulhawa

“I wanted to put a Palestinian voice in English literature…and it was all about narrating
their story with humanity and with honesty and with poetry”
Born in Kuwait in 1970 to refugees of the 1967 War, Susan Abulhawa is no stranger to the
struggles of displacement. At 10 years old, she moved to East Jerusalem, where she boarded at
an all-girls school and orphanage before leaving to the US. While those conditions might sound
difficult, Abulhawa remembers them joy, finding bliss in being able to explore her family’s roots
in a way that many refugees cannot.
She graduated from Pfeiffer University and received her Master’s degree in Neuroscience from
the University of South Carolina. Well on her way to a career in medicine, she was inspired to
write Mornings in Jenin, a fictional novel inspired by the courage and humanity of the citizens of
Jenin and illustrative of the Palestinian sense of rootlessness.

Mona Hatoum

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“[My work is] about shattering the familiar to create uncertainty and make you question
things that you normally take for granted…this is what critical awareness is about.”
Mona Hatoum is an acclaimed artist whose works explore identity as defined by displacement in
an increasingly divided world. Typically working in performance, video, sculpture, and
installation, she has featured pieces in exhibitions across the globe. Hatoum has experienced
considerable international success, most recently featuring a retrospective of 35 years of work at
the Tate Modern in 2016. Born in 1952 in Beirut, she now resides and creates in London.

Najla Said

“I struggled…to reconcile the beautiful, comforting, loving world of my home, culture, and
family with the supposed ‘barbaric’ and ‘backward’ place and society others perceived it to
be”
Actress Najla Said is a Palestinian-Lebanese-American Christian; growing up in New York City,
her identity was anything but clearly defined. The daughter of prominent literary critic Edward
Said, she spent her childhood in one of the most influential intellectual households in America.
As much as her father might have felt grounded, Najla Said felt disoriented about who she was
growing up. Trying to reconcile the worlds of her mother’s Lebanese family, her father’s
Palestinian heritage and her own American lifestyle led to large, unsettling questions of identity
and self-worth. She describes the struggle with humor, honesty, and empathy in her memoir,
Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family. The book
encompasses the frustrations inherent to the rootlessness that can be felt in midst of a
multicultural background.

Hanan Hroub

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“I want to provide a safe environment for learning. I cannot influence the wider
environment but I can influence the child.”
Hanan Hroub grew up in a refugee camp in Bethlehem where she was regularly exposed to
violence. Her decision to go into teaching was catalyzed by the trauma her own children
experienced after witnessing a shooting. In the following years, her journey in helping her
children develop healthy behavior in the face of trauma inspired her to help others who required
similar attention and care.
Living under military occupation, Palestinian classrooms are tense, and some children who
struggle to process their situation end up resorting to violence. Hanan, with the slogan “No to
Violence”, uses an approach she developed herself, in which she focuses on developing
relationships of trust, respect, honesty, and affection with her students. She advocates for the
importance of literacy in conjunction with the safe environment of the classroom. This approach
has resulted in a decline in violent behavior in schools, inspiring her colleagues to review their
teaching methods, classroom management strategies, and reward systems. In 2016, Hroub was
awarded the Global Teacher Prize, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Teaching.”

Hanan Ashrawi

“We cannot rely upon the silenced to tell us they are suffering.”
As a leader in politics and civil society, Dr. Hanan Mikhail Ashrawi has worked tirelessly for an
end to the Israeli occupation and for democracy and gender equality in Palestine. A former
professor of English literature, she is best known for her advocacy of Palestinian self-
determination and peace in the Middle East.

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Hanan Ashrawi was born on October 8, 1946 in Nablus, Palestine. Hanan was the youngest of
five daughters in a middle class Christian family and during the 1948 war, her family was forced
to flee to Amman, Jordan. Hanan was inspired to activism by her father, who favored a greater
role for women in society. She served as the Official Spokesperson of the Palestinian Delegation
to the Middle East Peace Process from 1991-93 and also participated in the 1991-1992 Madrid
peace conference as a member of the Palestinian Leadership Committee delegation. As a senior
member of the leadership in Palestine, she practices politics with articulation, force, honesty, and
composure.

Samia Halaby

“I believe most people are creative in the various ways they practice their work and
hobbies during their life. The young…should be hopeful and search hard for their
inspiration.”
Palestinian artist, scholar and art historian Samia Halaby became one of the most prominent
artists within the international movement of abstraction in Arab art. Born in Jerusalem in 1936,
Halaby uses both acrylic and oil paints for her works, which are often large in size and
influenced by nature, depicting Palestinian landscape in a bright and vivid color palette. She has
held many solo exhibitions, and her paintings are displayed in several significant museum
collections throughout the world.
Halaby, now living in New York, was raised in Yafa until her family immigrated to Lebanon
after the 1948 War. Moving to the United States, she has taught art at U.S. universities, including
the Yale School of Art. Through her art, writing and curating, Halaby has actively advocated for
the rights of Palestinians.

Lila Abu-Lughod

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“Anthropologists should now pursue, without exaggerated hopes, for the power of their texts
to change the world…”
Lila Abu-Lughod teaches anthropology and gender studies at Columbia University. A leading
voice in the debates about gender, Islam, and global feminist politics, her books and articles have
been translated into 13 languages. Her award-winning books explore the dynamics of gender, the
question of women’s rights in the Middle East, and cultural expression. Her most recent book,
Do Muslim Women Need Saving? was published by Harvard University Press in 2013. She
defies the status quo by “writing against culture” and challenging transnational feminist
representations of women in the Arab world.

Annemarie Jacir

“I like to be rooted in real people and real situations, yet at the same time indulge in the
freedom of what cinema is about: our dreams, our ability to change or escape.”
Annemarie Jacir is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter living in Jordan. Named one of
Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema, two of her films have premiered
as Official Selections at the Cannes Film Festival, one as an Academy Award qualifier, and one
in Venice. Her first feature film, Salt of this Sea (2008), was Palestine’s Official Oscar Entry for
Best Foreign Language Film and was also noted as the first feature film directed by a Palestinian
woman. The film has won numerous other awards. Her second feature film, When I Saw
You (2012), won Best Asian Film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
She is a founding member of the Palestinian Filmmakers’ Collective, based in Ramallah. Jacir
lives in Amman, teaching screenwriting, working as an editor and film curator, and actively
promoting independent cinema.

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Emily Jacir

“I want all our histories and narratives; every name, every village, every story, every account,
every version, every attempt, every artifact, every battle, everything. All of it. No matter where
it took place.”
Emily Jacir is a critically acclaimed contemporary artist, working in a variety of media including
film, photography, installation, performance, and video. She has been awarded several
prestigious awards including the “Golden Lion Award for an artist under 40”, at the 2007 Venice
Biennale—the oldest and premier international art event in Europe, often dubbed “the Olympics
of art.” Having exhibited extensively across the globe, Jacir is an exceptionally talented artist
whose works boldly engages issues borne out of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Coming from a colorful background, Jacir was born in Bethlehem, spent her childhood in Saudi
Arabia, and attended high school in Italy. She studied fine arts there and in the United States.
Jacir now divides her time between Rome, Italy and Ramallah. In 2002, she founded and curated
the first International Video Festival in Ramallah. She currently lectures at the International
Academy of Art in Al-Bireh.
Leila Khaled born April 9, 1944) is a Palestinian refugee and member of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).,was one of the hijackers in the TWA Flight 840 hijacking in
1969, which was in of itself one of the four simultaneous Dawson's Field hijackings the
following year as part of the campaign of Black September in Jordan. The first woman to hijack
an airplane, she was later released in a prisoner exchange for civilian hostages kidnapped by her
fellow PFLP members.
Early Life: Khaled was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine, to Arab parents. Her family fled
to Lebanon on 13 April 1948 as part of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, leaving her father behind.
At the age of 15, following in the footsteps of her brother, she joined the pan-Arab Arab
Nationalist Movement, originally established in the late-1940s by George Habash, then a medical
student at the American University of Beirut. The Palestinian branch of this movement became
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine after the 1967 Six-Day War.
Khaled spent some time teaching in Kuwait and, in her autobiography, recounted crying the day
she heard that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.

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Khaled in Damascus after her release from the United Kingdom in 1970/ Khaled in Sweden in
2011

TWA Flight 840 (1969)

On August 29, 1969, Khaled was part of a team that hijacked TWA Flight 840 on its way
from Rome to Tel Aviv, diverting the Boeing 707 to Damascus. According to some media
sources,[3] the PFLP leadership thought that Yitzhak Rabin, then Israeli ambassador to the United
States, would be on board; he was not. She claims she ordered the pilot to fly over Haifa, so she
could see her birthplace.[9] No one was injured, but after the passengers disembarked, the
hijackers blew up the nose section of the aircraft. After this hijacking, and a photograph of her
(taken by Eddie Adams) holding an AK-47 rifle and wearing a kaffiyeh was reproduced in many
publications, she underwent six plastic surgery operations on her nose and chin to conceal her
identity and allow her to take part in a future hijacking, and because she did not want to wear the
face of an icon.

El Al Flight 219 (1970)

On September 6, 1970, Khaled and Patrick Argüello, a Nicaraguan–American, attempted to

hijack El Al Flight 219 from Amsterdam to New York City as part of the Dawson's Field
hijackings, a series of almost simultaneous hijackings carried out by the PFLP. The attack was
foiled, when Israeli skymarshals killed Argüello before eventually overpowering Khaled.
Although she was carrying two hand grenades at the time, Khaled said she had received very
strict instructions not to threaten passengers on the civilian flight. Argüello had shot a member of
the flight crew.
The pilot diverted the aircraft to Heathrow Airport in London, where Khaled was delivered
to Ealing police station. On October 1, the British government released her in exchange for
hostages taken in a further hijacking.
Khaled has said in interviews that she developed a fondness for the United Kingdom when her
first visitor in jail, an immigration officer, wanted to know why she had arrived in the country
without a valid visa. She also developed a relationship with the two policewomen assigned to
guard her in Ealing and later corresponded with them. Khaled continued to return to the UK for
speaking engagements until as late as 2002, although she was refused a visa by the British
embassy in 2005 to address a meeting at the Féile an Phobail in Belfast, where she was invited as
a speaker. Eventually she managed to speak to people at the Belfast Féile through a video link.

189
Khaled is worried by the Arab-Israeli peace process. According to her, "It's not a peace process.
It's a political process where the balance of forces is for the Israelis and not for us. They have all
the cards to play with and the Palestinians have nothing to depend on, especially when the PLO
is not united." Khaled also supports the Kurdish political movement surrounding the Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP) and drew attention to the similar fate of the Palestinian and
the Kurdish people. She has become involved in politics, becoming a member of the Palestinian
National Council and appearing regularly at the World Social Forum.
She is married to the physician Fayez Rashid Hilal, and lives with their two sons Bader and
Bashar in Amman, Jordan. She is irreligious.She was the subject of a film entitled Leila Khaled,
Hijacker, directed by Palestinian filmmaker Lina Makboul, premiered in November 2005 at
the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam.
In 2011, Khaled went on a speaking tour in Sweden, including speeches at May Day
demonstrations of the Communist Party and the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden,
a public art gallery, Södertörn University College and a seminar arranged by the Left Party. In
November 2017, Khaled was refused entry to Rome, Italy at the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino
Airport, and was forced to return to Amman, Jordan as she is a member of a group considered a
terrorist organization by the Italian government.
In mid September 2020, Khaled was scheduled to speak at a virtual Zoom conference at San
Francisco State University hosted by Professor Rabab Abdulhadi and Dr Tomomi Kinukawa.
Following lobbying by the Jewish coalition group "End Jewish Hatred," Zoom Video
Communications along with YouTube and Facebook, prevented the conference from using their
video conferencing software and platforms, citing compliance with U.S. export control,
sanctions, and anti-terrorism laws.

Khaled graffiti on the Israeli West Bank barrier near BethlehemShe was the subject of an
artwork portrait made entirely out of lipsticks, "The Icon", created by artist Amer Shomali using
14 colors, and 3500 lipsticks.

The song Like Leila Khaled Said from The Teardrop Explodes' 1981 album Wilder is a love song
to Khaled. Songwriter Julian Cope said it was a love song to her "cos I thought she was so
beautiful. But I know that the whole thing was like bad news." The second CD of Julian Cope's
2012 album Psychedelic Revolution is named "Phase of Leila Khaled". The first CD is named
"'Phase of Che Guevara". The album's lyrics contain several references to political
demonstrations, terrorism and suicide bombers. The accompanying booklet also contains a photo
of Leila Khaled.

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 As of 2018, she is commemorated in a mural at the International Wall on the Falls Road,
Belfast, Northern Ireland. The mural is based upon the photograph of her by Eddie
Adams, holding an AK-47 and with the Palastine flag behind her. Her image along with
an image of Irish Republican, Oglach Charlie Hughes says "Our Struggle continues".
 The name of Sandton Drive in Johannesburg, South Africa was controversially changed
to Leila Khaled Drive by vote of the city council on the 29 November 2018. The
American consulate in Johannesburg is located on the street.
 Image of Leila Khaled on International Wall in the Falls Road neighborhood, West
Belfast, Northern Ireland
 The 10th song of the album Friværdi, released on 26 September 2005 by the Danish rock
band Magtens Korridorer, is entitled "Leila Khaled.
 Writer Chris Boucher has said that he named the character of savage
warrior Leela from Doctor Who after Khaled.
 Khaled is mentioned by Fun-da-mental in "Mother India", on the Love India CD (2010)
widely distributed in the United States by Starbucks.
 The album Olive no Ki no Shita de, released in 2007 by the Japanese rock singer Panta,
features a song entitled "Leila's Ballade". This song's lyrics were written by
former Japanese Red Army member Fusako Shigenobu and her daughter Mei
Shigenobu. In 2012, Khaled was invited to a ceremony for the 40th anniversary of
the Lod Airport massacre by a Japanese far-left group in Kyoto at which Panta
performed the song in front of Khaled.

REFERENCES

1. In the light of the deteriorating economic and social situation in the occupied Palestinian
territory (West Bank and Gaza Strip), and as part of the work programme of the
UNCTAD secretariat pursuant to resolution 239 (XXIII) of the Trade and Development
Board and resolution 174/44 of the General Assembly, the UNCTAD secretariat initiated,
in 1990/91, the preparation of an in-depth intersectoral project on the economy of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. Part one of the project deals with a comprehen-sive
assessment of the economic and social situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the
main impediments to sustained growth and development, pressing needs and
corresponding measures for immediate action to promote recovery.
2. https://theconversation.com/palestinian-women-a-history-of-female-resistance-in-gaza-
and-the-west-bank-96864
3. Randa Siniora, general director of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling in
Palestine, Women's rights and gender equality in Palestinian territories. Address to the
UN Security Council, https://www.theguardian.com/global-

191
development/2018/oct/26/women-palestine-face-violence-political-exclusion-
campaigner-tells-un-randa-siniora-

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 CHAPTER VIII

The Architecture of Palestine

The architecture of Palestine covers a vast historical time frame and a number of different
styles and influences over the ages. The urban architecture of Palestine prior to 1850 was
relatively sophisticated. While it belonged to greater geographical and cultural context of
the Levant and the Arab world, it constituted a distinct tradition, "significantly different from the
traditions of Syria, Lebanon or Egypt." Nonetheless, the Palestinian townhouse shared in the
same basic conceptions regarding the arrangement of living space and apartment types
commonly seen throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The rich diversity and underlying unity
of the architectural culture of this wider region stretching from the Balkans to North Africa was a
function of the exchange fostered by the caravans of the trade routes, and the extension
of Ottoman rule over most of this area, beginning in the early 16th century through until the end
of World War I.

Andrew Petersen distinguishes between the architecture of Israel and the architecture of
the people of the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian designs are described as, "mostly
the indigenous inhabitants of the country, whose architecture has developed within the landscape
for at least the last two thousand years," while the architecture of Israel, established in 1948 with
a largely immigrant population, is described as "[...] alien to the region."
Ancient architecture
Archaeological artifacts imparting information as to the nature of monumental construction, such
as city walls, palaces, tomb and cult centers, in ancient Palestine are abundant. The paucity of
written records, and the incompleteness of archaeological remains of ancient Palestinian housing
available to early scholars, resulted in biblical archaeologists often looking to modern Palestinian
houses to determine how ancient housing in Palestine was constructed. Cautioning against the
conclusiveness of such comparisons, H. Keith Beebe writes that, "Arab houses are structured
with regard to specific social customs and economic conditions, different from those of ancient
Palestine." Beebe notes that a full account of the architectural details of ancient Palestinian
housing is rarely possible, but that written records and archaeological findings available to
scholars at his time of writing (1968), provide "a quite reliable picture of houses in the common
life of ancient Palestine."
Excavations in Beidha in modern-day Jordan indicate that the earliest Palestinian houses were
constructed about 9,000 years ago. Consisting of stone foundations with a superstructure made of
mud-brick, they were simple structures, most often not more than one room with a single
doorway, and likely without windows. Four different floor plans preserved from this time period
have been identified: multagonal circular, true circular, square, and rectangular. Roofs were
normally made of wooden supports upon which woven reed mats or brush were laid atop of
which were added layers of clay mortar, rolled smooth to make an impermeable surface. Many
of these early houses contained burial chambers beneath the floor. Food was prepared outside the
193
house where the storage silos were also located. Houses were grouped closely together, and
sometimes shared a back or side wall in common.
Beidha , "the white one" in Arabic , also sometimes Bayda, is a major Neolithic archaeological
site a few kilometres north of Petra near Siq al-Barid in Jordan. It is included in Petra's
inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was first excavated by Diana Kirkbride in 1957
and later by Brian Byrd.

Three periods of occupation were detected: the Natufian period in the 11th millennium BC,
a Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) village with masonry construction in the 7th millennium BC
and a Nabatean period dating to the 1st or 2nd century BC.
1. Natufian period
Natufian Beidha is characterized as a seasonal encampment, repeatedly occupied over a long
period of time. Evidence from lithics recovered along with the layout and position of hearths and
roasting areas suggested the occupants were primarily engaged in hunting related activities. This
was supported by the absence of permanent buildings, storage, burials and large stone
implements.[3]
2. Neolithic period
The Neolithic stage at Beidha has been suggested to be one of the earliest villages with
habitation dated between 7200 and 6500 BC. In the earliest PPNB phases, the population has
been estimated at between 50 and 115 people.[8] These villagers used stone masonry and built a
wall around the settlement of round houses with subterranean floors. Its occupants
cultivated barley and emmer wheat in an early state of domestication, herded goats, and hunted a
variety of wild animals such as ibex and gathered wild plants, fruits and nuts.[9] Burials were
found in an area of the settlement thought to be used for ritual purposes. Evidence shows it was
destroyed by fire c. 6650 BC and then rebuilt with rectangular, overground buildings and
specialized workshops. At the height of habitation, the population has been estimated at
anywhere between 125 and 235 people. Around 6500 BC the village was abandoned again, for
unknown reasons. Many of the materials recovered came from some distance and
included Anatolian obsidian and mother of pearl from the Red Sea. The transition to right-angled
buildings shows an important development in human society that may have contributed the
development of cities. There is also a structure dating from this period some yards east of the
main site which has been interpreted as possibly being a temple for the practice of what may
have been a pre-Abrahamic religion. (The layout of the structure is that of a temple, but there are
no signs of any 'graven images' ever having been present.)
3. Nabataean period
There is also plentiful evidence of a renowned Nabataean settlement in the area including
construction of a series of walls around agricultural terraces.
The Jordanian Department of Antiquities, Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority,
USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project and the Council for British Research in the Levant
recently announced in 2010 a project to protect and promote Beidha. This was suggested to take
up to 18 months and planned to include an interpretative presentation and new visitor facilities.

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Among the foundations discovered in the Beidha excavations were those of a six-sided, one
room house dated to 6800 B.C. Circular house foundations in Beidha dating to about 6000 B.C.
resembled those found at pre-Pottery Neolithic A Jericho. The floors of the Jericho round houses
differed in that they were sunken beneath ground level, with wooden steps leading down into the
house. This sunken feature is interpreted as a sign of continuous occupation of these houses over
a long period of time. By 5,000 B.C., the houses in Jericho were of a rectangular shape, with
more than one room. These rooms had straight walls, but with rounded corners that may be a
remnant of the prior round house building tradition. Some of the doorframes were reinforced
by timber, perhaps to reduce the wear and tear to the mud-brick structure that would be incurred
from constant human contact. The floors were covered with hard lime plaster, extending up the
walls. By this time, water and grain storage had moved to house interiors, while thick layers of
charcoal uncovered in house courtyards indicate that food preparations were carried out there.
Classical Antiquity
Five types of housing are seen in the Roman-Byzantine period. Two of these, the simple house
and the courtyard house, typify the domestic architecture of Palestine for some three millennia
into the modern age (see section on Building materials and techniques).[4] The other three, seen
as characteristic of the Roman-Byzantine period, are the big mansion (domus), the farmhouse
and the shop-house.[4] The relatively high number of domus structures dated to the late
Hellenistic and Roman periods reveal the extent of Greco-Roman influence on domestic
architecture in Palestine at that time. The oldest known examples of this kind of structure in
the Galilee were situated in Philoteria/Bet Yerah and date to the late Hellenistic
period. Examples of the farmhouse type found thus far date exclusively to the Herodian period.
Architectural remains from the early Christian period are scant in Palestine. Scholars like Walter
E. Rast attribute this to the relative powerlessness of the early Christian communities prior to the
institutionalization of the Christian church. The earliest known building from this period, a
church built in octagonal form, dates to the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE. While there is evidence that
Christians venerated a number of sites associated with Jesus at this early time, very few
structures have been found that were constructed at this time. One notable exception is evidence
of a pre-4th century CE structure that was found under the mosaics of the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem.
Arab caliphate period (640-1099)

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Dome of the Rock viewed through the Old City's Cotton Gate (Bab al-Qattanin)
Major changes to the monumental architecture of Palestine followed the Arab Islamic conquest
of the region in 637 CE. The Roman and Byzantine churches, predominant features in many
towns and villages in Palestine over the previous six centuries, were quickly joined by mosques,
though the construction of churches continued. Much of the construction in this period was
centered in Jerusalem. One of the most famous early monuments expressing the new role of
Islam in the region was the Dome of the Rock (Qabbat as-Sakhra). Dedicated in 692 CE, the
structure was built over the rock where Islamic tradition holds Abraham acceded to God's
request that he sacrifice his son. The Al-Aqsa mosque, built shortly thereafter, was reconstructed
many times since with its form today deriving from a renovation carried out during the Crusader
period in Palestine.

An Arabic Umayyad mosaic from Khirbat al-Mafjar in Jericho

Hisham's Palace (Arabic: ‫ قصر هشام‬Qaṣr Hishām or Arabic: ‫ خربة المفجر‬Khirbat al-Mafjar) is an
important early Islamic archaeological site of the Umayyad dynasty from the first half of the 8th
century. It is located five km north of the town of Jericho, at Khirbat al-Mafjar in the West Bank
spread over 60 hectares (150 acres), it consists of three main parts: a palace, an ornate bath
complex, and an agricultural estate. Also associated with the site is a large park or agricultural
enclosure (ḥayr) which extends east of the palace. An elaborate irrigation system provided the
complex with water from nearby springs.The site was discovered in 1873. The northern area of
the site was noted, but not excavated, in 1894 by F.J Bliss,[2] but the major source of
archaeological information comes from the excavations of Palestinian archaeologist, Dimitri
Baramki between 1934 and 1948. In 1959 Baramki's colleague, colonial administrator for the
British Mandate government Robert W. Hamilton, published the major work on Hisham's
Palace, Khirbat al-Mafjar: An Arabian Mansion in the Jordanian Valley. Baramki's
archaeological research is unfortunately absent from this volume, and as such, Hamilton's
analysis is exclusively art historical. Baramki's research on the archaeological aspects of the site,
particularly the ceramics, was published in various preliminary reports and articles in the
Quarterly of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities. Many of the finds from Baramki and
Hamilton's excavations are now held in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
In 2006, new excavations were carried out under the direction of Dr. Hamdan Taha of the
Palestinian National Authority's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Current research is being
conducted by the Jericho Mafjar Project, a collaboration between the ministry and archaeologists
from the University of Chicago.

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In 2015, an agreement was signed between the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to enable the 825 square meter mosaic in the
palace, one of the largest in the world, to be uncovered and readied for display.[1]
Historical Framework: It is difficult to establish a secure historical framework for Hisham's
Palace. No textual sources reference the site, and archaeological excavations are the only source
of further information. An ostracon bearing the name "Hisham" was found during the course of
Baramki's excavations. This was interpreted as evidence for the site's construction during the
reign of the caliph Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. Robert Hamilton subsequently argued that the
palace was a residence of al-Walid b. al-Yazid, a nephew of Hisham who was famous for his
extravagant lifestyle.[5] Archaeologically it is certain that the site is a product of the Umayyad
dynasty in the first half of the 8th century, although the specifics of its patronage and use remain
unknown.
As an archaeological site, Hisham's Palace belongs to the category of desert castles. These are a
collection of monuments dating to the Umayyad dynasty and found throughout Syria, Jordan,
Israel, and the West Bank. Although there is great variation in the size, location, and presumed
function of these different sites, they can be connected to the patronage of different figures in the
Umayyad ruling family.[6] Some of the desert castles, for example Qasr Hallabat or Qasr Burqu,
represent Islamic occupations of earlier Roman or Ghassanid structures. Other sites
like Qastal, Qasr Azraq, or al-Muwaqqar are associated with trade routes and scarce water
resources. With a few exceptions, the desert castles conform to a common template consisting of
a square palace similar to Roman forts, a bath house, water reservoir or dam, and often an
agricultural enclosure. Various interpretations for the desert castles exist, and it is unlikely that
one single theory can explain the variety observed in the archaeological record.
Architecture: The palace, bath complex, and external mosque are enclosed by a retaining wall.
The southern gate was known from Baramki's excavations, but the recent discovery of a northern
gate in alignment indicates that the development of Hisham's Palace was conceived of as a
complete unit to be constructed at once.[7]
Palace

The palace

The largest building at the site is the palace, a roughly square building with round towers at the
corners. It originally had two stories. Entrance was through a gate on the center of the east side.
The inner rooms were aligned around a central paved portico, which featured an underground
cellar or sirdab, for refuge from the heat. The room to the south of the portico was
a mosque with a mihrab built into the outer wall.

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Outer pavilion and mosque
East of the palace entrance was a pavilion and fountain. A second, larger mosque was located to
the northeast of the palace entrance.
Bath comple
The bath complex is located just north of the palace across an open area. This free-standing
structure is approximately thirty meters square, and three of its sides feature
round exedrae which project out from the building. The east face of the bath had an ornate
entrance in its center, flanked by exedrae. Inside the main square hall was a pool. The entire
interior floor surface of the bath complex was paved with spectacular mosaic decoration. A
special reception room, or diwan, was entered from the northwest corner. The floor of this room
was paved with the famous "tree of life" mosaic, depicting a lion and gazelles at the foot of a
tree. The actual bathing rooms were attached to the northern wall of the complex, and were
heated from below the floor by hypocausts.
Agricultural annex
To the north of the bath complex are the ruins of a large square structure which has clearly gone
through many phases of reuse and reconstruction. This part of the site was initially assumed to be
a khan or caravanserai, but recent excavations have indicated that the northern area had an
agricultural function connected to the hayr or agricultural enclosure during the Umayyad
and Abbasid periods.

Panel in the Rockefeller Museum

The decorative elements at Hisham's Palace are some of the finest representations of Umayyad
period art and are well documented in the publications of Robert Hamilton.
Mosaics

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The most famous artistic aspect of the site is the "tree of life" mosaic in the diwan of the bath
complex, although the mosaic floor of the main bath hall is no less impressive. All of the
mosaics found at Hisham's Palace are of very high quality and feature a wide variety of colors
and figural motifs.
Carved stucco
The carved stucco found at the site is also of exceptional quality. Of particular note is the statue
depicting a male figure with a sword, often presumed to be the caliph, which stood in a niche
above the entrance to the bath hall. Additional male and female figures carved in stucco, some
semi-nude, adorn the bath complex. Geometric and vegetal patterns are also quite common.
While Hamilton described the carvings at Hisham's Palace as amateurish and chaotic, many
subsequent art historians have noted similarities with Iranian themes. Hana Taragan has argued
that the artistic themes seen at the site are Levantine examples of an Islamic visual language of
power that coalesced from Sasanian influences in Iraq. Priscilla Soucek has also drawn attention
to the site's representation of the Islamic myth of Solomon.
Post Umayyad: The site is commonly thought to have been destroyed and abandoned by the
earthquake of 747/8, but an analysis of Baramki's detailed reporting shows that this is incorrect.
Instead the ceramic record indicates that the occupation continued through the Ayyubid-
Mamluk period, with a significant phase of occupation between 900–1000 during the Abbasid
and Fatimid periods. Further excavations will no doubt contribute to a more detailed picture of
the site's continued use through different periods.
Hisham's Palace is the most archaeologically important Islamic monument in Palestine, and is a
major attraction for both visitors and Palestinians. In 2010, according to figures collected by the
Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the site received 43,455 visitors. The site is a
common field trip destination for Palestinian schoolchildren. Foreign visitors who enter Palestine
through the nearby Allenby Bridge often make Hisham's Palace their first stop. The site has been
visited by foreign dignitaries, and was the set for a production of Shakespeare's Richard II in
2012.[12]
According to Global Heritage Fund (GHF), the rapid urban development of Jericho, as well as
expansion of agricultural activity in the area, are limiting archaeologists’ access to the site, much
of which remain unexplored. Conservation efforts aimed at protecting important structures have
been hindered by lack of resources. In a 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, GHF
identified Hisham's Palace as one of 12 worldwide heritage sites most "On the Verge" of
irreparable loss and destruction. H. Taha, director of antiquities has published reports concerning
the preservation of this and other sites in the Jericho region.

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While these buildings and the construction of the Royal Palace established Jerusalem as a
religious and cultural centre of Islam, the administrative capital of
the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates was Ramla, a new town established in the years following
the Arab conquest. The White Mosque was built in that city by the caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-
Malik in 715-717 and was completed by his successor Umar II by 720.
Archaeological finds indicate that the major cities of the Byzantine period
(Lydda, Bisan, Tiberias, Gaza, Caesarea, and Acre continued to be occupied in this period and a
number of new settlements were built outside the cities and in the Negev as well. Of these, some
were agricultural centres while others were palaces or summer resorts for the elite. Examples
include palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar, also known locally as Hisham's Palace,
outside Jericho and Khirbat al-Minya near Tiberias. Khirbat al-Mafjar is described as, "the most
elaborate palace of the period [...] in the state of Palestine." A statue of the Caliph al-Walid II,
who likely commissioned its construction between 743–748, stands at the entrance to the palatial
baths. The architectural form and detailing exhibit a melange of Sassanian and Syrian styles. One
of the earliest Umayyad palaces was known as Al-Sinnabra and served as a winter resort
to Mu'awiya, Marwan I, and other caliphs in Umayyad-era Palestine (c. 650-704 AD). The ruins
of al-Sinnabra were initially misidentified as belonging to the Byzantine-Roman period; it and
other sites in the process of being similarly re-dated are said by archaeologists to indicate an
architectural continuity between the Roman and early Arab empires.[14]

The ruins of the fort at Kfar Lam

Monumental construction was rarer during the later Abbasid and Fatimid dynasties due to
increasing political fragmentation. Two large monuments that can be dated to the 10th and 11th
centuries are fortified structures designed to guard against Byzantine invasion. The ruins of Kfar
Lam, a fort made up of rectangular enclosures built of thin slabs of kurkar stone with solid corner
towers and semi-circular buttresses, can still be seen today, though the village of the same name
was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war. Another fort at Ashdod is of the same basic
construction but includes a line of marble columns in the centre that were taken from a
nearby Classical site. Just outside that fort lie the remains of a building topped with a dome that
had holes cut into it to let in the light which is thought to have served as a bathhouse.
Crusader period (1099-1291)

Kawkab al-Hawa (Arabic: ‫(كوكب الهوا‬, is a depopulatedformer Palestinian village located 11 km

north of Baysan. It was built within the ruins of the Crusader fortress of Belvoir, from which it
expanded. The Crusader names for the Frankish settlement at Kuwaykat were Beauvoir, Belvoir,

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Bellum videre, Coquet, Cuschet and Coket. During Operation Gideon in 1948, the village was
occupied by the Golani Brigade and depopulated.
Yaqut al-Hamawi, writing in the 1220s, referred to the place as a castle near Tiberias. According
to him, it fell in ruins after the reign of Saladin. The Ayyubid commander of Ajlun, Izz al-Din
Usama, was given Kawkab al-Hawa as an iqta ("fief") by Saladin in the late 1180s and it
remained in his hands until 1212, when it was seized by sultan al-Mu'azzam.
An inscription in the Ustinow collection, dated, tentatively, to the 13th century, Ayyubid period,
was found incised on a basalt rock near the spring at Kawkab al-Hawa. The inscription state: "He
ordered to make this blessed fountain the illustrious amir, Shuja ad-Din, may his glory be
perpetuated."
Ottoman era

Robinson's arch, on the south-western flank of the Temple Mount, once supported a staircase
which led to the temple.
Robinson traveled to Palestine in 1838 in the company of Rev. Eli Smith. He published Biblical
Researches in Palestine in 1841, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal
Geographical Society in 1842.[1] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 1847.
Robinson, together with Smith, made scores of identifications of ancient places referred to the
Bible.[1] His work established his enduring reputation as a "Founder" of Biblical archeology, and
influenced much of future archaeological field work. Examples of his finds in Jerusalem include
the Siloam tunnel and Robinson's Arch in the Old City; the latter was named in his honor.
The two men returned to Ottoman Palestine in 1852 for further investigations. In 1856 the
enlarged edition of Biblical Researches was published simultaneously in English and German.
Among those who later acknowledged Robinson’s stature, in 1941 G. Ernest Wright, reviewing
the pioneering survey contained in Nelson Glueck's The Other Side of the Jordan, makes a just
comparison and fitting testimonial: "Glueck's explorations are second to none, unless it is those
of Edward Robinson."

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, an estimated 50 persons. The villagers paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, beans
and melons, as well as on vineyards; a total of 4,500 akçe.
Pierre Jacotin named the village Kaoukab on his map from 1799. The scholar Edward
Robinson described the place in 1838 as a small village ("Kaukab el-Hawa"), situated "on the
brow of the Jordan Valley", and he identified the place as the former Belvoir fortress.
Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and found some families using the vaulted spaces still standing
inside the fortress.
Since the village was built within the outlines of the fortress of Belvoir, it was slow to expand.
The villagers, who numbered about 110 in 1859, resided within the fortress walls and cultivated
about 13 faddans outside them.
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Kukab had a
population of 167, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 220, still all Muslims, in 46
houses.[
In time the village expanded to the north and the west in a circle around the fortress.
The Muslim population of the village used their land, which lay outside the village walls, for
agriculture.
In the 1945 statistics Kawkab al-Hawa had a population of 300 Muslims with a total of 9,949
dunes of land. Of this, a total of 5,839 dunums was allocated to cereals; 170 dunums were
irrigated or used for orchards, while 56 dunams was built-up land.
1948 War and aftermath
According to Benny Morris, Kibbutzniks demanded - and often themselves carried out - the
destruction of neighbouring villages for local (and selfish) reasons, as a means of blocking the
return of the Arab villagers. For this reason a veteran local leader, Nahum Wurwitz of Kfar
Gil'adi appealed in a letter in September 1948 for permission to destroy Kawkab al-
Hawa, Jabbul, al-Bira and al-Hamidiyya in the area for fear that they may be used by Arabs for
military operations and to enable them to "take the village's lands, because the Arabs won't be
able to return there"
Walid Khalidi described the remaining structures of the village in 1992:
"The village has been eliminated, but the site of the Belvoir Castle has been excavated and
turned into a tourist attraction. Fig and olive trees grow on the village site. The slopes
overlooking the Baysan Valley and Wadi al-Bira are used by Israelis as grazing areas; they also
cultivate the other surrounding lands."
According to Meron Benvenisti, Kawkab al-Hawa represents one of the most conspicuous
examples of the Israeli practice of removing Arab settlements of all Arab structures which did
not interest them. At Kawkab al-Hawa (and at Caesarea) all Arab structures (except those useful
as tourist amenities) were demolished by the Israelis, while the Crusader buildings were restored
and made into tourist attractions. According to Benvenisti: "In the Israeli context, it is preferable
to immortalize those who exterminated the Jewish communities of Europe (in the late eleventh
and early twelfth centuries) and murdered the Jews of Jerusalem in 1099 than to preserve relics
of the local Arab civilization with which today's Israelis supposedly coexist. Crusader structures,

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both authentic and fabricated, lend a European, romantic character to the country's landscape,
whereas Arab buildings spoil the myth of an occupied land under foreign rule, awaiting
liberation at the hands of the Jews returning to their homeland.”

The Belvoir fortress, or Kawkab al-Hawa FOR MORE DETAILS READ OUR BOOK ON
Architecture of Palestine
The most well-known architectural legacy left by the Crusaders were the fortified castles built in
prominent positions throughout Palestine. A typical Crusader castle consisted of a square or
rectangular tower surrounded by irregular enclosure walls that followed the shape of the land and
famous castles include those of Belvoir and Monfort.

Belvoir Castle, Israel - other names: Belvoir Fortress, Coquet Castle; Arab: Kawkab al-Hawā,
Kaukab el Hawā; Hebrew: Kokhav ha-Yarden, Kôkhov ha-Yardēn, Kokhav Hayarden.

Belvoir Castle Facts

Belvoir Castle is a crusader castle in Israel built by the Knights Hospitaller around 1168 and
occupied until 1219.

Some form of castle already occupied the site before 1168, when it was sold to the Hospital of St
John. All trace of this early structure, however, seems to have been removed by the Hospitallers,
who almost at once began to build there the Belvoir castle.

The Hospitallers surrendered to Salah al-Din on 5 Jan 1189, after his troops had broken into the
barbican and begun to undermine the castle walls.

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Although Salah al-Din considered dismantling the castle, there is no evidence that he did so, and
a Muslim garrison and governor seem to have occupied it until 1219, when the castle was finally
slighted on the orders of the Ayyubid ruler of Damascus.

The area was again in Frankish hands between 1241 and 1263, but the Hospitallers do not appear
to have reoccupied Belvoir. The Arab village of Kawkab al-Hawa was sited in the ruins of the
once mighty fortress, but during the war of 1947–1948 the inhabitants fled; between 1963 and
1968 the site was cleared by the Israel Department of Antiquities and the National Parks
Authority.

These excavations, directed by Meir Ben-Dov, have revealed that the Crusader castle had a
design considerably more advanced than had previously been thought likely for a building of this
date.

Architecture

The Belvoir Castle is built mostly from the same black basalt upon which it stands, with
limestone employed as freestone as well as for much of the inner and upper parts of the inner
ward. It consists of two almost square enceintes, one inside the other, both defended by
projecting rectangular towers.

The outer enceinte (100×110 m) is surrounded on three sides by a rock-cut ditch, 20–25 m wide
and 12 m deep, from the bottom of which the walls rise on a battered base.

The east side, however, was protected by the natural scarp and by a projecting barbican, roughly
30 m square and probably no more than two storey high, which commanded the otherwise dead
ground below and contained the main entrance.

The principal route into the castle led from an outer gate at the foot of the south-eastern tower,
up a ramp and into the barbican, before doubling back and up again to reach an inner gate next to
the same corner tower.

The inner gate is 2.35 m wide and was closed by a pair of wing-doors, defended above by a slit-
machicolation between two pointed arches and from either side by enfilading embrasures.

A secondary gate, more conveniently sited for peacetime use but easily decommissioned in time
of war, lay on the west of the castle and was probably reached across a level timber bridge
spanning the ditch.

The outer walls would originally have stood some 12–16 m high (or 25 m within the ditch) and 3
m thick, but the destruction has left no more than 3 m standing. From their outer face, at the
angles and mid-way along the sides, massive rectangular towers project; the three towers at the
south-west contained staircases leading down to narrow posterns concealed in the angles where
they met the curtain wall.

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The inner face of the wall was lined with a continuous barrel vault, 8 m wide internally, which,
besides providing covered accommodation for the personnel, stores, stables, smithies and other
services of the castle’s outer ward, in wartime would have also given protection to those firing
from the embrasures in the outer wall and created another tier of defence on the terrace above.

Enclosed by the outer enceinte, like a castle within a castle, stood the inner ward, some 50 m
square with a tower 10 m square projecting at each corner. The inner ward had two entrances, a
small postern on the east and a wider gate on the west, to which was later added a projecting
rectangular gate-tower with an outer gate set in its southern flank, forming a bent entrance.

Both gates in the gate-tower have slit-machicolations above them; but while the outer one is set
between two pointed arches, the inner one is placed behind a flat arch with decorative joggled
voussoirs of a type probably derived from contemporary Islamic architecture. There is also a
postern in the north wall of the gate-tower.

In the centre of the inner ward, a courtyard some 22 m square is enclosed by barrel-vaulted
ranges. The undercrofts seem to have contained stores, stables and, on the south-east, a kitchen,
while the living area of the knights seems to have been on the floor above, with access by a stone
staircase on the south side of the courtyard.

On this piano nobile were to be found the chapel above the western gate and probably the
dormitory and refectory; but all that remains of these more finely built apartments are some
fragments of corbels, capitals, pilasters and sculpture, including the head of a youth and an
unfinished flying angel (both Jerusalem, Rockefeller Mus).

Historical Facts

Belvoir occupies a significant place in the history of medieval military architecture.

Before its excavation, there was no physical evidence that the regular ‘concentric’ planning that
it exemplifies, which can be derived ultimately from Hellenistic theory and practice, was
employed by the Crusaders in the Levant before the 13th century.

Belvoir demonstrates that in the 1170s the Franks of Outremer were already building rectangular
concentric castles, anticipating by half a century or more the appearance of such buildings in
western Europe.

Belvoir Castle Map&Location

Belvoir is situated about 12 km south of the Sea of Galilee, on the eastern edge of a plateau from
where it overlooks the Jordan Valley and the site of what in the 12th century would have been
the principal river crossings between the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and its Muslim
neighbours.

See bellow the location on the map:

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206
Another major focus of the Crusader building effort were churches. Hundreds of churches were
constructed during the Crusader period in Palestine, with 60 built in Jerusalem alone. Some of
these were built on the ruins of earlier Byzantine churches; in other cases, mosques were
transformed into churches. The Dome of the Rock, for example, was converted
into Augustinian church, while Al-Aqsa mosque was transformed into a palace by Baldwin I.
Fine carved capitals and sculpture were a feature of the Crusader churches. After Jerusalem was
reconquered by the Ayyubids in 1187, the Crusader presence in Palestine shrank to be centered
around Acre where some of the finest Crusader architecture was built until their final defeat by
the Mamluks there in 1291.
The influence of Crusader architecture on the Islamic architecture of Palestine that followed was
both direct and indirect. The direct influence can be seen in the cushion-shaped voussoirs and
folded cross-vaults that were adapted for use in the Mamluk buildings of Jerusalem.
Additionally, Arab castles constructed following the Crusades, like those of Aljun (Qa'lat Rabad)
and Nimrud, adopted the irregular shapes introduced by the Crusaders. The influence could even
be seen in religious architecture, such that the minaret of the Great Mosque in Ramla bears a
striking resemblance to a Crusader tower. The indirect influence manifested in the development
of the counter-Crusade which saw propaganda incorporated into the architecture, specifically via
the use of monumental inscriptions and carved elements. For example, on the Lion Gate in
the Old City of Jerusalem, the lion of Baybars, the famous Mamluk leader and warrior, can be
seen catching a mouse.
Mamluk period (1250-1517)

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Mausoleum of Abu Huraira, in Yibna
The Mamluks focused on revitalizing the road network, which was essential to their postal
system in Palestine. Numerous bridges and khans were built, some of which constituted larger
compounds complete with a mosque and minaret. An impressive example of one of these larger
khan compounds can be seen in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. Some of the Mamluk bridges also
remain standing, such as Jisr Jindas ("Jindas Bridge") which is flanked by two lions and sports
Arabic inscriptions.[16]
Also under Mamluk rule, the construction of religious buildings such as madrassas,
mosques, khanqas and commemorative mausoleums proliferated in Palestine and these constitute
some the finest examples of medieval architecture in the Middle East. Mamluk architecture in
Jerusalem was characterized by the use of
joggled voussoirs, ablaq masonry, muqarnas mouldings, and multi-coloured marble inlay.[16]
In Ramla, the Crusader church was converted into a mosque and the Great Mosque there was
rebuilt. One of the most beautiful Mamluk era structures is the tomb of Abu Hurayra in Yibna.
With a triple-domed portico, the central area is also covered with a dome set on squinches.
Decoration is restricted to the mihrab and doorway which are covered in inlaid marble and
inscriptions.[16]
Ottoman era (1516-1918)

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Entrance to the el-Jazzar Mosque, with the sabil to the right of the steps
New architectural techniques introduced by the Ottoman rulers were gradually adopted, though
not universally. Jerusalem was redeveloped under Ottoman rule, its walls rebuilt, the Dome of
the Rock retiled and the water system renovated. Acre also underwent a massive renovation
during this time and it is the best example of urban Ottoman architecture in Palestine with
several khans, two bath houses, three main souqs, at least ten mosques and a citadel. The el-
Jazzar Mosque is particularly impressive with its pencil-like minaret and large central
dome. Hammam al-Basha features fine decorative detailing in the form of Armenian tilework
and inlaid marble floors. Houses in Acre built during this period range between two and four-
storeys and many have wooden ceilings decorated with paintwork. Other important cities during
the period of Ottoman rule include Hebron, Nablus, Ramla, Jaffa, Safad, and Tiberias. Most of
these cities were surrounded by fortifications, and the best surviving example from this period is
the wall re-constructed around Tiberias by Zahir al-Umar.
Housing varied by region, with mud-brick houses common along the coast, of which there are
few surviving examples today. Predominant features of stone houses were the domed roofs
which in the 18th century were often decorated with swirls, rosettes and semi-circles formed of
carved plaster. Roofs in the Galilee region were differed in their use of transverse stone arches
that supported short beams over which the roof was laid.

209
Ottoman fortresses that served as garrisons for the Janissaries (Ottoman troops) were abundant
outside of Jerusalem. These large square or rectangular structures with square corner towers can
still be seen at Ras al-Ain near Tel Aviv, Khan al-Tujjar near Kafr Kanna, and Qal'at Burak
south of Jerusalem.
British Mandate period (1918-1948)
The British sent a succession of six town planners to Mandate Palestine to try to manage
intercommunal tensions that were a feature of this period. One of these was Charles Robert
Ashbee, a prominent British Arts and Crafts designer, who served as Civic Adviser to the City of
Jerusalem (1919-1922) and as a professional adviser to the Town Planning Commission.
Described as "the most pro-Arab and anti-Zionist" of the six planners, Ashbee's view of
Jerusalem, "was colored by a romantic sense of the vernacular." Aiming to protect this
Palestinian vernacular and the city's secular and traditional fabric, Ashbee personally oversaw
conservation and repair work in the city, and revived the craft industry there to repair the
damaged Dome of the Rock.
BUILDING MATERIALS: Two types of house predominated in Palestine from the second
millennium BCE through to the modern era: the simple house found commonly in rural areas and
the courtyard house found mostly in urban centers.[4] Simple houses could be made from stone or
excavated in rock, but most of the houses of this form common to the peasants of Palestine were
likely made from sand-dried brick.[4] Much of the traditional domestic architecture of modern
Palestine, particularly in rural areas, was constructed using sun-dried brick, rather than
stone. According to Tawfiq Canaan, this building tradition, in use at the beginning of the 20th
century, was the same as that used by peasants in the 1st century who lived in sun-dried brick
houses covered with tree branches; the upper floor serving as the family's living quarters, with
the first floor used to house livestock.[

Interior of the house of a Palestinian Christian family in Jerusalem, portrayed in a print by W. H.

Bartlett, c. 1850
The most characteristic type of domestic building in Palestine, according to Halvor Moxnes, was
the courtyard house, consisting of several houses enclosed by a surrounding wall that shared a
common courtyard to which there was one entrance. Members of the same or related families
who are assumed to have enjoyed a good economic situation lived in such structures which
generally spanned an area of 200 to 300 metres. Each would have had access to two or more
rooms and used the courtyard for domestic tasks, such as the preparation of food, the making and
washing of clothes, along with other agrarian and occupational tasks.[4]

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Petersen identified the main building materials used in Palestine in modern times as stone and
unbaked brick, noting that wood and baked brick are hardly ever used. He describes some of the
main types of stone used in the architecture of Palestine, which varied by region. For
example, kurkar, a silicious limestone, was used in building along the Mediterranean coast
while basalt blocks were used in the northern part of the Jordan Rift Valley and the Sea of
Galilee, often in conjunction with limestone for architectural detailing. Limestone of various
colours ranging from white to pink were used in Ramla, Hebron and Jerusalem, with latter also
making use of various types of marble. Dolomite, a hard limstone with magnesium, was used
primarily in the Galilee.[8] Mud-brick structures tended be more common in the Jordan Valley
and coastal plain where stone was not readily available, and the best surviving examples of mud-
brick architecture can be found today in Jericho.[8]
Unique to the architecture of Palestine was the use of masonry cross-vaulting that was covered in
mud over a centre supported wood formwork to create domical square spaces. The use of
valuting in construction was often due to a shortage in wood, but it was also preferred because of
its permanence. Whereas in other places in the Arab world, vaulting was reserved for
monumental structures, such as palaces, mosques and tombs or for below-ground storage areas,
in Palestine, it was also used in the construction of homes. Another type of vaulting, groin vaults
made of stone that are slightly parabolic in section, are said by Frederich Ragette to be a standard
unit of construction in Palestine.[19]
Vernacular architecture
Tawfiq Canaan 24 September 1882 – 15 January 1964, was a pioneering Palestinian physician,
medical researcher, ethnographer, and Palestinian nationalist. Born in Beit Jala during the rule of
the Ottoman Empire, he served as a medical officer in the Ottoman army during World War I.
During British rule, he served as the first President of the Palestine Arab Medical Association
founded in 1944, and as the director of several Jerusalem area hospitals before, during, and after
the 1948 war. Over the course of his medical career, he authored more than thirty-seven studies
on topics including tropical medicine, bacteriology, malaria, tuberculosis, and health conditions
in Palestine, and contributed to research that led to a cure for leprosy.
Deeply interested in Palestinian folklore, popular beliefs, and superstitions, Canaan collected
over 1,400 amulets and talismanic objects held to have healing and protective properties. His
published analyses of these objects, and other popular folk traditions and practices, brought him
recognition as an ethnographer and anthropologist. The several books and more than 50 articles
he wrote in English and German serve as valuable resources to researchers of Palestinian and
Middle-Eastern heritage.
An outspoken public figure, he also wrote two books on the Palestine problem, reflecting his
involvement in confronting British imperialism and Zionism.[2][7] He was arrested by the British
authorities in 1939. The last two decades of his life were lived in the shadow of several personal
tragedies: the loss of his brilliant son in an accident at Jerash, the loss and destruction of his
family home, and of his clinic in Jerusalem during the 1948 war.
Canaan managed to re-establish his life and career in East Jerusalem under Jordanian rule. First
taking sanctuary in a convent in the Old City for two years, he was appointed director of
the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives, where he lived with his family through
his retirement until his death in 1964.

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The writings of Tawfiq Canaan which describe and survey Palestinian Arab folk traditions have
provided much material for studies of Palestinian Arab vernacular architecture. Vernacular
architecture is characterised by the use of local materials and knowledge, usually without the
supervision of professional architects. Vernacular architecture represents the majority of
buildings and settlements created in pre-industrial societies and includes a very wide range of
buildings, building traditions, and methods of construction. Vernacular buildings are typically
simple and practical, whether residential houses or built for other purposes.
Although it encompassed 95% of the world's built environment in 1969 vernacular architecture
tends to be overlooked in traditional histories of design. It is not one specific style, so it cannot
be distilled into a series of easy-to-digest patterns, materials, or elements. Because of the usage
of traditional building methods and local builders, vernacular buildings are considered part of a
regional culture.
Vernacular architecture can be contrasted against elite or polite architecture, which is
characterized by stylistic elements of design intentionally incorporated for aesthetic purposes
which go beyond a building's functional requirements
Characteristic of the Palestinian vernacular architecture is the harmony between site and
structure, noted and celebrated by many other Western and Arab writers, and which also emerges
as a theme in Canaan's work. For example, Canaan's 1930 report on a Palestinian house reads:
Those who travelled in the country observe a main characteristic which marks the
construction of the majority of the Palestinian houses, namely the preference for straight
lines, manifest in the walls, the doors, the windows, and most roofs. Owing to this
characteristic, as well as to its simple square form and its greyish color, the Palestinian
peasant's house harmonizes excellently with the landscape, and is more pleasing than most of
the modern, occidental houses found in the modern colonies which have recently sprung up in
Palestine. The fellah dwelling is also more suited to the climate of the country.
The sense of "rootedness" and "unmediated connectedness" which characterized Palestinian
Arab vernacular architecture was also admired by Yoram Segal in his essay on "The Traditional
House in the Arab Villages of the Galilee", published in the Israeli journal Tvai. Describing the
relationship of the fellah to his house, which he builds and maintains with his own hands, Segal
places emphasis on the sense "of belonging, of identification, and of strong emotional
attachment." According to Sandra Sufian and Mark Levine, sabra architects who searched for a
sense of nativeness in which to root their work, emulated this local style, appropriating the native
as their own. Further, in order to Israelize this Arab vernacular style, it was depicted "as biblical
architecture, as an uncontaminated primitive origin of architecture, or simply as Mediterranean."
Palestinian village house
The Palestinian village house is the best known house type to Western scholars. It is described
and documented in travelogues, essays and photographs from the 17th century onward. The
house was divided into two areas: a lower level known as qa' al-bayt near or at the entrance of
the home and an elevated area known as the mastaba used for living and eating.[
The size and uses of the lower level varies from house to house. In some cases it was a small
area near the door, only 10-15 centimeters lower than the rest of the floor where visitors would
take off their shoes before entering the house. In other cases, it would be a large area housing

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animals with an elevated gallery that allowed for use of the space below with the space above
used for storage.
They had a farm on their roof because vegetables were cheap and easy and they cooked outside
to let the heat out.
Masterbuilders
In Palestinian villages prior to 1948, there was at least one al-banna (expert stone mason and
builder). When his skills would take him to work outside his village, he would be called mu'allim
al-bina' (masterbuilder). His building skills were recognized by his society, whose labour would
contribute to the construction of a stone house. Susan Slyomovics writes of one masterbuilder
from the Abu El-Haija clan who constructed most of the stone houses in Ayn Hawd. Muhammed
'Abd al-Qadir, born in 1916, apprenticed with a masterbuilder in Haifa beginning at the age of
eight. Over his long career, he built over 75 houses in Ayn Hawd, and a number of schoolhouses
in neighbouring villages, and was among a "limited number of individuals [...] sought for their
building skills and aesthetic expressiveness."
Some masterbuilders were commissioned to work beyond the boundaries of British Mandate
Palestine. Abu Fawaz al-Malkawi from the village of Umm Qays on the east side of the Lake of
Tiberias recalls that his father commissioned work from two masterbuilders from Safad, Abu
Salim and Ali Safadi, to build a guesthouse and mosque in the 1930s. Ali Safadi was renown for
his skill in vaulted architecture and with materials imported from Safad by donkey, he
constructed a two-storey summer guesthouse with four separate 'aqd (vaulted rooms), one for
each of client's wives.
Ernst Benecke photographed the land and architecture of Palestine in June 1852 using
a calotype process which is said by Kathleen Howe to have been particularly suited to the subject
matter. Of one calotype entitled In View of Herod's Palace, House of David, Howe writes that,
"the softened details of the jumbled houses recreate in an almost tactile way the coarse stone
masonry and daubed mud construction of the buildings."

Saracen : Even though Saracen is a term used for Arab Muslims as referred to by Christian
writers in Europe during the Middle AgesPtolemy's 2nd-century work, Geography,
describes Sarakēnḗ (Ancient Greek: Σαρακηνή) as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakēnoí living in the northwestern Arabian
Peninsula (near neighbor to the Sinai). Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical history narrates an account
wherein Pope Dionysius of Alexandria mentions Saracens in a letter while describing the
persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Decius: "Many were, in the Arabian mountain,
enslaved by the barbarous 'sarkenoi'”. The Augustan History also refers to an attack
by Saraceni on Pescennius Niger's army in Egypt in 193, but provides little information as to
identifying them. Saracens were associated with Ishmaelites (descendants of Abraham's older
son Ishmael) in some strands of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic genealogical thinking.
The term's meaning evolved during its history. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Greek
and Latin writings used the term to refer to the people who lived in desert areas in and near the
Roman province of Arabia Petraea, and in Arabia Deserta. In Europe during the Early Middle
Ages, the term came to be associated with tribes of Arabia. The oldest source
mentioning Saracen dates to the 7th century. It was found in Doctrina Jacobi, a commentary that

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discussed the Muslim conquest of the Levant. The term became gradually obsolete following
the Age of Discovery.

12th-century Reliquary of Saint Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków is an example of

Saracen art from Palestine.RIGHT 15 th Century German woodcut showing Saracens.
The Latin term Saraceni is of unknown original meaning. There are claims of it being derived
from the Semitic triliteral root šrq "east" and šrkt "tribe, confederation". Another possible
Semitic root is srq "to steal, rob, plunder", more specifically from the noun sāriq (Arabic: ‫(سارق‬,
pl. sariqīn , which means "thief, marauder, plunderer".] In his Levantine Diary, covering the
years 1699–1740, the Damascene writer Hamad bin Kanan al-Salhi (Arabic: ‫( محمد بن َكنّان الصالحي‬
used the term sarkan to mean "travel on a military mission" from the Near East to parts of
Southern Europe which were under Ottoman Empire rule, particularly Cyprus and Rhodes.
Both Hippolytus of Rome and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first
half of the third century: the Taeni, the Saraceni, and the Arabes. The Taeni, later identified with
the Arab people called Tayy, were located around Khaybar (an oasis north of Medina) and also in
an area stretching up to the Euphrates. The Saraceni were placed north of them. These Saracens,
located in the northern Hejaz, were described as people with a certain military ability who were
opponents of the Roman Empire and who were classified by the Romans as barbarians.
The Saracens are described as forming the equites (heavy cavalry)
from Phoenicia and Thamud. In one document, the defeated enemies of Diocletian's campaign in
the Syrian Desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th-century military reports make no mention
of Arabs, but refer to Saracen groups ranging as far east as Mesopotamia who were involved in
battles on both the Sasanian and Roman sides. The Saracens were named in the Roman
administrative document Notitia Dignitatum, dating from the time of Theodosius I in the 4th
century, as comprising distinctive units in the Roman army. They were distinguished in the
document from Arabs.

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 Saracens landing on a coast, 915
No later than the early fifth century, Christian writers began to equate Saracens with Arabs. The
writings of Jerome (d. 420) are the earliest known version of the claim that Ishmaelites chose to
be called Saracens in order to identify with Abraham's "free" wife Sarah, rather than as
Hagarenes, which would have highlighted their association with Abraham's "slave
woman" Hagar. This claim was popular during the Middle Ages, but derives more from Paul's
allegory in the New Testament letter to the Galatians than from historical data. The
name Saracen was not indigenous among the populations so described but was applied to them
by Greco-Roman historians based on Greek place names.
As the Middle Ages progressed, usage of the term in the Latin West changed, but its connotation
remained negative, associated with opponents of Christianity, and its exact definition is
unclear. In an 8th-century polemical work, John of Damascus criticized the Saracens as
followers of a false prophet and "forerunner[s] to the Antichrist.’.

Maugis fighting the Saracen Noiron in Aigremont, in Renaud de Montauban. David Aubert,
Bruges, 1462-1470

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By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans used the term Saracen as both an ethnic and religious
marker. In some Medieval literature, Saracens were equated with Muslims in general and
described as dark-skinned, while Christians lighter-skinned. An example is in The King of Tars,
a medieval romance.[22][23][24] The Song of Roland, an Old French 11th-century heroic poem,
refers to the black skin of Saracens as their only exotic feature.

The term Saracen remained in widespread use in the West as a synonym for "Muslim" until the
18th century. When the Age of Discovery led to it becoming gradually obsolete and referred to
Muslims as "Mohammedan" which came into usage from the 1600 onwards. However "Saracen"
continued to be used until the 19th century. The Victorian era phrase "Indo-Saracenic
Architecture" is an example of this.

In the Wiltshire dialect, the meaning of "Sarsen" (Saracen) was eventually extended to refer to
anything regarded as non-Christian, whether Muslim or pagan. From that derived the still current
term "Sarsen" (a shortening of "Saracen stone"), denoting the kind of stone used by the builders
of Stonehenge [26] - long predating Islam and all monotheistic religions.

Indo-Saracenic, also known as Indo-Gothic, was a revival architectural style mostly used
by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government
buildings in the British Raj, and the palaces of rulers of the princely state, reflecting and
imitating contemporary and earlier high Indian architecture. It sought to replicate from Imperial
Indian architecture, including Rajasthani, Mughal and Maratha eras, which the British regarded
as the classic Indian style. The basic layout and structure of the buildings shared commonalities
to that used in contemporary buildings in other styles, such as Gothic revival and Neo-
Classical. Saracen was a term used in Europe until the 19th century referring to Muslim and/or
Arabic-speaking people and regions of the Middle East and North Africa.

The style drew from western exposure to depictions of Indian buildings from about 1795, such as
those by William Hodges and the Daniell duo (William Daniell and his uncle Thomas Daniell).
Earliest Indo-Saracenic building is the Chepauk Palace, completed in 1768, in Chennai where it
and Calcutta were the main centres of the Raj administration, and saw many buildings
constructed in the style, although Calcutta was also a bastion of indigenous European Neo-
classical architecture fused with Indic architectural elements. Most major buildings are now
classified under the Heritage buildings category as laid down by the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI), and protected.The style enjoyed a degree of popularity outside British India, where
architects often mixed Islamic and European elements from various areas and periods with
boldness, in the prevailing climate of eclecticism in architecture. Through architects and
engineers transferred from India, the style was adopted in British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka)
and the Federated Malay States (present-day Malaysia). The British were also keen to transfer
the style outside the Indian Empire and the British Far East to the United Kingdom itself, with

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several examples of Indo-Saracenic architecture going up in the country, for example at
the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, and the eccentric Sezincote House in Gloucestershire.

The wider European version, also popular in the Americas, is Moorish Revival architecture,
which tends to use specific South Asian features less, and instead those characteristic of the
Arabic-speaking countries; Neo-Mudéjar is the equivalent style in Spain.

Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were
adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination
with all things oriental. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th century, part of a
widening vocabulary of articulated decorative ornament drawn from historical sources beyond
familiar classical and Gothic modes. Neo-Moorish architecture drew on elements from
classic Moorish architecture and, to some extent, from wider Islamic architecture

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 CHAPTER IX
PALESTINE TODAY

COME VISIT PALESTINE

The Israeli government continued to enforce severe and discriminatory restrictions on
Palestinians’ human rights; restrict the movement of people and goods into and out of the Gaza
Strip; and facilitate the unlawful transfer of Israeli citizens to settlements in the occupied West
Bank. 2018 events

Israeli forces stationed on the Israeli side of the fences separating Gaza and Israel responded to
demonstrations for Palestinian rights on the Gaza side with excessive lethal force. Between
March 30 and November 19, security forces killed 189 Palestinian demonstrators, including 31
children and 3 medical workers, and wounded more than 5,800 with live fire. Demonstrators
threw rocks and “Molotov cocktails,” used slingshots to hurl projectiles, and launched kites
bearing incendiary materials, which caused significant property damage to nearby Israeli
communities, and, in at least one instance, fired towards soldiers. Officers repeatedly fired on
protesters who posed no imminent threat to life, pursuant to expansive open-fire orders from
senior officials that contravene international human rights law standards. In May, the United
Nations Human Rights Council set-up a commission of inquiry to investigate the events in Gaza,
with a view to identifying those responsible, including in the chain of command, and ensuring
accountability.

The Israeli army also launched intermittent air and artillery strikes in the Gaza Strip, killing 37
Palestinians between March 30 and November 19, including at least five civilians. Palestinian
armed groups fired 1138 rockets and mortars indiscriminately toward Israel from Gaza as of
November 13, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, a

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major increase over previous years, killing one person and injuring at least 40, including
civilians.

Attempts to reconcile did not end the rivalry between Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas. Both
the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza arrested
opposition supporters and other critics, and mistreated and tortured some in their custody. The
Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine (ICHR), a statutory commission
charged with monitoring human rights compliance by the Palestinian authorities, received 180
complaints of arbitrary arrest, 173 complaints of torture and ill-treatment, and 209 complaints of
administrative detention pursuant to orders from a regional governor by PA security forces as of
October 31. In the same period, the body recorded 81 complaints of arbitrary arrest and 146
complaints of torture and ill-treatment against Hamas security forces.

Israel continued to maintain its more than decade-long effective closure of Gaza, exacerbated by
Egyptian restrictions on its own border with Gaza, limiting access to water and electricity
(households in Gaza received power between four and five hours a day on average during most
of the year). Israel also restricted access to medical care and educational and economic
opportunities. In July, in response to the launching of incendiary kites from Gaza, Israeli
authorities banned the shipment of most goods out of Gaza, limited entry to “humanitarian”
items and temporarily reduced the fishing zone off the Gaza coast from six to three nautical
miles, measures that amount to collective punishment. Gaza’s unemployment rate stood at 55
percent during the third-quarter of 2018, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics, and 80 percent of Gaza’s nearly 2 million people depend on humanitarian aid.

Israeli authorities continued to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and to
discriminate systematically against Palestinians and in favor of settlers, in providing services,
allowing freedom of movement, and issuing building permits, among other actions. During 2017
and the first eight months of 2018, Israeli authorities approved plans for 10,536 housing units in
West Bank settlements, excluding East Jerusalem, and issued tenders for 5,676, as compared to
approving plans for 4,611 units and issuing tenders for 592 units in all of 2015 and 2016,
according to the Israeli group Peace Now.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities destroyed 390 Palestinian homes and other property, forcibly
displacing 407 people as of November 19, the majority for lacking construction permits that
Israel makes nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain in East Jerusalem or in the 60 percent of
the West Bank under its exclusive control (Area C).

Gaza Strip- Closure

Israel’s near-total closure of the Gaza Strip continued to severely harm the civilian population.

The Israeli army limits travel out of Gaza to what it calls “exceptional humanitarian cases,”
meaning mostly medical patients, their companions, and prominent businesspersons with
permits. In the first eight months of 2018, the army approved only 60 percent of permit
applications from Palestinians seeking medical treatment outside Gaza. In August, the Israeli

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Supreme Court found unlawful Israel’s practice of denying exit permits to “first-degree relatives
of Hamas members.”

During the first 10 months of 2018, an average of about 274 Palestinians exited the Erez crossing
each day, compared to the daily average of more than 24,000 in September 2000, according to
the Israeli rights group Gisha. Outgoing goods in the same period, mostly destined for the West
Bank and Israel, averaged 201 truckloads per month, less than 20 percent of the average 1,064
truckloads per month prior to the June 2007 tightening of the closure.

The limited supply of electricity in Gaza compromised the water supply, sewage treatment, and
hospital operations. Shortages of fuel, needed to operate generators during power outages,
stemming from various factors including disputes over payment for the power between the PA
and Hamas and exacerbated by Israel blocking entry of fuel in July, led to the partial closure of
several hospitals. As of October 31, 44 percent of “essential” medicines were completely
depleted, according to Gaza’s Central Drug Store.

Israeli restrictions on the delivery of construction materials to Gaza and a lack of funding have
impeded reconstruction of homes severely damaged or destroyed during Israel’s 2014 military
operation in Gaza. About 17,700 Palestinians who lost their homes remain displaced. The Israeli
government said that to prevent construction materials from being diverted by Hamas for
military purposes, it would allow in only limited quantities under the supervision of international
organizations.

Egypt also restricts the movement of people and goods at its border with Gaza at Rafah. Between
January and April, an average of about 2,500 persons monthly crossed through Rafah in both
directions, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA). Egyptian authorities opened Rafah on a more regular basis beginning in May, with an
average of 11,746 crossing monthly in both directions between May and October, but still a
fraction of the average of 40,000 per month in the first half of 2013.

Israeli Actions in Gaza

As of November 19, lethal force by Israeli forces resulted in the killing of 252 and injuring of
25,522 Palestinians in Gaza, OCHA reported. Many of the injuries were life-changing, including
hundreds of cases of severe soft tissue damage, some necessitating amputation of limbs. Most of
the killings took place in the context of protests, where Israeli forces, following orders from
senior officials, used live ammunition against people who approached or attempted to cross or
damage fences between Gaza and Israel. Israeli officials rejected the international human rights
law standard in policing situations that prohibits the intentional use of lethal force except as a last
resort to prevent an imminent threat to life. They argued that live ammunition was necessary to
stop breaches of the fences, which they claimed was a Hamas strategy to enable militants to kill
or capture Israelis, without sufficiently addressing why lesser measures would not have worked.

Hamas and Palestinian Armed Groups’ Actions in Gaza

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Attacks by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, mainly indiscriminate rocket attacks, led to the
injuries of more than 40 Israelis as of November 19. Hamas authorities continue to disclose no
information about two Israeli civilians with psychosocial disabilities, Avera Mangistu and
Hisham al-Sayed, whom they have apparently held for several years, in violation of international
law.In addition to regular arbitrary arrests of dissidents and torture of those in its custody, Hamas
authorities have carried out 25 executions since they took control in Gaza in June 2007, though
none in 2018, following trials that lacked appropriate due process protections. Courts in Gaza
have sentenced 125 people to death in this period, according to the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights.Laws in Gaza punish “unnatural intercourse” of a sexual nature, understood to include
same-sex relationships, with up to 10 years in prison.

West Bank- Israeli Actions in the West Bank

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces fatally shot 27 Palestinians
and wounded at least 5,444, including those suspected of attacking Israelis, but also passersby
and demonstrators, as of November 19. In many cases, video footage and witness accounts
strongly suggest that Israeli forces used excessive force. As of November 19, attacks by settlers
injured 61 Palestinians and damaged property in 147 incidents, according to OCHA. Palestinians
killed 10 Israelis, including six civilians, and wounded at least 58 in the same period in the West
Bank in acts that Hamas sometimes praised; in one killing, its military wing claimed
responsibility.

In April, an Israeli court sentenced to nine months in prison an Israeli border policeman caught
on camera in 2014 shooting 17-year-old Palestinian Nadim Nuwarah from about 60 meters away
when he appeared to pose no imminent threat to them. The conviction marked a rare exception to
the pattern by which security forces and settlers who attack Palestinians and destroy or damage
their homes and other property do not face prosecution.

Settlements, Discriminatory Policies, Home Demolitions

Israel continued to provide security, administrative services, housing, education, and medical
care for more than 628,000 settlers residing in unlawful settlements in the West Bank, including
East Jerusalem. International humanitarian law bars an occupying power’s transfer of its
civilians to occupied territory. Palestinians in much of the West Bank have access to water,
electricity, and other state services that are either more limited or costlier than the same services
that the state makes available to Jewish settlers there.

The difficulty in obtaining Israeli-issued building permits has driven Palestinians to construct
housing and business structures that are at constant risk of demolition or confiscation by Israel
on the grounds of being unauthorized. The UN considers 46 Palestinian communities at “high
risk of forcible transfer,” including Khan al-Ahmar, a village of 180 residents east of Jerusalem
with a school serving 160 children from the community and five surrounding villages, whose
demolition Israel’s High Court authorized in May. International law prohibits an occupying
power from destroying property unless “absolutely necessary” for “military operations.”

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Israeli authorities have also demolished the homes of families in retaliation for attacks on Israelis
allegedly carried out by a family member, a violation of the international humanitarian law
prohibition on collective punishment.

Freedom of Movement

Israel maintained onerous restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank. OCHA
documented 705 permanent obstacles such as checkpoints across the West Bank in July. Israeli-
imposed restrictions designed to keep Palestinians far from settlements forced them to take time-
consuming detours and restricted their access to their own agricultural land.

Israel’s separation barrier, which Israel said it built for security reasons but 85 percent of which
falls within the West Bank rather than along the Green Line separating Israeli from Palestinian
territory, cuts off Palestinians from their agricultural lands and isolates 11,000 Palestinians on
the western side of the barrier who are not allowed to travel to Israel and must cross the barrier to
access their own property and other services.

Arbitrary Detention and Detention of Children

As of October 31, according to Prison Services figures, Israeli authorities held 5,426 detainees
for “security” offenses, including 3,224 convicted prisoners, 1,465 pretrial detainees, and 481 in
administrative detention based on secret evidence without charge or trial. Almost all are
Palestinian. Apart from those detained in East Jerusalem, most of the Palestinians detained in the
West Bank, including those held for nonviolent expression, were tried in military courts. Those
courts have a near-100 percent conviction rate. Israel incarcerates many West Bank and Gaza
Palestinian detainees and prisoners inside Israel, violating international humanitarian law
requiring that they not be transferred outside the occupied territory and complicating family
visits.

As of October 31, Israel was detaining 220 Palestinian children, many suspected of criminal
offenses under military law, usually stone-throwing. Israel denied Palestinian children arrested
and detained in the West Bank legal protections granted to Israeli children, including settlers,
such as protections against nighttime arrests and interrogations without a guardian present.
Israeli forces frequently used unnecessary force against children during arrest and physically
abused them in custody. In July, Israel released 17-year-old activist Ahed Tamimi after she
served an eight-month sentence for slapping a soldier.

Palestinian Authority’s Actions in the West Bank

PA security services arrested dozens of journalists, activists and opposition members, tortured
detainees, and dispersed nonviolent protests. On June 13, they violently broke up a protest in
Ramallah against its policy towards Gaza, arresting dozens of demonstrators, beating some of
them in custody before releasing them.

In April, the PA amended a cybercrime law passed the previous year following complaints by
civil society groups. The amended law continues to grant the government vast authority to

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monitor and restrict online activity. The PA also blocked more than two dozen websites affiliated
with Hamas and rival Fatah factions.

In March, the PA repealed legal provisions that stopped prosecutions of alleged rapists, or
allowed convicted rapists to escape punishment, if they married their victims. The PA also
prohibited reducing sentences for serious crimes against women including murder done in the
name of “honor.” However, discrimination against women in personal status laws and gaps in
accountability for domestic violence persisted.

Israel

In July, the Knesset passed the Nation State Law, a law with constitutional status that articulates
for Jews alone the right of self-determination, makes it a national priority to build homes for
Jews but not others, and revokes the status of Arabic as an official language of Israel. Israeli
authorities continued to narrow the space for criticism of its policies toward Palestinians,
denying entry into Israel of foreign nationals critical of Israeli policies. In May, Israel announced
it was revoking the work visa of a Human Rights Watch official based in Jerusalem, claiming
that he supported boycotts of Israel. Human Rights Watch, which takes no position on boycotts
of Israel but urges businesses to end their involvement in West Bank settlements, challenged the
revocation in a court case that as of early December was still pending. In May, Israeli police beat
Jafer Farah, head of Mossawa, an advocacy group for Palestinians, while in custody after
participating in a protest, breaking his leg.

Israel demolished homes of Palestinian Bedouin citizens who live in “unrecognized” villages in
the Negev claiming that their homes were built illegally, even though most of those villages
existed before the state of Israel was established or were created in the 1950s on land that Israel
moved them onto.

The Israeli government continued the policy described by the interior minister at the time of
making “miserable” the lives of the roughly 40,000 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers
present in the country who refused to depart. The government did so through restrictions on
movement, work permits, and access to health care. After the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees condemned Israel’s failure to properly process asylum claims, Israeli authorities in
January said they would indefinitely detain thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese men if they
refused to leave for Rwanda and Uganda. In March, the High Court confirmed that such a policy
would be illegal as neither Rwanda nor Uganda had agreed to receive deportees. In response,
Israel released all those detainees whom they were holding on the basis that they had refused
deportation.

Key International Actors

In May, the US moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which it declared the capital of
Israel, triggering Palestinian protests. The US slashed funding to the PA, though it allocated
US$60 million in nonlethal assistance to PA security forces, and $3.1 billion in military aid to
Israel for the 2018 fiscal year. In August, the US cut all funding to the United Nations Relief and

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Works Agency (UNRWA)—previously up to $350 million per year—which provides critical
services, including education and health care, to children in the West Bank and Gaza.

The European Union called on Israeli authorities not to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and to use
restraint in the Gaza protests.

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court Office is conducting a preliminary
examination into the situation in Palestine to determine whether the criteria have been met to
merit pursuing a formal investigation. In May, Palestinian authorities formally referred the
situation in Palestine to the court’s prosecutor.

The global tourism company Airbnb announced it would stop listing properties in Israeli
settlements in the occupied West Bank, as part of a new policy to bar listings that contribute to
“existing human suffering.”

The Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continued its work to establish a
database of businesses that have enabled or profited from settlements, which its due to publish
before the March 2019 UN Human Rights Council session.

The Location

You may be asking: Where is Palestine? What countries are neighbors to Palestine? Where is
Palestine located in the Middle East? What and where are the West Bank and Gaza?

Where Palestine is located

Palestine is an Arab country located in Asia on the eastern Mediterranean coast, which is known
also as the Levant. It is bordered by Jordan to the east, Lebanon to the north, and the Red Sea
and Sinai, Egypt to the south. In the west, the Mediterranean Sea acts as a bridge connecting

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Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Palestine is the heart of the Middle East

Palestine is located in the heart of the Middle East. This strategic position has made Palestine a
path and crossroads to the West for many travelers and a commercial interface for traders where
goods reached Palestine first and from there were passed on to Europe.

Palestine has a strategic location

Palestine has occupied an important and strategic position for invaders throughout history. Its
location has been ideal for the defense of invaders’ own areas in Egypt and Levant
countries (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan now) where it acted as a convenient locale for
battles necessary for defending a states’ interests from possible threats.

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Palestine is still divided

Palestine is divided into two areas: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.
Imagine the West Bank as an island with it bordering Jordan in the east. Gaza is a thin strip of
land bordered by the Mediterranean on its west and Egypt in the south and west.

Palestine was under the Jordanian administration

For nearly 20 years the West Bank, from 1948 until 1967, fell under the Jordanian
administration and authority. During this same period of time, Gaza fell under the authority and
administration of Egypt. In 1967 the Jordanian and Egyptian administrations were ended by the
Six Day War in 1967.

5 Things to know about the People of Palestine: When coming to Hebron, Palestine to
volunteer or intern with the Excellence Center – or for those coming to the West Bank,
Palestine on their own – international visitors will immediately be struck by a definitive culture
and identity that is representative of the Palestinian people.

Western media can frame it’s a profile of this distinct community often and only through the lens
of the political conflict with Israel. In fact, Palestinians possess a rich societal history and
exclusive personality that have been defining for generations. It can be argued that the strongest
part of the history of Palestine is its people.

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First Impression of Palestine: Arriving in Palestine might seem daunting at first; the whole
country is probably nearly opposite what you are accustomed to, but within a short time you will
fall in love with all of the things that make it different.

The way to Hebron from Tel Aviv to Hebron

The drive from Tel Aviv to Hebron is spectacular, and once you get close to Jerusalem you will
find yourself among steep, rocky rolling hills. The road to Hebron winds between hills and
valleys, passing olives groves and grape trees and little homes tucked away, speckling the hills as
far as you can see.

Driving in the streets in Hebron, Palestine

The city itself is beautiful, residing on and between several hills, the houses and shops are
connected by a web of steep and narrow streets. Once you learn to trust the taxi drivers who
manage to squeak between cars and effortlessly drive around tight corners and narrow streets,
you will be able to easily get around the city. Here, the cars seem to have an unwritten contract
of courtesy.

Cars honk in Hebron

They honk a lot (constantly), but always let other cars in or drive around the ones that have
stopped in the middle of the road to talk to a friend they’ve spotted. From the outside, it may
look slightly chaotic, but you will realize that traffic always seems to be moving here and the
cars and people share the space on the roads.

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As you walk down the street people will smile at you and you will constantly hear
“welcome”. Welcome to Hebron, welcome to Palestine! The people are always so happy to
see internationals visiting and enjoying their country and love to make everyone feel welcome.

Whitestone buildings in Hebron, Palestine

All of the white stone buildings wear uniform grunge that has collected over time.

The first impression of the Excellence Center

The Excellence Center sits on one of the main roads, on the second story. The atmosphere is
pleasant, people constantly chatting with each other and others coming in and out of the
classrooms. The kitchen is the heart of the Center, tea or Arabic coffee is always being made and
shared, and conversation always being exchanged in Arabic and English with enthusiasm.

Laura from Australia who is studying Arabic said, “My first impression is that Palestine is much
safer than it is portrayed. People here will help you out if you need anything and are very
hospitable!”

Former internationals impressions of Palestine

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“I’ve never seen such beautiful rolling hills before. The mix of greens and browns with a white
rock makes the land unique”, explains Justin from the USA who is Teaching English and
Studying Arabic. “My first impression of the people in Palestine was how polite they are, and
how kind they are to each other.

You don’t find them talking about their cars or watches, they are very down to earth people”. He
adds that you should know the call to prayer is sung out five times a day throughout the city on
loudspeakers. Once at sunrise, at noon, in the afternoon, at sundown and once in the evening. “It
is completely normal and something you will get used to, maybe even come to enjoy”.

Final Conclusions

Itzel from Mexico who is volunteering teaching English said her first impression was the familiar
hustle and bustle of the city “You have to learn how to cross the street by walking with purpose,
if you wait the cars will never stop for you to cross, you have to be careful and learn to walk out
on the street when there is a gap in the cars and the ones approaching will slow down or stop for
you to cross”.

At her host family Itzel said she is always being fed, “delicious food is always available, my host
family is always offering me something to eat!”. Give everything a try and if you are full make
sure to politely refuse. It may be a bit of a culture shock, but you will surely feel at home during
your stay in Hebron

With that in mind, here are 5 encompassing things to know about the People of Palestine

1. Welcoming

From your first moments Hebron and in the West Bank, in General, you will very likely be
created by hellos and waves as residents are readily pleased to have visitors and very prone to
say so. They will often cut to the chase: “Where are you from?” will be a recurring question.
They genuinely want to know.

This inquisitiveness is only the beginning, however as a wide variety of invitations will soon
follow. Whether it be into their shops for qahwah (coffee), onto a weekend bus bound for an epic
hike at Jericho, or to their offices in the volatile H2 section of Hebron to discuss human rights,
invitations from the community will come and at all levels of involvement.

As US volunteer Chris neared the end of his term with EC, Director Marwa Shantir invited him
to her coming Spring wedding with Center co-director Osama Abu Hussein. “We would love to
have you join us,” Marwa confided warmly.

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 2. Dignified

This is another trait that hits visitors to the West Bank immediately – a palpable sense of honor
and self-possession by the citizens, particularly the elders and the ambitious young women.
While visiting the famous Al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron in Fall of 2019, the
Excellence Center volunteers were introduced to a camp elder Afef Atasha – the first practicing
attorney from Al Fawwar – who presented the plight of his people and the request for tolerance
in a manner that had the volunteers riveted.

On that same visit, the volunteers were also introduced a group of young teenagers who
presented with a noted poise and grace. “They are quite something,” noted volunteer Yves from
Canada. And in carrying the recurring theme of impressive young women, an English language
workshop at Hebron University, taught by EC volunteers featured many women showcasing
their ambitions along with this dignity. The confidence displayed by West Bank elders, women
and citizens in general is something of clear distinction to those visiting the West Bank for the
first time.

3. Tolerant

“We have nothing against the people of Israel. The History of Palestine is that of Muslims,
Christians, and Jews living together.” A version of this refrain can be heard often by the citizens
of Palestine, particularly those who remember 1967 and before.

When in Hebron and the West Bank such thoughtful insistence is so recurring and emphatic as if
to set the record straight. While Western media is ready to portray a divisive sectarian

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population, it is the pervasive tolerance – both as an ideal and a practice – that is the real
takeaway from the Palestinian people.

4. Tech Savvy

Like everywhere else in the world today, smartphones abound in the West Bank, and it’s
particularly gratifying to see imams and schoolgirls alike punching away on their mobile screens.
What is more evident in Hebron as in other Palestinian cities is the dominant role social media
plays in telling and sharing stories. Whether it be a community hike to the famous Wadi Qelt or a
football match at the practice pitches near Hebron University, photos and comments fly around
faster than so many tour buses or soccer balls. In fact, by comparison, the local citizens in
Hebron are much more immediately dialed in than the Western counterparts volunteering at
Excellence Center.

This technical familiarity can play a much more important role, however, than simply
chronicling an afternoon’s recreation. Local NGO Human Rights Defenders through their
smartphone campaign the Capturing Occupation Camera Project seeks to highlight human
rights infractions specifically through this technology and access. Founder Badee Dwaik explains
the importance of this modern approach: “The camera is our gun. We use it to shoot the
Occupation.“

5. Memorable.

When you take all of the above and add a healthy dose of good humor along with almost tireless
perseverance in the face of ongoing systematic repression, the Palestinian community is one
you’ll remember long after your time here comes to an end. Whether it be the laughter and joy of

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 the children, or the shared concern of a community elder, You will be moved by the palpable
dignity and grace. You will learn from it. And more than the great Instagram posts of the Blue
Valley the Dead Sea and all the holy sites that abound, the experience of the Palestinian people
will stay with you.

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Being a Vegetarian or Vegan in Palestine: Is it Possible? If you have dietary restrictions or are
very picky-eater, traveling can pose some challenges. Depending on what part of the world you
travel to, finding foods that you are able to eat may one of your top concerns.

However, we don’t want this to be a concern in your decision to come to Palestine. In Palestine,
there are truly options for everyone. Particularly if you are vegetarian or vegan, we want to show
you just how many food options are available for you when you travel to the West Bank.

Food is central to Palestinian culture

Food is central to Palestinian culture. Friends and family typically gather around the table for a
shared meal and great conversation. Friendships grow in the presence of multiple cups of coffee,
tea, snacks, and sweets. All this to say, food is simply adored in Palestine. But note, it is possible
to eat vegetarian and vegan in Palestine.

There is a wide variety of fruits and vegetables available and in some Palestinian homes that you
visit, you will be served fresh cut fruits and/or vegetables. Sliced apples and oranges are
common staples. You may also be served a blend of nuts and seeds or dried fruit when you visit
with your host family or the homes of Palestinian friends that you make.

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Breakfasts in Palestine typically include vegetarian and vegan options including, tomatoes,
cucumbers, hummus, olive oil and za’atar, jam, pita bread, and tea. Falafel can also be found
served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. These are all filling and healthy options for vegetarian and
vegan traveling to Palestine.

Dishes, vegetarians, and vegans

There are also many traditional Palestinian meals that include some combination of rice, meat,
and/or vegetables. For these dishes, vegetarians and vegans can opt for no meat and enjoy the
rice and vegetable combination.

It may be more difficult for vegans to avoid dairy and eggs, but it is not impossible. Simply ask
what the ingredients are in the food that you are served and make adjustments if the dish contains
animal products. Plus, pita bread is usually served with every meal, which is a vegan and
vegetarian-friendly item.

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Cook on your own

To cook on your own, you won’t have any issues finding a market that sells loads of fresh
produce, legumes, rice, and grains that will fit within your dietary restrictions. Therefore, if you
have concerns about dietary restrictions when coming to Palestine, you do not need to worry.

vegetarian and vegan meal options in Palestine

We hope that in sharing some of the common vegetarian and vegan meal options in Palestine,
some of your doubts were put to rest. Though pita bread is offered during most meals, people
who are gluten-free can get around rather well in Palestine as well.

So, to answer the question: Is it possible to be a vegetarian for a vegan in Palestine? The
answer is yes. It is possible. Palestine has plenty of plant-based foods for you to enjoy.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact at [email protected]

For more information, please visit our website: https://excellencenter.org/

Traveling Around Palestine and Israel

As volunteers, students and participants at the Excellence Center, you can travel freely around
Palestine and Israel. All EC participants will get two days off each week, and you can usually
plan trips with other internationals to neighboring cities like Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Tel
Aviv, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ako, and Bethlehem.

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 Sometimes when traveling with Palestinians, challenges arise because of the restrictions placed
on them by Israelis. For example, it may be hard for you to go to Jerusalem with Palestinians
because of their restrictions in movement and entry there.

You do not need to get two visas to travel around Palestine and Israel

When traveling to Israel, a lot of people from the Americas, Europe, and Australia don’t need to
fill out any kind of form, and can simply receive a tourist visa when they arrive in Israel. The
visa that internationals receive upon arrival to Israel is all they need to travel to or around
Palestine as well.

Potential volunteers from other countries in Africa and Asia might have to fill out a tourist visa
application for their time in Hebron. Volunteers might receive extra questions at customs about
their intentions, but don’t worry. Be clear and honest about what you are doing at the Excellence
Center and your entry will be granted.

Transportation System in Palestine

Traveling around the West Bank is surprisingly easy. One big reason is that distances in the
region are quite short. For example, getting from Jerusalem to Hebron, the Southern West Bank
takes around one hour. There are plenty of private transportation options and public
transport runs regularly.

The most common way of traveling from one city to another is to use a service. The servees are
shared taxis. There’s no need to book them in advance as they leave when they’re full. You can
either take one at the bus station in Hebron or hail it on the street. Inter-city prices are quite low
by European standards – a trip from Hebron to Bethlehem costs around only 9 shekels.

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Traveling around Palestine is inexpensive

Traveling around Palestine is very inexpensive. Going as a group and taking a shared taxi or bus
service is probably the easiest and least expensive experience. For example, a trip to Bethlehem
for a day visit by a shared taxi will run around 50 shekels – about $13. Traveling within Hebron
and buying food and gifts is relatively inexpensive as well. For visiting sites like the Old City
and the Ibrahimi Mosque, make sure you get a local to tell you what the approximate prices
should be.

Traveling to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv from Hebron

Traveling to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv from Hebron or the Excellence Center is also relatively easy,
it takes around an hour to Jerusalem and two and a half hours to Tel Aviv. Many of our
volunteers. students and participants spend their weekends in these cities.

Don’t be afraid to travel around Palestine and Israel

Don’t be afraid to travel by yourselves around Palestine and Israel, as in a group of international
volunteers. The people in Palestine are always willing – often eager – to help visitors from other
countries get to where they need to go.

Jennifer from the USA remarked “I get lost very easily, but I just ask a local to point me in the
right direction or ask about how I would get to a certain area. Some people will go as far as
inviting (or taking) you to their homes for a meal.”

Traveling as a woman to Palestine

“As for what comes to traveling as a woman I felt much safer than for example in Latin
America. Hebron is a conservative city, which means there is a certain culture of respect towards
women. Sure I have heard occasional whistles after me but that’s about it”

Maps on your Phone

Download maps to your phone from sites such as maps.me. When you arrive, it’s likely that you
won’t have internet access except where you are lucky enough to find free Wi-Fi hotspots. If you
take your SIM card with you from home, you may be able to connect to the internet, but only at
high international roaming rates and the coverage may be spotty at best. If you research and
download maps, you’ll be prepared to use the application when you’re offline in the West Bank.

With people as friendly as Palestinians, prices which are super cheap, and the general freedom to
move around .

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 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Uday Dokras

About the Author Dr Uday Dokras

The author has worked for 30 years in the human resources arena in India and abroad. He
was Group Vice -President of MZI Group in New Delhi and has anchored Human
Relations in Go Air and Hotel Holiday Inn;was General Manager-Health Human
Resources at the Lata Mangeshkar Hospital amd Medical college. Is currently Consultant
to Gorewada International Zoo,Nagpur and visiting Faculty at the Central Institute of
Business Management and Research, Nagpur.

In Sweden he anchored HR in Stadbolaget RENIA, SSSB and advisor to a multi

millionaire. He has studied in Nagpur, India where he obtained degrees of Bachelor of
Science, Bachelor of Arts(Managerial Economics) and Bachelor of Laws. He has done
his Graduate Studies in labour laws from Canada at the Queen's University, Kingston; a
MBA from USA, and Doctorate from Stockholm University, Sweden. Apart from that he
has done a Management Training Program in Singapore.

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A scholar of the Swedish Institute, he has been an Edvard Cassel Fund and Wineroth
Fund Awardee.A scholar for the Swedish Institute for 5 years.
In 1984 he was involved with the Comparative Labour Law Project of the University of
California, Los Angeles, U.S.A. He was also visiting lecturer there. In 1985 he was
invited by the President of Seychelles to do a study of the efficacy of the labour laws of
Seychelles.

Author of a book on a Swedish human resource law, his brief life sketch is part of the
English study text book of 7 th Class Students in Sweden -“Studying English.
SPOTLIGHT 7”- and 8th Class students in Iceland - “SPOTLIGHT 8- Lausnir.”

BOOKS written by Dr Uday

1. Act on Co-determination at work-an efficacy study - 1990

Doctoral thesis published by Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm,Sweden
This is a first of a kind empirical study of both employees and business owners reactions
of how efficiently a labour law was functioning in a country(Sweden).Adorns Stanford
and Harvard University Libraries and granted Copyright by the Library of Congress,USA
in 1990.
2. Health Human Resource Management- 2006
A to Z of the Management of health workers starting from recruitment to training,
development and enhancing their efficacy. Good book for all health care institutions as
well as medical and nursing staff and students.
3. Theme Park Human Resource Engineering- 2007
How the workers in theme parks deal with a complex environment and need to be
managed in order to being out superior delivery of customer focused services helping in
more footfalls at the same time not compromising on safety.
4. Project Human Resource Management- 2008
Projects are cumbersome and their success rests not on the material but on the men who
move it. Book deals with management ideas to spur project workers and staff to greater
delivery parameters.
5. Creativity and Architecture -2009
Co-authored with Srishti Dokras, examines the parameters of creativity and how it will
raise design quotients.
6. Diffusion – Management and Design- 2009
Co-authored with Karan Dokras deals with a new and little known subject of Diffusion
or how predator ideas enhance own value in a market where dominant players call the
shots.
7. Hindu Temples of Bharat,Cambodia and Bali- 2020
Enigmatic designs, huge structures, massive projects all done before the invention of
cranes or bulldozers- the how and why of temples in Bharat,Nagpur,and the Far East.
Biggest and most comprehensive book on the subject -452 pages.
8. Win Diet 2020
Diets and fads come and go but not this one-A diet and exercise plan that will help you to
win over obesity,unhealthy lifestyles and make a dynamic YOU .Written by a 68 year old
who has been diagnosed with a 26 year old’s heart.
9. Celestial Mysteries of the Borobudur Temple of Java- 2020
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 This amazing biggest in the world Buddhist temple was built with technology and ideas
from India 1500 years ago using fractal geometry, Algorithms, Hindu temple technology
and archeoastronomy. Read HOW it was done.
10. LOTUS the Celestial Flower
11.Light house at Alexandria
12. Lighthouses in words and Pictures
13.Vayu- Man’s taming of the Winds
14. My Best Foot Forward- story of the Footware Industry in India
15.16,17… DEVARAJA- TRILOGY. The Celestial King and the Mysteries of South
Asian Hindu Temples -3 Volumes 1200 pages
18. VARDHAMAN- Jainism- for not the layman
19. ATIVIR- The saga of Vardhaman the Prince and Mahavir the Saint.
20. Hindu Temple Architecture-Panorama being the consolidated papers written by
the author and published on line in academia.edu & researchgete.net.
21.Tamil Mercantile Traders of ancient times
22.Randevous with Ram
23. T2- Temple Tech
24. Vedic Gods of Scandinavia
25. Design your Destiny
26. Chidambaram Temple

RESEARCH PAPERS-220 + in Researchgate and academia.edu & scribd

Followers(readers) 65,000 consolidated as on 26 th September,2020.

Authors-DR Uday DOKRAS

Dr. Uday Dokras

B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), LL.B., Nagpur University, India

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 Certificat'e en Droit, Queen’s University. Ontario, Canada,
MBA, CALSTATE,Los-Angeles, USA,
Ph.D. Stockholm University, Sweden,Management and Efficacy
Consultant, India

Reviews of the Book PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The authors highlight the benefits of paying attention to human resources and offer success and
failure factors guideline for a variety of potential practitioners and students in global project
marketplace.
Ms.Ylva Arnold, Head HR- Norstedts Publishers, Stockholm SWEDEN

240
From the Newspaper Times of India March
24, 2018

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Iceland Sweden both countries use the English Text SPOTLIGHT-one of the lessons in
which is about Dr Uday Dokras

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Prof. S.Deshpande,President of the Indian Instituye of Architects, New Delhi INDIA
releasing the book of Dr Dokras HINDU TEMPLES on the web in CARONA
gimes( May 2010)

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 Pre Publication-R E V I E WS
This collection of essays and articles are in fact semi classical”papers” that have been published
before ( most of them) and this compilation does justice to the originals as they have been re-
edited and spruced up- so to say. The articles are not homogenous and take us to various
geographies to describe the creations there. In fact, creativity is the forte of these places and
Srishti describes the wonderous creations as well as underlines the creative element. Today’s
architecture are racially, ethnically, and economically diverse, with as many creative superlatives
as the ancient ones.

The history of Hindu Temples spans centuries and centuries. How they spread to all corners of
the world is a mystery the authors choose to unravel. Today’s architecture is fertile ground for
utopian planning, communal living, socially-conscious design, and integrated housing. And yet
we have forgotten that our ancestors built “suburbs” like the Ajanta and Ellora or that the design
of Rama’s AYODHYA inspired creation of cities in Cambodia and Indonesia. Yes that far away.
Makes you think!

See Angkor Vat and you will see Rama in his Ayodhya or Ravana in his Lanka. That is motive
behind this effort and even though it is distilled clrarly, the creations stand out in the writings and
Hindu Temple Architecture gets illuminated with creativity.

Ann Järvinen-Head Librarian

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STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY,STOCKHOLM,-SWEDEN

Some of my books

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 Palestine my Love

Dr.UDAY DOKRAS
A land that deserves a BOOK and many and -much more.

READ it- O Reader and smile that the Devil cannot destroy the Angels that inhabit this land they call
Palestine.

With 500contemporary and historical pictures. This book describes this amazing country Palestine- I
love. Its resilient people who smile and laugh in spite of the challenges and travails faced by them. It
CELEBRATES them. It celebrates our Humanity.

“Wonderful writing”- Ylva Arnold,Former head of human resources THE ROYAL SWEDISH OPERA

“Nothing like this written before on this wonderful community-Opens your fist and clenches it”- Mikko
Martikaines,Police Inspector, Tampere,FINLAND

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