Correction for commenter Mr. Jens Bay.

Submitted by Ron McGail (United States), Nov 20, 2002 at 15:23

The term "Philistines" has nothing to do with the "Palestinians" of today. Philistines were people of Greek decent, not Semites. Those people disappeared from the face of the earth a long time ago...

Palestine was the name given to Judea by Romans after defeating Jews 2,000 years ago. They even tried to rename Jerusalem, but the name didn't stick.

Prior to the 6 Day- War, the Arabs of Palestine NEVER called themselves Palestinians, but ARABS. In fact the name was used EXCLUSIVELY by Jews. They used the term in newspapers, books and songs! Since the establishment of the state of Israel, Jews started to call themselves Israelis.

The PLO, which was created in 1964, before any territories were in Israel's hands, adapted the name for propaganda purposes. Frankly it was an ingenious move, because it created an impression of "native" population like "Indians" in America. In fact those Arabs came with a wave of Jewish immigration from the beginning of the 20th century, for economic reasons. Prior to Jewish immigration, the land was mostly desert...

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