The Palestinian Myth : How History is Being Rewritten to Erase Israel is a very well written piece of investigative journalism that should be required reading for every college student studying history, journalism, political science, sociology, and anyone interested in the history of the Middle East.
The real history of the myth takes us back to the time of the Roman occupation of Judea. The Bar Kochba revolt was an attempt to end Rome’s occupation but it failed, and the Romans renamed Judea Syria Palaestina as a means of cultural suppression and political control aiming to diminish Jewish identity and assert Roman authority in the region. In effect, the “palestinians” are attempting to do exactly the same thing, two thousand years later.
It is interesting that the name “Palestine” as applied to the region has only occurred twice in history. The first time, as we have just mentioned, occurred when Rome was the occupying force. The second time happened after World War I, when the League of Nations awarded Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine (Sept. 29, 1923 to May 15, 1948) during which Britain occupied the region.
Prior to Sept. 1923, the name “Palestine” was rarely used to refer to the region. In Mark Twain’s 1869 travelogue, The Innocents Abroad he never describes inhabitants of the region as “palestinians.” During the mandate period, only Jews referred to themselves as “palestinians.” After Israel’s declaration of independence, Jews became Israelis and such institutions as “The Palestine Post,” became “The Jerusalem Post;” “The Palestine Philharmonic” became the “Israel Philharmonic.” The name change was adopted almost overnight.
When I lived in Israel in 1974, I did not meet a single Arab who referred to themself as “palestinian.” The adoption of this term by the Arab community did not become common place until after 1967, when Yasser Arafat invented “Palestine” (at the instigation
of Moscow).