When Arabs Became Palestinians

Although Arabs in small numbers had lived in Palestine for centuries with prosperous elite families concentrated in Jerusalem, there were no signs of an Arab national identity before World War I. Ironically, budding signs of Jewish nationalism—identified as Zionism—were its primary stimulus. But it took time.

Shortly before the State of Israel was born, Arab historian Philip Hitti stated: “There is no such thing as Palestine in history, absolutely not.” Without Palestine, there could not be Palestinians.

Not until Israel defeated and humiliated Arab countries in the Six-Day War (June 1967), ending Jordanian control over West Bank Arabs, did a distinctive Palestinian identity begin to emerge. Why was it, wondered author Walid Shoebat of Bethlehem, “that on June 4, 1967, I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian.”

Even PLO military commander Zuhair Muhsin acknowledged: “There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation.”

The vision of a Palestinian state, he recognized, was merely “a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel.”

Without a history of their own, Palestinians plundered Jewish history to define themselves. The ancient Canaanites were identified as the original “Palestinians.” So, too, were Jebusites, the biblical inhabitants of Jerusalem. Based on these fanciful claims an imaginary “Palestinian” history of 5,000 years was implanted in the Land of Israel.