How Palestine came into existence
The word “Palestine” is thought to be derived from the Philistines who once ruled this region. When Rome crushed a Jewish revolt in 132 CE, the area of Judea was renamed Palestina to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The Israelites arrived in Canaan in approximately 1400 B.C.E. or over 1,000 years before it was known as Palestina.
The original Philistines for whom the land was named
The original Philistines, for whom the land of Palestine was named, were a civilization known for being voyagers who migrated to the Holy Land in the twelfth century BCE. They were not Arab. They were of Greek origin. They built five city-states: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. The current Palestinian people are not related to the original inhabitants of Gaza or what is called, Palestine. They have no long-standing historical claim to the lands of Israel.
The time in which the Arabs began to dwell in Palestine.
The Arab inhabitation of Palestine took place during the Ottoman invasion and occupation that started in 1516 CE. This means the presence of the Jewish people in the land of Israel preceded the arrival of the Arab inhabitants by about 3,000 years. The idea that Israelis are occupiers of the lands belonging to the Palestinian people is not supported by history. The Israeli people are not occupiers of the lands of the Palestinian people. They were given this land by God (Hashem) and are the rightful owners of this land. Even when the Jews were exiled from Israel, a portion of the Jewish population remained in Israel. Jerusalem has been the continuous spiritual, religious, and national center for the Jewish people for over 3,000 years.
The Great Battle between the Philistines and Israel
There have been other battles involving Israel and what we call the Gaza Strip. The prophet Samuel describes a battle with this region under King Saul. I Samuel chapter 17 reports that the armies of the Philistines gathered for battle against King Saul, (I Sam. 17:1-2). They sent out a giant warrior named Goliath to intimidate the army of King Saul. He stood about nine feet tall. He challenged Israel to send out their best warrior to fight him. He came out daily for 40 days to defy and challenge the army of Israel, (vs-10,16). Goliath was their strongman and the face of their armies. According to the tradition of the time, the winner of such a fight between Goliath and the Israeli warrior would win the war. The loser’s army would become servants to the winner’s army.
Yahya Sinwar, who is the terrorist leader of the armies in Gaza, is the face of Hamas in Gaza just as Goliath was the face of the Philistine army. Sinwar has urged Arabs living in Israel to kill Israelis and called for a regional war. He is the Goliath of the Gaza strip. He may not be nine feet tall in stature, but he is nine feet tall in the eyes of his follow terrorists. He is the mastermind of the October 7thattack on the Jewish communities near Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,200 Jewish people, the murder of innocent civilians, along with forty babies who were beheaded.
Currently, Hamas soldiers are beginning to surrender as Israel’s army (IDF) closes in on the southern region of Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu has declared the end of the war is coming and that the Hamas soldiers do not have to die for Sinwar. Instead, they can surrender. As in the biblical story of David and Goliath, the elimination of Sinwar will cause his army, made up of multiple terrorist organizations, to flee or surrender.
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