The following is a deceptive map depicting Palestinian lands lost to Israel:
This map is deceptive because it begins with a false premise, that is all the land initially belonged to the Palestinians. This is false. First of all, the land previously belonged to the Ottoman Turks. Secondly, there is not a distinct ethnic people with a distinct language known as the Palestinians.
Palestine was originally known as the land of Judea by the Romans. After a series of Jewish revolts against Rome, Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed the land "Palestine" (Philistia) around 135 AD, after the Jews ancestral enemies the Philistines, and the name stuck. The idea was to disconnect the land from the Jews. The Roman coin below commemorates the Roman victory with the words "Judea Capta" meaning "[the land of Judea] is captured."
Fast forward several centuries later and the region is now under the control of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923). During this time Palestine was a backwater province in the Ottoman Empire, it was not an ethnic people. Arab people did not widely adopt the name "Palestine" until the 20th century. Prior, even Jews were known as Palestinians. Jews in the area used the name Palestine for their symphonies, newspapers and other enterprises. There was the Palestine Post (later the Jerusalem Post), the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, the Palestine Electric Company, the Palestine Potash Company and others. Arabs in the region were referred to as Arabs not Palestinians. Only in the 1960's did the name become associated with the Arabs in the region due to the influence of the PLO and Yasser Arafat.
The Ottoman Turks sided with the Central Powers during World War 1 and lost. It then came under British control. The British and French are responsible for the nation states in the middle-east that we see today. Prior to this, there were no nation states. The British gave up their control on May 14, 1948, the day Israel declared independence, it essentially became up for grabs at that point. Israel had previously accepted a UN Resolution to partition the land, the Arabs rejected it and went to war. To everyone's surprise, Israel won. Note at this point Egypt annexed Gaza, and Jordan annexed the West Bank.
Following the 1967 war Israel did gain control over Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Israel's justification for keeping these territories was to act as buffer zones against future attacks, and to deter further aggression so that the Arabs could not start wars without impunity, but losing would cost them something.
Israel has since given away land for peace. Since the 1967 Six-Day War Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1979. Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000, and from Gaza in 2005. Israel was planning to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank as well, but that was cut short by unrelenting rocket attacks following the Gaza withdraw. Jordan has since renounced their claims to the West Bank in 1988, and Egypt renounced claims to Gaza in 1979.
And what of lands Israel has lost? The original British Mandate included all of Israel and Jordan (then called Trans-Jordan) as a Jewish state. Arabs complained so this was cut in two, 77% percent went to the Hashemites. Note that Trans-Jordan was created to absorb Arab refugees from the defunct Palestine province and today they make up over 70% of Jordan's population. Arabs complained again and the Jews were left with just 13% of the original British Mandate. Most of this was land nobody wanted, such as swamps and desserts. Jews were the majority in the land allotted to them under the U.N. Partition Plan 181.
The Truth is there is one Jewish state and 22 Arab states.
This map is deceptive because it begins with a false premise, that is all the land initially belonged to the Palestinians. This is false. First of all, the land previously belonged to the Ottoman Turks. Secondly, there is not a distinct ethnic people with a distinct language known as the Palestinians.
Palestine was originally known as the land of Judea by the Romans. After a series of Jewish revolts against Rome, Roman Emperor Hadrian renamed the land "Palestine" (Philistia) around 135 AD, after the Jews ancestral enemies the Philistines, and the name stuck. The idea was to disconnect the land from the Jews. The Roman coin below commemorates the Roman victory with the words "Judea Capta" meaning "[the land of Judea] is captured."
Fast forward several centuries later and the region is now under the control of the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923). During this time Palestine was a backwater province in the Ottoman Empire, it was not an ethnic people. Arab people did not widely adopt the name "Palestine" until the 20th century. Prior, even Jews were known as Palestinians. Jews in the area used the name Palestine for their symphonies, newspapers and other enterprises. There was the Palestine Post (later the Jerusalem Post), the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, the Palestine Electric Company, the Palestine Potash Company and others. Arabs in the region were referred to as Arabs not Palestinians. Only in the 1960's did the name become associated with the Arabs in the region due to the influence of the PLO and Yasser Arafat.
The Ottoman Turks sided with the Central Powers during World War 1 and lost. It then came under British control. The British and French are responsible for the nation states in the middle-east that we see today. Prior to this, there were no nation states. The British gave up their control on May 14, 1948, the day Israel declared independence, it essentially became up for grabs at that point. Israel had previously accepted a UN Resolution to partition the land, the Arabs rejected it and went to war. To everyone's surprise, Israel won. Note at this point Egypt annexed Gaza, and Jordan annexed the West Bank.
Following the 1967 war Israel did gain control over Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Israel's justification for keeping these territories was to act as buffer zones against future attacks, and to deter further aggression so that the Arabs could not start wars without impunity, but losing would cost them something.
Israel has since given away land for peace. Since the 1967 Six-Day War Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1979. Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000, and from Gaza in 2005. Israel was planning to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank as well, but that was cut short by unrelenting rocket attacks following the Gaza withdraw. Jordan has since renounced their claims to the West Bank in 1988, and Egypt renounced claims to Gaza in 1979.
And what of lands Israel has lost? The original British Mandate included all of Israel and Jordan (then called Trans-Jordan) as a Jewish state. Arabs complained so this was cut in two, 77% percent went to the Hashemites. Note that Trans-Jordan was created to absorb Arab refugees from the defunct Palestine province and today they make up over 70% of Jordan's population. Arabs complained again and the Jews were left with just 13% of the original British Mandate. Most of this was land nobody wanted, such as swamps and desserts. Jews were the majority in the land allotted to them under the U.N. Partition Plan 181.
The Truth is there is one Jewish state and 22 Arab states.
