What’s in a Name?

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Hebrew Word of the Day mischak(game) Hear Translation » December 16, 2011 “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. … And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.” — Exodus 6:7-8 Untangling the web of confusion and misconceptions concerning claims to the land of Israel can be challenging. For example, I am often asked whether Israel hasn’t always been an Arab land. I believe this misconception comes from the name given to this land during ancient times, Palestine. First, let’s tackle the term Palestine. Many trace it to the Philistines — or Sea People as they were called — a non-Semitic, non-Arab people who settled in the twelfth century B.C.E. along the Mediterranean coast of what is now the Gaza Strip. The Philistines, if you recall, were a perennial thorn in the side of the Israelites from the time of Joshua until King David finally defeated them. Later, in the second century C.E. after crushing the last Jewish revolt, Israel’s Roman conquerors applied the name Palestinia to Judea, the southern portion of what is now called the West Bank. They hoped to minimize the Jews’ identification with Israel, so they resurrected and transplanted the term Palestine. Now, even though Arabic gradually became the primary language of the population after the Muslim invasions of the seventh century, Palestine was never exclusively Arab. In fact, what many people don’t realize is that no independent Arab or Palestinian state has ever existed in the Middle East. Prior to the formation of the State of Israel, Palestinian Arabs did not even view themselves as having a separate identity. Palestinian nationalism is a relatively recent phenomenon and did not become a significant political movement until after the Six Day War in 1967. Beyond this historical documentation, we can point to a much greater authority on this subject — God. Throughout the Hebrew Bible (what Christians refer to as the Old Testament), God reiterates His promise to the people of Israel: “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. … And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession” (Exodus 6:7-8). Throughout the centuries of upheaval that have followed, the exiles and the Diaspora, the Jewish people have clung to that promise. Communities of Jews have managed to survive in Israel through the years. And despite repeated threats to wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth and deny Israel’s right to exist, God’s people will continue to defend their historical and biblical connection to this land. It is my constant and heartfelt prayer that our Christian friends will join us in supporting Israel and the Jewish people and help us disseminate the truth. Visit our website today and register your support for Israel. With prayers for shalom, peace, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein President