Chronicling Palestine
This famous scene from the north wall of Medinet Habu is often used to illustrate the Egyptian campaign against the Sea Peoples in what has come to be known as the Battle of the Delta. Whilst accompanying hieroglyphs do not name Egypt’s enemies, describing them simply as being from “northern countries”, early scholars noted the similarities between the hairstyles and accessories worn by the combatants and other reliefs in which such groups are named.
The word “Palestine” is derived from the word “Pali” used by the Egyptians to describe the invaders who came from the North, possibly from the Black Sea, and invaded coastal areas of the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).
These Pali have come down to western culture through the hebrew bible where they are called “Philistines.” Judea and Israel, the Jewish kingdoms formed by war with the indigenous Canaani cultures, at their greatest extent replaced the Canaani as the peoples of the inner lands, the mountains and Jordan valley. The Hebrews never conquered the Pali but a diversity of peoples, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians Greeks, Assyrians, and Romans ruled the coast areas depending in who had more military and naval power. The Pali or Philistines as a distinct people disappeared from history about 3000 years ago.
In Arabic the word for “Palestine ” is still فلسطين “filastin.”
In Hebrew the word for a “Palestinian” is פלסטיני “filostini.”
(from Amazon) With the rigorous scholarship … Edward W. Said traces the fatal collision between two peoples in the Middle East and its repercussions in the lives of both the occupier and the occupied–as well as in the conscience of the West. He has updated this landmark work to portray the changed status of Palestine and its people in light of such developments as the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the intifada, the Gulf War, and the ongoing MIddle East peace initiative. For anyone interested in this region and its future, The Question of Palestine remains the most useful and authoritative account available.
The word “Palestine” as name for a place comes in part from the Greeks but officially that name became important under the Romans when, after their destruction of Judea and Jerusalem in 70 AD, they called the province “Palestine.” This continued under Rome until the caliph Umar. Umar was the first Muslim leader to expand the Islamic empire to non-Arabian regions. Umar’s conquest of Jerusalem in 637 was famously peaceful, leaving intact the Christian holy sites and permitting Jews to reenter the city and settle near the Western Wall.
Umar’s conquest signified the dramatic shift of Jerusalem from a Christian-dominated city to a part of the Islamic empire. The claim of Islam was reinforced by Umar’s clearing of the Temple Mount to build a rough-hewn wooden mosque on the spot, a precursor to Al Aqsa Mosque. As Islam spread, arab culture came to be dominant and the population of Palestine became largely arabs.
The of distinct peoples within the arab identity is not foreign because the Prophet knew all to well that there were Arab tribes. However, he beleived that tribal identities could be submerged within muslim identity. . Under the caliphs, nationality was subsumed into the umma ,a global community of Muslims that supercedes nationality or ethnicity. Umar insisted that all peoples could maintain their ethnicity and all religions (except the pagans) could govern themselves. There was no “Palestinian” ethic group within the arab world or later within the muslim world under the Ottoman caliphs. Individidul nations, as was the rule in Europe , were not recognized.
This idea of an umma was interrupted. The Crusaders when they conquered Jerusalem and set up “The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem” under Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 after the First Crusade. In the that era the only “Palestinians” were French and German subjects of the not so holy “Roman Empire.” The Crusader Kingdom was bloody and intolerant fo any religion other than Catholic Church. Certainly there were muslims and Jews, but no “Palestinians” other than those who spoke French and German.
The crusader rule lasted until the conquest of Jerusalem by the army of Saladin, a Kurd, in 1187. Later Palestine became part of the Ottoman empire. Under the Ottoman Palestine was one of many areas with the province of Syria.
The modern idea of a distinct nationality in Palestine first began as a Zionist idea. Accepting the idea of
people able to live within the Ottoman Umma, Jews emigrated to Palestine in the mid 1800s. The caliphate allowed them to self govern as a Jewish community and they came to be called Palestinians. The Zionists, even before the idea of a Jewish state, promoted immigration to Palestine and Jews living with that area of the Orroman rule were called Palestinians.
This is so much true that by WWII, Palestinian Jews fighting for Great Britain were called “Her majesty’s 
Palestinian Brigade.” Toward thge end of the WWII, three Palestinian women parachuted behind Nazi lines to help organize the underground resistance since these women, as refugees, spoke native languages of Eastern Europe. All three were caught and executed by the Nazis. One of these was Havivah Reich. My daughter is named for Havivah Reich and today in Israel a school in Reich, the Givat Havivah, honopr teaches Arab and Jewish Israelis together.
Palestine passports were travel documents issued by British authorities in Mandatory Palestine to all residents of the British mandate between 1925 and 1948. These were held by Jews, Arabs and others but, prior to 48, especially by Jews who were otherwise stateless because of refugee status from Europe or from Arab countries. These pople could receive a provisional Certificate of Palestinian Nationality provided they were born in Palestine, their father was born in Palestine, or they were an “ex-Russian subject who compulsorily acquired Ottoman nationality in Palestine during the world wars. This does not say that tribal identities or national identities dis not exist within the Arab world. Edward Said described these very well and makes the case that the arabs of Palestine had as much identity, if not a name, as the Lebanese, Iraqui, Saudi etc nationalities forged into states by the Brits and French. Jordan is especially relevant because this country was created by the Brits as a favor to a Saudi royal. Its people are of the same tribal or local identity as the Arabs west of the river. In deed in 48, when the Arab states invaded Palestine, the intent was to absorb that are ino what was then called the country of Transjordan and have King Abdullah rule it all as one, arab, state. That ended in 1963 when Israel drove Jordan out and occupied the West Bank.
The struggle to establish a Palestinian Arab people began as a reaction to the establishment oif Israel as a Jewish state in 1948 by the United Nations.
This history is well told by Edward Said, the Palestinian historian. He makes the point that, regardless of what they were called, Arabs living in Palestine have a long history of tribal identity and resistance to occupation by Europeans, Turk and Saudis. I RECOMMEND HIS BOOKS!
As a more immediate and up to date source, Al Jazzera has a a six-part series beginning with the creation of the PLO. The PLO was formed in 1963 in reaction to the massive defeat of the Arabs who tried to destroy Israel in 1963. Nasser recruited Arafat, an Egyptian citizen, to form the PLO since Israel had shown that any defeat of the Jewish state would require a long war of attrition. Nasser was correct. All efforts at creating peace by some form of two state solution have so far failed .. caught in the divide between Israelk’s indecurity and the Palestinina need for sef determination.
None of this gainsays the reality that a Palestinian people, an Arab people, have been forged in the fires of war and resistance over the last 50 years. From Israeli and Jewish point of view, this fight has been one of survival of the Jewish people, from the Palestinian point of view the fight has been the establishment of their people as nation in its own right. After the Israeli victory in 1973, the conflict hightened as Israel undertook to physically separating itself from the Palestians by occupying the conquered errioriesafreed form the Egyptians and Jordnankknas and eventiually buildingf a wall.
Where Edward Said described the historical roots of that struggle, Al Jazeera does a great job of chronically the struggle since Yasser Arrafat founded the PLO in 1963.
from Al Jazeera:
Episode 1: Masters of Their Own Destiny
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In 1964, Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Egyptian president, convened the first Arab summit. His aim was to lead an Arab response to the state of Israel. The Arab leaders voted to set up a body to organise the Palestinians in their diaspora.
Ahmad al-Shuqairy, a Palestinian diplomat, was chosen to head the newly-formed body. Al-Shuqairy wanted an organisation that would not just kowtow to Arab regimes.
Four months later, he convened the first Palestinian parliament in Jerusalem. There the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organisation was officially announced.
Episode 2: Black September
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In the aftermath of Arab defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War, Palestinian guerrilla factions consolidated their grip on the refugee camps in the Arab world.
In 1969, Fatah leader Yasser Arafat was elected chairman of the PLO, marking a new era in which the guerrillas overthrew the traditional hold of more established Palestinian families.
In Jordan, armed Palestinians had set up a state within a state, but Jordan’s King Hussein’s patience with the Palestinians was wearing thin.
The Jordanian army was deployed to the streets and vicious street battles soon erupted between Jordanian soldiers and Palestinian guerrillas.
Episode 3: The Winds of Heaven
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In 1974, the PLO was named the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and Yasser Arafat received a standing ovation at the General Assembly of the UN.
But another Arab country was to be the stage for the next chapter of the Palestinian tragedy.
After its expulsion from Jordan, the PLO had moved its headquarters to the Lebanese capital, Beirut. In April 1975, civil war broke out in Lebanon.
In 1982, Israel launched an invasion of Lebanon and Palestinian forces quickly collapsed and the PLO was driven out of Beirut. After more than 10 years in Lebanon, it was the end of an era.
Episode 4: The Great Survivor
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Yasser Arafat soon found himself engaged in a fratricidal fight for control of the PLO – and for his life.
In July 1983, fighting broke out in Lebanon between pro- and anti-Arafat forces.
In a daring air and sea journey from his new headquarters in Tunisia, Arafat managed to slip into Lebanon in disguise to join his fighters.
The Syrian-backed Amal militia and anti-Arafat factions besieged the Palestinian camps in Beirut and southern Lebanon in an on-and-off onslaught that would last three years and become known as the Camps War.
Episode 5: Intifada
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By 1987, national unity had become the slogan of the time. That unity was about to get a huge boost from an unexpected place.
In December 1987, in Gaza an Israeli driver killed four Palestinian labourers and wounded nine when his car ran off the road. The Israelis called it an accident. The Palestinians said it was premeditated murder.
The incident sparked an outbreak of Palestinian protests that spread like wildfire throughout the Occupied Territories.
The Intifada – or uprising – was born.
Episode 6: Death and Decline
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There was a promise of a new world order in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War. Negotiations resumed, which would lead to a historic return to their homeland for the PLO leadership.
But the challenges of nation-building proved overwhelming and new political forces were emerging within Palestinian society that would threaten the role and the relevance of the PLO.
In spring 2002, Israeli forces surrounded Arafat’s headquarters. Arafat held out until October, when he was struck down by a mystery illness and eventually died in a Paris hospital.