Someone on Facebook asked me to define the terms Jew, Hebrew, Israeli, Zionist and Palestinian.
Here are my answers:
Israeli means a citizen of Israel. Anyone .. any religion or ethnicity can be an Israeli.
Jew or Hebrew are synonyms and they mean being a member of the Jewish people. To be a Jew (or a Hebrew) means either being born Jewish or becoming Jewish by following procedure’s outlines in Jewish law. Antisemites (KKK, Hamas, Aryan Nations, Iranians, Nazis) have defined these terms in racist ways .. claiming that “Jewish” or “Hebrew” represent terms of descent, genetic traits. There are common genetic markers in some Jews but anyone can become Jewish.
A zionist need not even be Jewish. A Zionist is just someone who believes Jews should have a homeland. A synonym would be Jewish nationalism. There is also Kurdish nationalism, Palestinian nationalism, Scots nationalism, etc. Some Blacks and Whites in the US also feel they should have nations of their own.
Prior to 1967 the term “a Palestinian” meant anyone living in the area f the former Kingdom of Judea following the destruction of the Jewish state by the Emperor Titus. During the British mandate, the state of Jordan was created and Palestinians living there became Jordanians. By 1948, the Jews living in Palestine came to be called Palestinians. When Israel was established by the UN, the areas that ought to have become a non Jewish Palestinian state were invaded by Egypt and Transjordan. The enlarged area ruled by Transjordan was renamed Jordan. Arabs living in the West Bank became Jordanians. Gamel Abdel Nasser, after his defeat by the Israelis, repurposed the term to create the Palestine Liberation Organization. Part of his strategy was to create a strong sense of Palestinian nationalism among Arabs living in the parts of Palestine that were now not called Jordan. Since that time, the effort has succeeded and today no one can doubt the existence of a strong Palestinian nationality.