The Observer, September 15, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 3
Professor takes issue with Palestine, Israel conflict
Letter to the Editor
The term "Palestine" derives from the word Philistine, the name of a non-Semitic ethnic group, who inhabited a smaller area on the southern coast, called Philistia, whose borders approximate the modern Gaza Strip. Philistia encompassed the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. The Egyptian texts of the temple at Medinet Habu, record a people called the P-r-s-t (conventionally Peleset), one of the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt in Ramesses III's reign. This is considered very likely to be a reference to the Philistines.
The Hebrew name Peleshet, usually translated as Philistia in English, is used in the Bible to denote their southern coastal region. During the Persian Period, the Greek form was first used in the 5th century BCE by Herodotus who wrote of a "district of Syria, called Palaistinêi" (whence Latin: Palaestina, whence English: Palestine). The boundaries of the area he referred to were not explicitly stated, but Josephus used the name only for the smaller coastal area, Philistia. Ptolemy also used the term. In Latin, Pliny mentions a region of Syria that was "formerly called Palaestina" among the areas of the Eastern Mediterranean.
During the Roman Period, the Province of Judea (including Samaria) covered what we consider today the state of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Following the Bar Kokhba rebellion, the Romans redrew these borders into the new Provinces of Syria Palestine (Latin: Syria Palaestina), which continued to include Judea and Samaria.Jericho and Bethlehem were destroyed, and the Jews were barred from Jerusalem.
When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity (312 CE), Palestine became a center of Christian pilgrimage, and many Jews left the region. Palestine over the next few centuries generally enjoyed peace and prosperity until it was conquered in 614 by the Persians. During the Byzantine Period, this entire region (including Syria Palestine, Samaria, and Galilee) was renamed Palaestina and then subdivided into Diocese I and II. The Byzantines also renamed an area of land including the Negev, Sinai, and the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula as Palaestina Salutoris, sometimes called Palaestina III. Since the Byzantine Period, the Byzantine borders of Palaestina (I and II) have served as a name for the geographic area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The short version is that Palestine has been claimed by virtually every power of the Middle East, including the Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, and Ottomans. (See a neutral, basic source, such as the Encyclopedia Brittanica for verification).
As to who "owns" this land now, I would refer you to UN Resolution 242,following the Six Day War in 1967. It required the victor of that war, the state of Israel, to withdraw from thelands it had captured during that war. The state of Israel has not withdrawn to those borders and continues to occupy the land. Conflicting claims continue to exist. The state of Israel is the only state in the world that does not have recognized borders. Thus, at this time,Israel has a right to defend itself. The Palestinians do not.
About suicide bombings of holy places:I do not think we should engage in inflamed rhetoric,a competition of killing. How many Muslims have killed Israelis and how many Israelis have killed Palestinians? Too many by far. If you wish to refer to the bombing of a pizzeria in Samaria, perhaps you would like to balance that with a "crazed" settler from Kiryat Arba who killed 29 Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahami Mosque in Hebron, a true holy place. But of course name calling does no good, and does not bring the dead back to life.
I strongly urge members of the CWRU community, faculty, staff, and students, to treat each other with respect, and to remember irrational statements such as those of Shporkin may make the writer feel good, but most certainly hurt many other members of our community. A newspaper, even a student–edited and published newspaper, has responsibility in its selections of articles, including those by so-called "guest columnists."
