Philistines = Palestinians ??

[jgilberAZ]

I see this association frequently made, that the Palestinians are the descendants of the Philistines.

This is utterly false, and must be refuted.

Myths, Hypotheses and Facts Concerning the Origin of Peoples

Origin and identity of the so-called Palestinians

Palestinians are the newest of all the peoples on the face of the Earth, and began to exist in a single day by a kind of supernatural phenomenon that is unique in the whole history of mankind, as it is witnessed by Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist that acknowledged the lie he was fighting for and the truth he was fighting against:

“Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian?”
“We did not particularly mind Jordanian rule. The teaching of the destruction of Israel was a definite part of the curriculum, but we considered ourselves Jordanian until the Jews returned to Jerusalem. Then all of the sudden we were Palestinians - they removed the star from the Jordanian flag and all at once we had a Palestinian flag”.
“When I finally realized the lies and myths I was taught, it is my duty as a righteous person to speak out”.

This declaration by a true "Palestinian" should have some significance for a sincerely neutral observer. Indeed, there is no such a thing like a Palestinian people, or a Palestinian culture, or a Palestinian language, or a Palestinian history. There has never been any Palestinian state, neither any Palestinian archaeological find nor coinage. The present-day "Palestinians" are an Arab people, with Arab culture, Arabic language and Arab history. They have their own Arab states from where they came into the Land of Israel about one century ago to contrast the Jewish immigration. That is the historical truth. They were Jordanians (another recent British invention, as there has never been any people known as "Jordanians"), and after the Six-Day War in which Israel utterly defeated the coalition of nine Arab states and took legitimate possession of Judea and Samaria, the Arab dwellers in those regions underwent a kind of anthropological miracle and discovered that they were Palestinians - something they did not know the day before. Of course, these people having a new identity had to build themselves a history, namely, had to steal some others' history, and the only way that the victims of the theft would not complain is if those victims do no longer exist. Therefore, the Palestinian leaders claimed two contradictory lineages from ancient peoples that inhabited in the Land of Israel: the Canaanites and the Philistines. Let us consider both of them before going on with the Palestinian issue.

More at link.
Worth the time to read.

- Jeff

[drdos]

Palistinians are refugees from many ME nations BUT, many remained in gaza throughout history so yes they are of the Philistine race.

http://www.hope-of-israel.org/whopal.html

"Other Philistine elements almost certainly remained on the Palestinian coast around Gaza".
The so-called Palestinian people are the descendants of a mixed populace of local inhabitants together with numerous other groups of Muslims brought to Palestine from Bosnia, the Balkans, and the Caucasus by the Turks, and from the Sudan, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon by the British. Those who came to Palestine in the time of the British Mandate were, however, brought over only partly due to the anti-Zionist, religious, and ideological motivation of some British officials -- and mainly because of administrative and economical necessity. Jewish Zionists and capitalists were amongst their major employers (often at the expense of the Jewish Proletariat) and struggles were fought over this issue.

At all events, it is possible to see the Palestinians as representing the Philistines in Biblical terminology for the following reasons:

1) It may be that many of them actually are physically descended from the Philistines -- some of whom remained in Gaza and neighbouring areas.

2) Their name "Palestinian" is derived from the Latin word for Philistine, i.e. they now call themselves, and are called by others, "Palestinian" -- meaning Philistine. If in days of yore a Hebrew Prophet had wanted to denote the present-day Palestinians using a familiar name, then he could have chosen no better an appellation than "Philistine."

3) The geographical bases of power, international connections, and general orientation of the "Palestinians" are all similar to those of the ancient Philistines.

The Prophet Isaiah -- and other prophets in addition to Obadiah -- foresaw the eventual reconciliation between Judah and Ephraim, and the defeat of Edom and the Philistines:

And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Amon shall obey them (Isaiah 11:12-14).

The above verse (Isaiah 11:14) concerning the Philistines (as it has been translated in the KJ and Orthodox Jewish "Koren" translation) is consistent with the simple Hebrew and with the context.

Nevertheless, one of the intricacies of Biblical Hebrew is that often words and expressions may intentionally have more than one meaning. In this case the Hebrew may also be understood as saying,

They shall fly the Philistines away westward.

The Hebrew says: "VeAFU BeCeTeF PliSHTIM YaMaH," i.e., word-for-word:

"[ve-afu] And they will fly (or cause to be flown) [becetef] by-wing [Plishtim] Philistines [yama] towards the Sea (or towards the west)."

[Jericho]

The Philistines as a distinct people are no more, they were absorbed into other ethnic groups. Although I'm sure many of the Arab people in that area could have Philistine ancestry. So I guess there's truth to both.

[drdos]

The Philistines as a distinct people are no more, they were absorbed into other ethnic groups. Although I'm sure many of the Arab people in that area could have Philistine ancestry. So I guess there's truth to both.

yep..