Let us now look at the claims and disputes of the Palestinians and of all the Arab nations, at their words and deeds and that of the nations in the light of the Scriptures. 

I will provide you with some historical facts and events, although, of course, this will be rather brief, since neither time nor space allow me to cover every detail thoroughly. Then judge for yourselves who is in the right, and who in the wrong.

The territory of  Israel (formerly “Palestine”), once known as Canaan, was inhabited historically by the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites³⁶. It was only three times an independent state, and each time, a Jewish state. When Rome ruled over this area, they purposefully eliminated the name "Israel," and named it "Palestina" instead, in reference to a Philistine conquest about 1,080 B.C.E. This example was followed by the League of Nations in our days.

The first Jewish commonwealth was ended by the Babylonian conquest of 586 B.C.E. The second Jewish commonwealth, although besieged by shortlived conquests, endured until it became a Roman province, "Palestina," in 44 B.C.E. and eventually ceased under Roman conquest in 70 C.E. Since then there have been various foreign rulers and conquerors over this region, but no sovereign, independent state until 1948. Then the third Jewish commonwealth in the form of the modern state of Israel was birthed in one day³⁷, once again in the territory of former Canaan, which was promised to the patriarchs of Israel and is claimed by G-d to be His own Land and the portion of His heritage³⁸.

The Palestinians are, therefore, in dispute with the Almighty Himself --- not just with a nation of mere men, because this nation, and these men are “the armies of the Living G-d, which the Philistines/Palestinians are defying³⁹. 

There never  has been, in the entire history of this area, an independent sovereign state called Palestine. The Philistines themselves were a remnant from Caphtor⁴⁰ known as Caphtorim, Cherethites or Casluhim (descended from Egypt, son of Ham) who invaded the coastal strip of Gaza, killed the Avvim living there and settled in their stead⁴¹. Therefore the neighboring peoples called them “plishtim,” which means “invaders.” They lived in the region from Gaza to Ekron, from Lachish to Ziklak, calling it “Philistia.” Philistia extended along the short coastal strip from today's Raphla to Joppa/Jaffa, into the northen region of the Negev toward Beer-Sheva. This was the largest area of all of “Philistia/Palestine” the “plishtim/invaders/Philistines/Palestinians” ever held. By the time of the Roman Empire, they had long ceased to be a distinct national entity, having been destroyed and assimilated into other peoples.

The Byzantines, Christian heirs of the Roman Empire, then ruled until the Arabs entered Palestine in 633 C.E. From 637 to 1071 C.E. all of Palestine was under the domination of Islam, ruled over not by local Arabs, but by the fiat of remote Caliphs, who either resided in Baghdad or Damascus. It is this era of the Arab's "glorious" past that they wish to restore and to which they refer when speaking of their intrinsic rights to this region, claiming that Palestine was given to them by Allah as a result of the "Jihad" in the 7th century, although even then no sovereign Palestinian nation had been created by them. Their dominion over this territory, which is to be the meeting place of all Moslem believers on the Day of Resurrection (this claim lies at the root of the recent Islamic fundamentalist involvement with PLO terrorist activities), lasted but a short period, while that of Jewish sovereignty endured over a 1,000 years.

In 1096 C.E. the first Crusade began. Crusaders, in the Name of Christ, pillaged Palestine until 1291 C.E., when the Arabs drove them out again. Various conquerors spoiled and desolated the region, until in 1517 C.E. Palestine became a province of the Turkish Empire and was made part of "Greater Syria." Under the Ottoman rule the land became utterly desolated and denuded, the ruling class living in great luxury and comfort, while the ordinary masses vegetated in darkest ignorance, illiteracy and starkest poverty. Yet, whether rich or poor, mighty or pauper, all identified themselves as "Moslem Syrians," not as “Palestinians.”

Upon the conquest of the Ottoman Empire following WW I, the League of Nations entrusted the Mandate of the conquered territory of "Greater Syria" (which included the territory of Irak, Syria, Transjordan and Palestine) to the British Government at the San Remo conference in 1920. The Mandate was confirmed by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922, and came officially into force, under the name "Palestine," on Sept. 29, 1923. This embodied the "Balfour Declaration" of November 2, 1917, which was also incorporated into the Treaty of Peace with Turkey. This Declaration was issued in recognition of the invaluable contribution of Jewish “Palestinian” fighting forces during WWI, and Dr. Chaim Weizmann's contribution in the area of science⁴², which enabled Britain to carry on the war victoriously. In July 1917 a formula was set, embodying “the principle of recognizing Palestine as the national home for the Jewish people" and postulating "as essential for the realization of the principle the grant of internal autonomy to the Jews in Palestine, freedom of immigration for Jews, and the establishment of a Jewish National Colonising Corporation for the resettlement and economic development of the country." The Government made certain modifications in this formula and on November 2, 1917, Mr. Balfour addressed a letter to Lord Rothchild containing the following pronouncement: