The Blogs: Palestine is Israel: The Truth They Tried to Erase

Why the world must recognize Palestine as a symbol of Jewish history and resilience

For decades, the term “Palestinian” has been weaponized against the Jewish people as part of a calculated campaign to erase their history and delegitimize the State of Israel. Yet, in a cruel twist of irony, the very name used as a propaganda weapon against Israel is, in fact, its rightful historical name. Reclaiming it would not only restore the truth but also disarm Israel’s adversaries by confiscating their weapon.

The recently launched Palestinian Identity Manifesto and the accompanying petition on Change.org, “Reclaim the True Palestinian Identity: End the Great Identity Theft!”, seek to correct this distortion. They call on Israel and the world to officially recognize “Palestinian” as a Jewish and Israeli identity, exposing the greatest case of identity theft in modern history.

The Original Palestinians: Jews of the Land of Israel

For over 3,000 years, the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea was the indigenous homeland of the Jewish people. Long before the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948, the Jewish inhabitants of the region proudly identified as Palestinians.

Jewish newspapers bore the name, including The Palestine Post, which changed its name to The Jerusalem Post in 1950. The Palestine Orchestra, founded by Jews, became the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Even the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team competed under the Palestinian banner.

Meanwhile, the local Arab population explicitly rejected the Palestinian label, considering themselves part of Greater Syria. It was only after the Arab defeat in the Six-Day War of 1967, and after Yasser Arafat joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) — a Soviet-backed project — that the term “Palestinian” was cynically hijacked and fully repurposed as a tool of anti-Zionist propaganda. From that point on, the PLO began actively promoting a distinctly Arab-Palestinian nationalist agenda.

The Weaponization of a Name

By the 1960s, the name “Palestine” was no longer just a geographical term — it had been turned into a propaganda weapon aimed at delegitimizing the Jewish State. The PLO and its backers rewrote history, erasing the Jewish connection to the land and recasting the Arab settlers — many of whom migrated from Egypt, Syria, and Iraq during the Ottoman and British Mandate periods — as the “indigenous people.”

Reclaiming the name Palestine is no longer just about historical accuracy — it is about disarming the enemy. By stripping the term from those who misuse it, Israel would expose the fraudulent nature of the modern Arab-Palestinian narrative.

Palestine: A Greek Translation of “Israel”

The very word “Palestine” carries within it a hidden truth. One of the origin theories traces it to the ancient Greek Παλαιστῑ́νη (Palaistī́nē), first used in the 5th century BCE. This, in turn, is believed to derive from παλαιστής (palaistês), meaning “wrestler,” “rival,” or “adversary” — a direct translation of the Hebrew name Yisra’el (יִשְׂרָאֵל), which means “one who wrestles with God” (Bereishit/Genesis 32:28).

In other words, “Palestine” is essentially a Greek translation of “Israel”. The Greeks used it as a neutral geographical term, without political implications or any intent to erase Jewish identity.

This kind of linguistic translation is not unusual. Just as the original French name Côte d’Ivoire became Ivory Coast in English and Берег Слоновой Кости (Bereg Slonovoy Kosti) in Russian, so too did Yisra’el — “one who wrestles with God” — become Palaistī́nē, “land of one who wrestles,” in Greek.

The Roman Erasure: From Judea to Palestina

Centuries later, after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, the Romans renamed Judea to “Palestina” in a deliberate act of cultural erasure. This was not a neutral renaming — it was psychological warfare. It essentially declared, “Israel is gone.”

The Romans weaponized the name to sever the Jewish people from their land. What the Greeks once used as a regional label, the Romans repurposed as a tool of historical obliteration — a form of cultural genocide aimed at wiping Israel off the map.

For centuries thereafter, the name “Palestine” has been used by non-Jews — and often by Jew-haters — to deny the Jewish connection to the land. And yet, ironically, the name itself still etymologically points back to Israel.

A Name with Two Faces

The Greeks used “Palestine” as a neutral regional term.
The Romans weaponized it as a tool of erasure.

This dual history exposes the tragic irony of the modern Arab-Palestinian identity: the very name they appropriated is not only rooted in Jewish meaning, but was also used by Israel’s enemies — ancient and modern — as a means to deny the Jewish people’s rightful heritage.

For Jews, however, the name “Palestine” is inseparable from their history and identity, and its use paradoxically reaffirms their enduring connection to the ancestral land of Israel.

The Many Names of the Land of Israel

Throughout history, the Land of Israel was known by many names:

Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) — its biblical name, central to Jewish identity.
Promised Land — a term used in the Torah and Tanakh, symbolizing God’s covenant with the Jewish people.
Israel — the historic and modern name of the Jewish state. The name was chosen for the state established in 1948, reflecting the enduring connection of the Jewish people to their ancestral homeland.
Zion — a poetic name used in both Jewish scripture and liturgy, symbolizing the longing for the land of Israel. It is also the origin of the term Zionism, the movement that led to the establishment of the modern State of Israel.
Judea and Samaria — the ancient Hebrew kingdoms, still used today to describe parts of the region.
Canaan — the land’s earliest recorded name, from which the Israelites emerged.
Holy Land — a name reflecting its sacred status in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, highlighting its universal spiritual significance.
Palestine — a term rooted in the Greek translation of Israel, later weaponized by the Romans in an attempt to erase its Jewish identity.

Borders changed. Empires rose and fell. Yet, the Jewish people’s connection to their ancestral homeland remained unbroken — even as conquerors came and went.

Reclaiming the Palestinian Narrative

The Palestinian Identity Manifesto calls for the Jewish people to reclaim their rightful Palestinian identity. According to the manifesto, all loyal citizens of Israel — Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims, Bedouins, and others — are the true Palestinians. Immigrants who made Aliyah from Russia, Ethiopia, France, Yemen, and beyond are proudly part of the Palestinian people, because Palestine is Israel.

By contrast, the anti-Zionist Arab settlers who falsely claim this title are exposed for what they are: undocumented Arab colonizers who appropriated a Jewish name for political purposes.

At the same time, Arab citizens of Israel who are loyal to the Jewish State are rightfully part of the true Palestinian identity. These Israeli Arabs — whether Druze, Christian, Muslim, or Bedouin — who serve in the IDF, build Israeli society, and defend the state, are the genuine Palestinians, standing alongside their Jewish compatriots as proud citizens of a free and sovereign Israel.

Exposing the Hijacking of Jewish Symbols

The manifesto also highlights the disturbing appropriation of Jewish historical symbols by anti-Israel forces. The phrase “Free Palestine,” first used by Jews in the 1930s to protest British colonial rule, has been twisted into an anti-Israel slogan by those seeking the destruction of the only free and democratic state in the Middle East.

Likewise, the powerful Hebrew phrase “Ein Li Eretz Acheret” (“I have no other country”), once a patriotic expression of the Jewish people’s eternal bond to the land, was recently misused in an anti-Israel propaganda film.

Even the very term “Palestinian,” once a badge of Jewish identity, has been corrupted into a false national identity designed to delegitimize Israel.

The Path Forward: Reclaim and Educate

The manifesto and its petition outline a bold path forward, calling on:

The State of Israel to officially recognize the name “Palestine” as part of Jewish history.
The term “Palestinian” to be legally reclaimed as a Jewish and Israeli identity.
All loyal citizens of Israel, regardless of ethnicity or religion, to embrace their rightful Palestinian identity.
International institutions, such as the UN and UNESCO, to stop legitimizing the fabricated Arab-Palestinian narrative.
Media and educational institutions to teach the truth about the Jewish origins of the term “Palestinian.”

Confiscating the Weapon of Deception

The battle for truth is not just about history — it is about reclaiming the very language that has been weaponized against Israel. By seizing back the name Palestine, Israel would rob its enemies of their most powerful propaganda tool. The weaponized lie would be exposed for what it is: a stolen identity, wielded to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish State.

Restoring Historical Truth

For too long, Israel’s enemies have profited from the theft of Jewish identity. The Palestinian Identity Manifesto offers a bold solution: to confront this historical fraud by restoring the rightful Palestinian identity to its true heirs — the Jews and all loyal citizens of Israel.

By signing the petition, people of conscience can help end the great identity theft and ensure that the name Palestine is once again a symbol of Jewish resilience and heritage.

Palestine is Israel. Palestinians are Israelis. The Great Identity Theft Ends Today.

Proof Hidden in Plain Sight: Palestine is Israel

Many deniers of Israel’s historical connection to Palestine often showcase Mandatory Palestine passports and other documents bearing the name “Palestine” in English, claiming it as “proof” that Palestine had no connection to Israel. However, they conveniently ignore a crucial detail: these same documents also display the abbreviation א״י in Hebrew, which stands for ארץ ישראל (Eretz Israel or Land of Israel).

As you can see, Mandatory Palestine documents frequently carried the inscription “Palestine (Land of Israel)” in Hebrew — a clear indication that Palestine and the Land of Israel were always treated as synonymous.

Mandatory Palestine passport with the inscription ‘Palestine (Land of Israel)’ in Hebrew, further proof of the historical connection between Palestine and the Land of Israel. Licensed as public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

In addition to official documents, the currency of Mandatory Palestine also bore the א״י abbreviation, which again signifies Eretz Israel (Land of Israel). This further reinforces that Palestine and the Land of Israel were understood as one and the same in both currency and documentation. As evidenced by this money, the term “Palestine” was not separate from Israel but was, in fact, part of Israel’s official identity long before the politicization of the term.

Mandatory Palestine coin bearing the abbreviation א״י (Eretz Israel), reinforcing the identification of Palestine as part of Israel’s official identity. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Read the Manifesto: The Palestinian Identity Manifesto

Sign the Petition: Reclaim the True Palestinian Identity: End the Great Identity Theft!