Where is this country called "Palestine"?

Keep in mind that the Arabs control 99.9 percent of the Middle East lands. Israel represents one-tenth of one percent of the landmass. But that's too much for the Arabs. They want it all. And that is ultimately what the fighting in Israel is about today . . . No matter how many land concessions the Israelis make, it will never be enough. — from "Myths of the Middle East", Joseph Farah, Arab-American editor and journalist, WorldNetDaily, 11 October 2000

In a previous Blog entry of mine I laid out the historical facts regarding this supposed entity that never existed as an independent country known as "Palestine". Since the"Falestinians" and their admirers love to distort history and spread lies and disinformation, I will cite the historical facts once again for clarity.

Where does the name “Palestine” come from?

The name "Palestine" is derived from the biblical name for the Philistines who were called Philistim from the Hebrew term for invaders or (Hebrew: פלשת‎, Pleshet). According to Joshua 13:3 and the First book of Samuel 6:17, they arrived on the coastal area of, what is today southern Israel; Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath and the "Gaza Strip" around 1525 to 1500 BCE.

The origins of the Philistines are not clear and is the subject of considerable research and speculation in biblical archaeology. Some scholars have connected the Biblical Philistines with the Egyptian "Poleshet" inscriptions of "Sea Peoples" (see photo) found in 1873 in a mural found on the walls of a mortuary Temple from the time of the Pharaoh Ramesses III. This discovery of the mural has strengthen the view that the "Pleshtim / Philistim" and the Aegean "Pelasgians" are one in the same, the Philistines.

Archaeologists working on Philistine sites on the western coastal areas of Israel, and in the past in the "Gaza Strip", have shown that the Philistines were part of the Minoan- later the Mycenaean civilization, from the island of Thera (also called Santorini) in Greece.

The first actual written historical text reference is by Herodotus around 450 BCE in his "The Histories" Book 7. In his writings it clearly states that the "Palestinians" were descendant from invaders from the Mediterranean Sea. 

"The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestina, according to their own account, dwelt anciently upon the Erythraean Sea, but crossing thence, fixed themselves on the seacoast of Syria, where they still inhabit. This part of Syria, and the entire region extending from hence to Egypt, is known by the name of "Palestina"."

The origin of the term "Palestine"

The historical term "Palestine" actually refers to, a geographical and historical region in the Middle East. Historically the term "Palestine" has not, nor has it EVER been the name of a "entity" or sovereign country. 

In ancient times the Old Testament Bible  referred to a pentapolis in the Southern Levant, established by Philistines circa 1175 BC and existing in various forms until the Assyrian conquest in 8th century as "Philistia".
The ancient Greek and Romans referred to parts of the Levant during the Persian and Hellenic periods as Palaistinê or Palaestina. The coastal eparchy was called Paralia which some associate with (Palestine).
There was a Roman province (135-390 CE) (135-330 CE), of the Roman Empire following merger of renamed Iudaea with Roman Syria called Syria Palaestina or Roman Palestine.

From 390 to 636 CE there were three Byzantine provinces in the Levant:

• Palaestina Prima which comprised the area of the Galilee and northern Jordan Valley 
• Palaestina Secunda, which comprised the area of the shoreline and hills of the Southern Levant (Judea and Samaria)
• Palaestina Salutaris alias Palestina Tertia, which comprised the area of the Negev and Transjordan

In the period from 638 CE through the 10th century one of the military districts of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham (Syria) was called Jund Filastin.
During the period of the Ottoman Empire within the Levant divisions of the "Ottoman Syria" the area was divided into administrative divisions know as Sanjaks:
The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (1872-1917), was also known as the "Sanjak of Jerusalem", an Ottoman district commonly referred to as "Southern Syria" or "Palestine". The district encompassed Jerusalem, Gaza, Jaffa, Hebron, Bethlehem and Beersheba.

Faris Khoury who was thee representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations stated to the General Assembly in May 1947:

"What the British call Palestine was part of the Province of Syria [...] politically, the Arabs of the Mandated Area were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity."

The Mandate for "Palestine"

Mandatory Palestine (1920–1948), a geopolitical entity under British administration

"The Palestine Mandate was a League of Nations mandate for the territory that had formerly constituted the Ottoman Empire sanjaks of Nablus, Acre, the Southern part of the Vilayet of Syria, the Southern portion of the Beirut Vilayet, and the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, prior to the Armistice of Mudros." 

The Armistice of Mudros (Turkish: Mondros Mütarekesi), which was concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities, at noon the next day, in the Middle Eastern theater between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I.The armistice was followed by the occupation of Constantinople (Istanbul) and the subsequent partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

The Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) which was signed in the aftermath of WWI was never ratified by the Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul (the Ottoman Parliament was disbanded by the Allies on 11 April 1920 due to the overwhelming opposition of the Turkish MPs to the provisions discussed in Sèvres). It was later superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923) following the Turkish victory at the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922) which was conducted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara (established on 23 April 1920 by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his followers, including his colleagues in the disbanded Ottoman military, and numerous former MPs of the closed Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul.)

Why was the Mandated area called “Palestine” if it was meant to be as stated in the Balfour Declaration: “…the national home for the Jewish people”? ‎ 

When the British received the mandate at the San Remo conference, after the utter defeat and breaking apart of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1922. The leading members of the British Foreign Office, who despised the "Jewish" Balfour Declaration, elected to call the land on both sides of the Jordan River, by the Roman term "Palestine". The Roman term of the Hated Enemy of the Jews was specifically employed to avoid the use of the name "Eretz Yisrael", which would indicate to the Arabs a "Pro-Zionist Jewish stance" and foil their colonial intentions.

According to the Minutes of the Ninth Session of the League of Nations' Permanent Mandate Commission Lieutenant Colonel Sir George Stewart Symes (1882–1962)  explained;

"... that the country was described as 'Palestine' by Europeans and as 'Falestina' by the Arabs. The Hebrew name for the area was the designation 'Land of Israel', and the British Government grudgingly agreed to meet Jewish wishes by allowing the use of the initials which stood for that designation 'Land of Israel' in Hebrew characters following the word "Palestine" in all official documents and monies.

As a set-off to this, certain Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called "Southern Syria" in order to emphasize its close relation with another Arab State."

Henry McMahon had exchanged letters with Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca in 1915, in which he had promised to recognize the independence of the Arabs subject to certain exemptions:

The districts of Mersina and Alexandretta, and portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo, cannot be said to be purely Arab, and must on that account be excepted from the proposed limits and boundaries.

McMahon's promises were seen by the Arabs as a formal agreement between them and the United Kingdom. On this understanding the Arabs established a military force under the command of Husayn bin Ali's son Faisal which fought, with inspiration from 'Lawrence of Arabia', against the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.

In January 1918 Commander David Hogarth, head of the Arab Bureau in Cairo, was dispatched to Jeddah to deliver a letter written by Sir Mark Sykes on behalf of the British Government to Hussein (now King of Hejaz). The message assured Hussein that:

The Entente Powers are determined that the Arab race shall be given full opportunity of once again forming a nation in the world. This can only be achieved by the Arabs themselves uniting, and Great Britain and her Allies will pursue a policy with this ultimate unity in view.

In respect to Palestine and in the light of the Balfour Declaration Hogarth continued by stating:

Since the Jewish opinion of the world is in favour of a return of Jews to Palestine and inasmuch as this opinion must remain a constant factor, and further as His Majesty's Government view with favour the realization of this aspiration, His Majesty's Government are determined that insofar as is compatible with the freedom of the existing population both economic and political, no obstacle should be put in the way of the realization of this ideal.

In conclusion:

Facts are facts, and it is dependent on how much honesty and integrity the speaker or writer shows to relaying the truth.