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126-477: The ancient towns of Upper Bethoron and Lower Bethoron are identified respectively with the present-day Palestinian Arab villages of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beit Ur al-Tahta , which preserve the ancient names. Archaeological evidence suggests that Lower Bethoron was established first, as the earliest potsherds discovered there date back to the Late Bronze Age , while those from the upper town originate from

252-510: A Jewish state and the dispossession of the Arab majority crystallised among most editors, Christian and Muslim, of local newspapers. The term itself Filasṭīnī was first introduced by Khalīl Beidas in a translation of a Russian work on the Holy Land into Arabic in 1898. After that, its usage gradually spread so that, by 1908, with the loosening of censorship controls under late Ottoman rule,

378-577: A battle near Adasa , on the 13th Adar 161 BCE, the Seleucid army was destroyed, and Nicanor was killed. The annual "Day of Nicanor" was instituted to commemorate this victory. The Roman–Jewish Treaty was an agreement made between Judah Maccabee and the Roman Republic in 161 BCE according to 1 Maccabees 8:17–20 and Josephus . It was the first recorded contract between the Jewish people and

504-443: A number of Muslim, Christian and Jewish correspondents writing for newspapers began to use the term with great frequency in referring to the 'Palestinian people' ( ahl/ahālī Filasṭīn ), 'Palestinians' ( al-Filasṭīnīyūn ), the 'sons of Palestine' ( abnā’ Filasṭīn ) or to 'Palestinian society' ( al-mujtama' al-filasṭīnī ). Whatever the differing viewpoints over the timing, causal mechanisms, and orientation of Palestinian nationalism, by

630-635: A 2015 Foreign Affairs article that "based on hundreds of manuscripts, Islamic court records, books, magazines, and newspapers from the Ottoman period (1516–1918), it seems that the first Arab to use the term "Palestinian" was Farid Georges Kassab, a Beirut-based Orthodox Christian ." He explained further that Kassab's 1909 book Palestine, Hellenism, and Clericalism noted in passing that "the Orthodox Palestinian Ottomans call themselves Arabs, and are in fact Arabs," despite describing

756-825: A British "colony of the lowest order." The Arabs tried to get the British to offer an Arab legal establishment again roughly ten years later, but to no avail. After the British general, Louis Bols, read out the Balfour Declaration in February 1920, some 1,500 Palestinians demonstrated in the streets of Jerusalem. A month later, during the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, the protests against British rule and Jewish immigration became violent and Bols banned all demonstrations. In May 1921 however, further anti-Jewish riots broke out in Jaffa and dozens of Arabs and Jews were killed in

882-581: A ban of the sale of land to Jews. By the end of 1936, the movement had become a national revolt, and resistance grew during 1937 and 1938. In response, the British declared martial law , dissolved the Arab High Committee and arrested officials from the Supreme Muslim Council who were behind the revolt. By 1939, 5,000 Arabs had been killed in British attempts to quash the revolt; more than 15,000 were wounded. In November 1947,

1008-634: A book by Alfred J. Church and Richmond Seeley. Several 20th-century Jewish authors have also written works devoted to Judah Maccabee and the Maccabean Revolt. Jacob Benjamin Katznelson (1855–1930) wrote the poem, "Alilot Gibbor ha-Yehudim Yehudah ha-Makkabi le-Veit ha-Hashmona'im" (1922); the Yiddish writer Moses Schulstein wrote the dramatic poem, "Yehudah ha-Makkabi" (in A Layter tsu der Zun , 1954); Jacob Fichman 's "Yehudah ha-Makkabi"

1134-697: A degree of continuity over a long historical period (much as 'the Israelites' of the Bible suggest a long historical continuity in the same region)." Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal consider the 1834 Peasants' revolt in Palestine as constituting the first formative event of the Palestinian people. From 1516 to 1917, Palestine was ruled by the Ottoman Empire save a decade from the 1830s to

1260-560: A later date it came to signify all the Hasmoneans who fought during the Maccabean revolt. Mindful of the superiority of Seleucid forces during the first two years of the revolt, Judah's strategy was to avoid any engagement with their regular army and resort to guerrilla warfare to give them a feeling of insecurity. The strategy enabled Judah to win a string of victories. At the battle of Nahal el-Haramiah (wadi haramia), he defeated

1386-483: A long history, destroyed by Israeli forces. In addition, Palestinians lost from 1.5 to 2 million acres of land, an estimated 150,000 urban and rural homes, and 23,000 commercial structures such as shops and offices. Recent estimates of the cost to Palestinians in property confiscations by Israel from 1948 onwards has concluded that Palestinians have suffered a net $ 300 billion loss in assets. Those parts of British Mandatory Palestine which did not become part of

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1512-946: A result of the Oslo Accords , is an interim administrative body nominally responsible for governance in Palestinian population centres in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since 1978, the United Nations has observed an annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People . According to British historian Perry Anderson , it is estimated that half of the population in the Palestinian territories are refugees, and that they have collectively suffered approximately US$ 300 billion in property losses due to Israeli confiscations, at 2008–2009 prices. Despite various wars and exoduses , roughly one half of

1638-471: A small Seleucid force under the command of Apollonius, governor of Samaria , who was killed. Judah took possession of Apollonius's sword and used it until his death as a symbol of vengeance. After Nahal el-Haramiah, recruits flocked to the Jewish cause. Shortly after that, Judah routed a larger Seleucid army under the command of Seron near Beth-Horon , largely thanks to a good choice of battlefield. Then, in

1764-528: A state. However, Palestinian sovereignty over the areas claimed as part of the Palestinian state remains limited, and the boundaries of the state remain a point of contestation between Palestinians and Israelis. The first Palestinian nationalist organizations emerged at the end of the World War I . Two political factions emerged. al-Muntada al-Adabi , dominated by the Nashashibi family, militated for

1890-588: A tradition that emerged in the 1960s that argues Palestinian nationalism has deep historical roots, with extreme advocates reading a Palestinian nationalist consciousness and identity back into the history of Palestine over the past few centuries, and even millennia, when such a consciousness is in fact relatively modern. The Battle of Karameh and the events of Black September in Jordan contributed to growing Palestinian support for these groups, particularly among Palestinians in exile. Concurrently, among Palestinians in

2016-581: Is El Macabeo ( Naples , 1638), a Castilian epic by the Portuguese Marrano Miguel de Silveyra . Two other 17th-century works are La chevalerie de Judas Macabé , by French poet Pierre Du Ries , and the anonymous Neo-Latin work Judas Machabaeus (Rome, 1695). Handel wrote his Judas Maccabaeus oratorio (1746) on the subject. There has been interest in Judah in every century. Giuda Macabeo, ossia la morte di Nicanore... (1839)

2142-469: Is a pass which ascends from the plain of Aijalon (now Ayalon-Canada Park ) and climbs to Beit Ur al-Tahta (1,210 ft.). It then ascends along the ridge, with valleys lying to north and south, and reaches Beit Ur al-Fauqa (2,022 ft.). Al-tahta means 'the lower', and al-fauqa (fawqa) means 'the upper' in Arabic. The ascent is an ancient east-west trade route connecting two broadly north-south routes,

2268-613: Is an Italian " azione sacra " based on which Vallicella composed an oratorio . One of the best-known literary works on the theme is Judas Maccabaeus (1872), a five-act verse tragedy by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . A Hebrew version of Longfellow's play was published in 1900. Two later 19th-century interpretations of the story are Judas Makkabaeus , a novella by the German writer Josef Eduard Konrad Bischoff , which appeared in Der Gefangene von Kuestrin (1885), and The Hammer (1890),

2394-465: Is independent of the existence of any actual Arabian origins. Palestinians are sometimes described as indigenous. In a human rights context, the word indigenous may have different definitions; the UN Commission on Human Rights uses several criteria to define this term. Palestine has undergone many demographic and religious upheavals throughout history. During the 2nd millennium BCE , it

2520-610: Is one of the heroic tales included in Sippurim le-Mofet (1954). Amit Arad 's historical novel "Lions of Judea – The miraculous story of the Maccabees" (2014). Many children's plays have also been written on the theme by various Jewish authors. In addition, the American writer Howard Fast penned the historical novel , My Glorious Brothers , which was published in 1948, during the 1947–1949 Palestine war . During World War II

2646-482: Is that the name derives from the Aramaic maqqaba ("makebet" in modern Hebrew ), "hammer" or "sledgehammer" ( cf. the cognomen of Charles Martel , the 8th century Frankish leader), in recognition of his ferocity in battle. Others believe it is in reference to his weapon of choice. According to Jewish folklore , the name Maccabee is an acronym of the verse M i k amokha b a'elim Adonai ( Y HWH ) , "Who among

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2772-571: The Al-Quds , Al-Munadi , Falastin , Al-Karmil and Al-Nafir newspapers, which used the term "Filastini" more than 170 times in 110 articles from 1908 to 1914. They also made references to a "Palestinian society", "Palestinian nation", and a "Palestinian diaspora". Article writers included Christian and Muslim Arab Palestinians, Palestinian emigrants, and non-Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinian Arab Christian Falastin newspaper had addressed its readers as Palestinians since its inception in 1911 during

2898-525: The Battle of Elasa , Judah and those who remained faithful to him were killed. His body was taken by his brothers from the battlefield and buried in the family sepulcher at Modiin . The death of Judah Maccabee (d. 160 BCE) stirred the Jews to renewed resistance. After several additional years of war under the leadership of two of Mattathias' other sons (Jonathan and Simon), the Jews finally achieved independence and

3024-457: The Battle of Emmaus , Judah proceeded to defeat the Seleucid forces led by generals Nicanor and Gorgias . This force was dispatched by Lysias , whom Antiochus left as viceroy after departing on a campaign against the Parthians . By a forced night march, Judah succeeded in eluding Gorgias, who had intended to attack and destroy the Jewish forces in their camp with his cavalry. While Gorgias

3150-524: The Bronze-Age population of Canaan . Variations have been noted between Muslim and Christian Palestinians . Additionally, there are indications within Palestinian populations of maternal gene flow from Sub-Saharan Africa , possibly linked to historical migrations or the Arab slave trade . Genetic studies have also shown a genetic relationship between Palestinians and Jews . A 2023 study looking at

3276-632: The Hebrew – Canaanite name, and have been identified as the sites of Upper and Lower Bethoron. In 1915, the Palestine Exploration Fund wrote that changes in the main road to Jerusalem had left the Bethoron route "forsaken" and "almost forgotten". The Israeli settlement of Beit Horon was founded in 1977 on a site adjacent to the two Arab towns. Highway 443 follows part of the ancient road. Archaeological finds indicate that

3402-572: The Iron Age onward. The Hebrew name Bethoron (Beit Horon, בית חורון ‎) is derived from the name of an Egypto - Canaanite deity , Horon , mentioned in Ugaritic literature . The city is mentioned among the cities and towns smitten by Sheshonq I in his inscription at the Temple of Karnak as Batae Houarn . The biblical "way of Beth-horon", also known as "the ascent of Beth-horon",

3528-639: The Israeli Declaration of Independence , the 1948 Palestinian expulsion , and more so after the 1967 Palestinian exodus , the term "Palestinian" evolved into a sense of a shared future in the form of aspirations for a Palestinian state . Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization is an umbrella organization for groups that represent the Palestinian people before international states. The Palestinian National Authority , officially established in 1994 as

3654-554: The Middle East after World War I . Khalidi also states that although the challenge posed by Zionism played a role in shaping this identity, that "it is a serious mistake to suggest that Palestinian identity emerged mainly as a response to Zionism." Conversely, historian James L. Gelvin argues that Palestinian nationalism was a direct reaction to Zionism. In his book The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War he states that "Palestinian nationalism emerged during

3780-667: The Muslim conquest of the Levant . Some Palestinian families, notably in the Hebron and Nablus regions, claim Jewish and Samaritan ancestry respectively, preserving associated cultural customs and traditions. Genetic studies indicate a genetic affinity between Palestinians and other Arab and Semitic groups in the Middle East and North Africa . Recent research suggests a genetic continuity between modern Palestinians and ancient Levantine populations, evidenced by their clustering with

3906-619: The Palestinian fedayeen , sumud provided an important subtext to the narrative of the fighters, "in symbolizing continuity and connections with the land, with peasantry and a rural way of life." In 1974, the PLO was recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by the Arab nation-states and was granted observer status as a national liberation movement by the United Nations that same year. Israel rejected

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4032-514: The Philistines . Among Semitic languages , Akkadian Palaštu (variant Pilištu ) is used of 7th-century Philistia and its, by then, four city states. Biblical Hebrew 's cognate word Plištim , is usually translated Philistines . When the Romans conquered the region in the first century BCE, they used the name Judaea for the province that covered most of the region. At the same time,

4158-423: The Romans . The agreement with Rome failed to affect Demetrius' policy. On receiving the news of Nicanor's defeat, he dispatched a new army, again commanded by Bacchides. This time, the Seleucid forces of 20,000 men were numerically so superior that most of Judah's men left the battlefield and advised their leader to do likewise and await a more favorable opportunity. However, Judah decided to stand his ground. In

4284-522: The San Remo conference , it was decided to accept the text of those articles, while inserting in the minutes of the conference an undertaking by the Mandatory Power that this would not involve the surrender of any of the rights hitherto enjoyed by the non-Jewish communities in Palestine. In 1922, the British authorities over Mandatory Palestine proposed a draft constitution that would have granted

4410-716: The Six-Day War . Historian Avi Shlaim states that the Palestinians' lack of sovereignty over the land has been used by Israelis to deny Palestinians their rights to self-determination. Today, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination has been affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly , the International Court of Justice and several Israeli authorities. A total of 133 countries recognize Palestine as

4536-513: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan , which divided the mandate of Palestine into two states: one majority Arab and one majority Jewish. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and attacked Jewish civilian areas and paramilitary targets. Following Israel's declaration of independence in May 1948, five Arab armies (Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Transjordan) came to

4662-764: The Via Maris along the Mediterranean coastline, and the Way of the Patriarchs , which follows the crest of the central mountain range of Samaria in the north and Judah in the south. Upper Bethoron is first mentioned in the Book of Joshua as a city on the border between the Israelite tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim ( Joshua 16:5 ). The borderline passed alongside the two Bethorons (Joshua 16:5; 21:22) who belonged to

4788-513: The boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit." Historical records and later genetic studies indicate that the Palestinian people descend mostly from Ancient Levantines extending back to Bronze Age inhabitants of Levant. According to Palestinian historian Nazmi Al-Ju'beh like in other Arab nations, the Arab identity of Palestinians, largely based on linguistic and cultural affiliation,

4914-419: The pan-Arabist ideology put forward by Gamal Abdel Nasser —popular among Palestinians for whom Arabism was already an important component of their identity —tended to obscure the identities of the separate Arab states it subsumed. Since 1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have lived under military occupation, creating, according to Avram Bornstein, a carceralization of their society . In

5040-515: The peasants' revolt in Palestine in 1834 (or even as early as the 17th century), while others argue that it did not emerge until after the Mandatory Palestine period. Legal historian Assaf Likhovski states that the prevailing view is that Palestinian identity originated in the early decades of the 20th century, when an embryonic desire among Palestinians for self-government in the face of generalized fears that Zionism would lead to

5166-496: The whole genomes of world populations found that the Palestinian samples clustered in the "Middle Eastern genomic group", which included samples such as Samaritan , Bedouin , Jordanian , Iraqi Jew and Yemenite Jew samples. The timing and causes behind the emergence of a distinctively Palestinian national identity among the Arabs of Palestine are matters of scholarly disagreement. Some argue that it can be traced as far back as

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5292-492: The "Syrians of Palestine" or "Palestinian-Syrians", an ethnically amorphous group he distinguishes from the Phoenicians. Herodotus makes no distinction between the inhabitants of Palestine. The Greek word reflects an ancient Eastern Mediterranean-Near Eastern word which was used either as a toponym or ethnonym . In Ancient Egyptian Peleset/Purusati has been conjectured to refer to the " Sea Peoples ", particularly

5418-499: The 17th century onwards. William Houghton's Judas Maccabaeus , performed in about 1601 but now lost, is thought to have been the first drama on the theme; however, Judas Macabeo , an early comedia by crucial Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca , is extant. Fernando Rodríguez-Gallego details its history in his critical edition: the play was performed in the 1620s in different versions and finally published as part of an anthology by Vera Tassis in 1637. Following on its heels

5544-473: The 1840s when an Egyptian vassal of the Ottomans, Muhammad Ali , and his son Ibrahim Pasha successfully broke away from Ottoman leadership and, conquering territory spreading from Egypt to as far north as Damascus, asserted their own rule over the area. The so-called Peasants' Revolt by Palestine's Arabs was precipitated by heavy demands for conscripts. The local leaders and urban notables were unhappy about

5670-716: The 1950s, a new generation of Palestinian nationalist groups and movements began to organize clandestinely, stepping out onto the public stage in the 1960s. The traditional Palestinian elite who had dominated negotiations with the British and the Zionists in the Mandate, and who were largely held responsible for the loss of Palestine, were replaced by these new movements whose recruits generally came from poor to middle-class backgrounds and were often students or recent graduates of universities in Cairo , Beirut and Damascus. The potency of

5796-403: The Arabic speakers of Palestine as Palestinians throughout the rest of the book." Bernard Lewis argues it was not as a Palestinian nation that the Arabs of Ottoman Palestine objected to Zionists, since the very concept of such a nation was unknown to the Arabs of the area at the time and did not come into being until very much later. Even the concept of Arab nationalism in the Arab provinces of

5922-693: The Arabic-speaking Muslims of Palestine but also the Arab Christians and other religious communities of Palestine who were at that time Arabic-speakers, such as the Samaritans and Druze . Thus, the Jews of Palestine were/are also included, although limited only to "the [Arabic-speaking] Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the [pre-state] Zionist invasion." The Charter also states that "Palestine with

6048-582: The Arabs of Palestine." Israeli historian Efraim Karsh takes the view that the Palestinian identity did not develop until after the 1967 war because the Palestinian exodus/expulsion had fractured society so greatly that it was impossible to piece together a national identity. Between 1948 and 1967, the Jordanians and other Arab countries hosting Arab refugees from Palestine/Israel silenced any expression of Palestinian identity and occupied their lands until Israel's conquests of 1967. The formal annexation of

6174-467: The Bible, when Joshua defeated the Amorite kings, "he killed a large number of them at Gibeon , and chased them by the way of the 'Ascent of Beth-horon'". Later on, the Philistines chose to launch their attack against Saul via the route passing through Beth-Horon (1 Samuel 13:18), sending a company of their men to hold "the way of Beth-horon". Upper Bethoron is later mentioned in 2 Kings as one of

6300-517: The British, and Izz ad-Din al-Qassam . After the killing of sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam by the British in 1935, his followers initiated the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine , which began with a general strike in Jaffa and attacks on Jewish and British installations in Nablus . The Arab Higher Committee called for a nationwide general strike, non-payment of taxes, and the closure of municipal governments, and demanded an end to Jewish immigration and

6426-610: The Gaza Strip, over 870,000 in the West Bank, and around 250,000 in Israel proper. Of the Palestinian population who live abroad, known as the Palestinian diaspora , more than half are stateless , lacking legal citizenship in any country. 2.3 million of the diaspora population are registered as refugees in neighboring Jordan , most of whom hold Jordanian citizenship; over 1 million live between Syria and Lebanon , and about 750,000 live in Saudi Arabia , with Chile holding

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6552-759: The Jewish population in Jerusalem and its surroundings in Judea , and Samaritan population in Samaria , never fully recovered as a result of the Jewish-Roman Wars and Samaritan revolts respectively. In the centuries that followed, the region experienced political and economic unrest , mass conversions to Christianity (and subsequent Christianization of the Roman Empire ), and the religious persecution of minorities. The immigration of Christians,

6678-469: The Maccabees, and Judah was forced to withdraw to Jerusalem. Beth-Zur was compelled to surrender, and Lysias reached Jerusalem and laid siege on the city. The defenders found themselves in a precarious situation because their provisions were exhausted; it was a sabbatical year during which the fields were left uncultivated. However, just as capitulation seemed imminent, Lysias and Eupator had to withdraw when Antiochus Epiphanes's commander-in-chief Philip, whom

6804-421: The Mandatory Power considered the Palestinian population to be composed of religious, not national, groups. Consequently, government censuses in 1922 and 1931 would categorize Palestinians confessionally as Muslims, Christians and Jews, with the category of Arab absent. The articles of the Mandate mentioned the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities in Palestine, but not their political status. At

6930-409: The Ottoman Empire as part of a 'sacred trust of civilization'. Article 7 of the League of Nations Mandate required the establishment of a new, separate, Palestinian nationality for the inhabitants. This meant that Palestinians did not become British citizens, and that Palestine was not annexed into the British dominions. The Mandate document divided the population into Jewish and non-Jewish, and Britain,

7056-458: The Ottoman Empire, "had not reached significant proportions before the outbreak of World War I." Tamir Sorek, a sociologist , submits that, "Although a distinct Palestinian identity can be traced back at least to the middle of the nineteenth century (Kimmerling and Migdal 1993; Khalidi 1997b), or even to the seventeenth century (Gerber 1998), it was not until after World War I that a broad range of optional political affiliations became relevant for

7182-439: The Ottoman period. During the Mandatory Palestine period, the term "Palestinian" was used to refer to all people residing there, regardless of religion or ethnicity , and those granted citizenship by the British Mandatory authorities were granted "Palestinian citizenship". Other examples include the use of the term Palestine Regiment to refer to the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group of the British Army during World War II, and

7308-423: The PLO's Palestinian National Council in July 1968, defined "Palestinians" as "those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or stayed there. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father – whether in Palestine or outside it – is also a Palestinian." Note that "Arab nationals" is not religious-specific, and it includes not only

7434-415: The Palestinian Arabs representation in a Legislative Council on condition that they accept the terms of the mandate. The Palestine Arab delegation rejected the proposal as "wholly unsatisfactory", noting that "the People of Palestine" could not accept the inclusion of the Balfour Declaration in the constitution's preamble as the basis for discussions. They further took issue with the designation of Palestine as

7560-486: The Palestinian Arabs' aid against the newly founded State of Israel . The Palestinian Arabs suffered such a major defeat at the end of the war, that the term they use to describe the war is Nakba (the "catastrophe"). Israel took control of much of the territory that would have been allocated to the Arab state had the Palestinian Arabs accepted the UN partition plan. Along with a military defeat, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled from what became

7686-400: The Palestinian national identity is a disputed issue amongst scholars. For some, the term " Palestinian " is used to refer to the nationalist concept of a Palestinian people by Palestinian Arabs from the late 19th century and in the pre-World War I period, while others assert the Palestinian identity encompasses the heritage of all eras from biblical times up to the Ottoman period . After

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7812-609: The Palestinian people's right to form a sovereign independent state, "The right of self-determination gives the Palestinian people collectively the inalienable right freely to determine its political status, while Israel, having recognized the Palestinians as a separate people, is obliged to promote and respect this right in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations". Judas Maccabeus Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( / ˌ m æ k ə ˈ b iː ə s / MAK -ə- BEE -əs ), also known as Judah Maccabee ( Hebrew : יהודה המכבי , romanized :  Yehudah HaMakabi ),

7938-456: The Roman and Byzantine periods to about 300,000 by the early Ottoman period. Over time, the existing population adopted Arab culture and language and much converted to Islam . The settlement of Arabs before and after the Muslim conquest is thought to have played a role in accelerating the Islamization process. Some scholars suggest that by the arrival of the Crusaders , Palestine was already overwhelmingly Muslim, while others claim that it

8064-470: The State of Israel. Israel did not allow the Palestinian refugees of the war to return to Israel. After the war, there was a hiatus in Palestinian political activity. Khalidi attributes this to the traumatic events of 1947–49, which included the depopulation of over 400 towns and villages and the creation of hundreds of thousands of refugees. 418 villages had been razed, 46,367 buildings, 123 schools, 1,233 mosques, 8 churches and 68 holy shrines, many with

8190-463: The State of Israel." In 1975, the United Nations established a subsidiary organ, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People , to recommend a program of implementation to enable the Palestinian people to exercise national independence and their rights to self-determination without external interference, national independence and sovereignty, and to return to their homes and property. The First Intifada (1987–93)

8316-426: The Swiss-German writer Karl Boxler published his novel Judas Makkabaeus; ein Kleinvolk kaempft um Glaube und Heimat (1943), the subtitle of which suggests that Swiss democrats then drew a parallel between their own national hero, William Tell , and the leader of the Maccabean revolt against foreign tyranny. The modern play Playing Dreidel with Judah Maccabee by Edward Einhorn is about a contemporary boy who meets

8442-433: The West Bank and Gaza Strip, a new ideological theme, known as sumud , represented the Palestinian political strategy popularly adopted from 1967 onward. As a concept closely related to the land, agriculture and indigenousness , the ideal image of the Palestinian put forward at this time was that of the peasant (in Arabic, fellah ) who stayed put on his land, refusing to leave. A strategy more passive than that adopted by

8568-450: The West Bank by Jordan in 1950, and the subsequent granting of its Palestinian residents Jordanian citizenship, further stunted the growth of a Palestinian national identity by integrating them into Jordanian society. The idea of a unique Palestinian state distinct from its Arab neighbors was at first rejected by Palestinian representatives. The First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations (in Jerusalem , February 1919), which met for

8694-512: The biblical story in the context of the Jacobite rising of 1745 . This work, with libretto by Thomas Morell , had been written for the celebrations following the Duke of Cumberland 's victory over the Scottish Jacobite rebels at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The oratorio's most famous chorus is "See, the conqu'ring hero comes". The tune of this chorus was later adopted as a Christian Easter hymn tune Thine Be The Glory, Risen Conquering Son . A Hebrew translation of Handel's Judas Maccabee

8820-426: The campaign in Transjordan, taking his brother Jonathan with him. After fierce fighting, he defeated the Transjordanian tribes and rescued the Jews concentrated in fortified towns in Gilead. The Jewish population of the areas taken by the Maccabees was evacuated to Judea. After the fighting in Transjordan, Judah turned against the Edomites in the south, captured and destroyed Hebron and Maresha . He then marched on

8946-406: The cities built and fortified by Solomon ( 1 Kings 9:17 , also in 2 Chronicles 8:59 ). Solomon "built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars" (2 Chronicles 8:5; 1 Kings 9:17). From Egyptian sources it appears that Bethoron was one of the places conquered by Shishak of Egypt from Rehoboam . According to 1 Chronicles 7:24, Lower Bethoron

9072-530: The coast of the Mediterranean, destroyed the altars and statues of the pagan gods in Ashdod , and returned to Judea with many spoils. Judah then laid siege to the Seleucid garrison at the Acra , the Seleucid citadel of Jerusalem. The besieged, who included not only Syrian-Greek troops but also Hellenistic Jews, appealed for help to Lysias, who effectively became the regent of the young king Antiochus V Eupator after

9198-593: The confrontations. After the 1920 Nebi Musa riots , the San Remo conference and the failure of Faisal to establish the Kingdom of Greater Syria , a distinctive form of Palestinian Arab nationalism took root between April and July 1920. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the French conquest of Syria , coupled with the British conquest and administration of Palestine, the formerly pan-Syrianist mayor of Jerusalem , Musa Qasim Pasha al-Husayni , said "Now, after

9324-473: The dead; the painting illustrates an episode from 2 Maccabees 12:39–48 in which Judah's troops find stolen idolatrous charms on the corpses of Jewish warriors slain on the battlefield. He therefore offers prayers and an expiatory sacrifice for these warriors who have died in a state of sin. During the Counter-Reformation the passage was used by Catholics against Protestants in order to justify

9450-640: The death of Antiochus Epiphanes at the end of 164 BCE during the Parthian campaign. Lysias and Eupator set out for a new campaign in Judea. Lysias skirted Judea as he had done in his first campaign, entering it from the south and besieging Beth-Zur . Judah raised the siege of the Acra and went to meet Lysias. In the Battle of Beth-zechariah , south of Bethlehem , the Seleucids achieved their first major victory over

9576-457: The distinctiveness of Palestinian history ..." and "[a]lthough proud of their Arab heritage and ancestry, the Palestinians considered themselves to be descended not only from Arab conquerors of the seventh century but also from indigenous peoples who had lived in the country since time immemorial, including the ancient Hebrews and the Canaanites before them." Zachary J. Foster argued in

9702-728: The doctrine of purgatory . Accordingly, Rubens painted the scene for the Chapel of the Dead in Tournai cathedral. In the 19th century, Paul Gustave Doré executed an engraving of Judah Maccabee victoriously pursuing the shattered troops of the Syrian enemy. In music, almost all the compositions inspired by the Hasmonean rebellion revolve around Judah. In 1746, the composer George Frideric Handel composed his oratorio Judas Maccabeus , putting

9828-432: The early 20th century strong opposition to Zionism and evidence of a burgeoning nationalistic Palestinian identity is found in the content of Arabic-language newspapers in Palestine, such as Al-Karmil (est. 1908) and Filasteen (est. 1911). Filasteen initially focused its critique of Zionism around the failure of the Ottoman administration to control Jewish immigration and the large influx of foreigners, later exploring

9954-498: The efforts of some extreme advocates of Palestinian nationalism to "anachronistically" read back into history a nationalist consciousness that is in fact "relatively modern". Khalidi argues that the modern national identity of Palestinians has its roots in nationalist discourses that emerged among the peoples of the Ottoman empire in the late 19th century that sharpened following the demarcation of modern nation-state boundaries in

10080-704: The emigration of Jews, and the conversion of pagans, Jews and Samaritans, contributed to a Christian majority forming in Late Roman and Byzantine Palestine . In the 7th century, the Arab Rashiduns conquered the Levant ; they were later succeeded by other Arab Muslim dynasties, including the Umayyads , Abbasids and the Fatimids . Over the following several centuries, the population of Palestine drastically decreased, from an estimated 1 million during

10206-679: The first Israeli–Palestinian interim peace agreement, were signed in 1993. The process was envisioned to last five years, ending in June 1999, when the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area began. The expiration of this term without the recognition by Israel of the Palestinian State and without the effective termination of the occupation was followed by the Second Intifada in 2000. The second intifada

10332-569: The following years, especially under the nationalistic orientation of the leadership of Yasser Arafat . Mainstream secular Palestinian nationalism was grouped together under the umbrella of the PLO whose constituent organizations include Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , among other groups who at that time believed that political violence was the only way to "liberate" Palestine. These groups gave voice to

10458-459: The garrison in the citadel of Acra . He purified the defiled Temple of Jerusalem and, on the 25th of Kislev (December 14, 164 BCE), restored the service in the Temple. The reconsecration of the Temple became a permanent Jewish holiday, Hanukkah , which continued even after the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Hanukkah is still celebrated annually. The liberation of Jerusalem was the first step on

10584-507: The gods is like you, O Adonai?", the Maccabean battle-cry to motivate troops ( Exodus 15:11) as well as a part of the daily Jewish morning and evening liturgy (see mi chamokha ). Some scholars maintain that the name is a shortened form of the Hebrew maqqab-Yahu (from naqab , "to mark, to designate"), meaning "the one designated by Yahweh." Although originally the surname Maccabee was exclusive to Judah (his brothers had different surnames), at

10710-461: The historical figure. In the medieval Christian art, Judah Maccabee was regarded as one of the heroes of the Old Testament . He figures in a tenth-century illustrated manuscript Libri Maccabaeorum . The late medieval French artist Jean Fouquet painted an illustration of Judah triumphing over his enemies for his famous manuscript of Josephus. Rubens painted Judah Maccabee praying for

10836-520: The history of Palestine  – encompassing the Biblical , Roman , Byzantine , Umayyad , Abbasid , Fatimid , Crusader , Ayyubid , Mamluk and Ottoman periods – form part of the identity of the modern-day Palestinian people, as they have come to understand it over the last century. Noting that Palestinian identity has never been an exclusive one, with "Arabism, religion, and local loyalties" playing an important role, Khalidi cautions against

10962-415: The impact of Zionist land-purchases on Palestinian peasants ( Arabic : فلاحين , fellahin ), expressing growing concern over land dispossession and its implications for the society at large. Historian Rashid Khalidi 's 1997 book Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness is considered a "foundational text" on the subject. He notes that the archaeological strata that denote

11088-445: The interwar period in response to Zionist immigration and settlement." Gelvin argues that this fact does not make the Palestinian identity any less legitimate: "The fact that Palestinian nationalism developed later than Zionism and indeed in response to it does not in any way diminish the legitimacy of Palestinian nationalism or make it less valid than Zionism. All nationalisms arise in opposition to some 'other.' Why else would there be

11214-518: The land as punishment for the Bar Kokhba revolt . Jacobson suggested the change to be rationalized by the fact that the new province was far larger. The name was thenceforth inscribed on coins, and beginning in the fifth century, mentioned in rabbinic texts . The Arabic word Filastin has been used to refer to the region since the time of the earliest medieval Arab geographers . It appears to have been used as an Arabic adjectival noun in

11340-641: The land in which the Palestinians have lived during the modern era. Palestine was administered by the Ottoman Empire until World War I, and then overseen by the British Mandatory authorities. Israel was established in parts of Palestine in 1948, and in the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , the West Bank was ruled by Jordan , and the Gaza Strip by Egypt , with both countries continuing to administer these areas until Israel occupied them in

11466-494: The largest Palestinian diaspora concentration (around half a million) outside of the Arab world . The Greek toponym Palaistínē (Παλαιστίνη), which is the origin of the Arabic Filasṭīn (فلسطين), first occurs in the work of the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus , where it denotes generally the coastal land from Phoenicia down to Egypt . Herodotus also employs the term as an ethnonym , as when he speaks of

11592-649: The late Seleucus IV Philopator , who returned from years as a hostage in Rome. Demetrius appointed Alcimus (Jakim), a Hellenistic Jew , as high priest, a choice the Hasidim (Pietists) might have accepted since he was of priestly descent. When war against the external enemy ended, an internal struggle broke out between the party led by Judah and the Hellenist party. The influence of the Hellenizers all but collapsed in

11718-519: The late Antiochus IV Epiphanes, fled from Rome in defiance of the Roman Senate and arrived in Syria. Declaring himself the rightful king, he captured and killed Lysias and Antiochus Eupator, taking the throne. It was thus Demetrius to whom the delegation, led by Alcimus, complained of the persecution of the Hellenist party in Judea. Demetrius granted Alcimus's request to be appointed High Priest under

11844-449: The late ruler appointed regent before his death, rebelled against Lysias and was about to enter Antioch and seize power. Lysias proposed a peaceful settlement, which was concluded at the end of 163 BCE. The peace terms were based on the restoration of religious freedom, the permission for the Jews to live per their own laws, and the official return of the Temple to the Jews. Lysias defeated Philip, only to be overthrown by Demetrius , son of

11970-619: The latter Israelite tribe and therefore, later on, to the Northern Kingdom of Israel , while the tribe of Benjamin belonged to the Kingdom of Judah . One or both of the towns was a Levitical city (Joshua 21:22; 2 Chronicles 6:53). According to biblical records, these cities were conquered by the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua , who defeated the five Amorite kings near Gibeon and pursued them southward past Beth-Horon to Azekah and Makkedah (Joshua 10:5-11). According to

12096-588: The liberty to worship freely. As a warrior hero and national liberator, Judah Maccabee has inspired many writers, and several artists and composers. In the Divine Comedy , Dante sees his spirit in the Heaven of Mars with the other "heroes of the true faith". In Shakespeare 's Love's Labour's Lost , he is enacted along with the other Nine Worthies , but heckled for sharing a name with Judas Iscariot . Most significant works dedicated solely to him date from

12222-621: The loss of traditional privileges, while the peasants were well aware that conscription was little more than a death sentence. Starting in May 1834 the rebels took many cities, among them Jerusalem , Hebron and Nablus and Ibrahim Pasha's army was deployed, defeating the last rebels on 4 August in Hebron. Benny Morris argues that the Arabs in Palestine nevertheless remained part of a larger national pan-Arab or, alternatively, pan-Islamist movement. Walid Khalidi argues otherwise, writing that Palestinians in Ottoman times were "[a]cutely aware of

12348-598: The lower town was established before the upper one. Potsherds from the Late Bronze Age onward were discovered at Lower Beit Ur, whereas those in Upper Beit Ur date only from the Iron Age onward. 31°52′38″N 35°7′7″E  /  31.87722°N 35.11861°E  / 31.87722; 35.11861 Palestinians Palestinians ( Arabic : الفلسطينيون , romanized :  al-Filasṭīniyyūn ) are an Arab ethnonational group native to

12474-486: The meantime, pan-Arabism has waned as an aspect of Palestinian identity. The Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank triggered a second Palestinian exodus and fractured Palestinian political and militant groups, prompting them to give up residual hopes in pan-Arabism. They rallied increasingly around the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which had been formed in Cairo in 1964. The group grew in popularity in

12600-580: The name Syria Palestina continued to be used by historians and geographers to refer to the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River , as in the writings of Philo , Josephus and Pliny the Elder . During the early 2nd century CE, Syria Palaestina became the official administrative name in a move viewed by scholars as an attempt by emperor Hadrian to disassociate Jews from

12726-622: The need to specify who you are? And all nationalisms are defined by what they oppose." David Seddon writes that "[t]he creation of Palestinian identity in its contemporary sense was formed essentially during the 1960s, with the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization." He adds, however, that "the existence of a population with a recognizably similar name ('the Philistines') in Biblical times suggests

12852-538: The newly declared Israeli state were occupied by Egypt or annexed by Jordan. At the Jericho Conference on 1 December 1948, 2,000 Palestinian delegates supported a resolution calling for "the unification of Palestine and Transjordan as a step toward full Arab unity". During what Khalidi terms the "lost years" that followed, Palestinians lacked a center of gravity, divided as they were between these countries and others such as Syria, Lebanon, and elsewhere. In

12978-507: The promotion of the Arabic language and culture, for the defense of Islamic values and for an independent Syria and Palestine. In Damascus , al-Nadi al-Arabi , dominated by the Husayni family, defended the same values. Article 22 of The Covenant of the League of Nations conferred an international legal status upon the territories and people which had ceased to be under the sovereignty of

13104-471: The protection of the king's army and sent to Judea an army led by Bacchides . The weaker Jewish army could not oppose the enemy and withdrew from Jerusalem, so Judah returned to wage guerrilla warfare. Soon after, the Seleucid Army needed to return to Antioch because of the turbulent political situation. Judah's forces returned to Jerusalem, and the Seleucids dispatched another army led by Nicanor. In

13230-482: The purpose of selecting a Palestinian Arab representative for the Paris Peace Conference , adopted the following resolution: "We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic , natural, economic and geographical bonds." An independent Palestinian state has not exercised full sovereignty over

13356-494: The recent events in Damascus , we have to effect a complete change in our plans here. Southern Syria no longer exists. We must defend Palestine". Conflict between Palestinian nationalists and various types of pan-Arabists continued during the British Mandate, but the latter became increasingly marginalized. Two prominent leaders of the Palestinian nationalists were Mohammad Amin al-Husayni , Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, appointed by

13482-488: The region of Palestine . In 1919, Palestinian Muslims and Palestinian Christians constituted 90 percent of the population of Palestine, just before the third wave of Jewish immigration and the setting up of British Mandatory Palestine after World War I . Opposition to Jewish immigration spurred the consolidation of a unified national identity , though Palestinian society was still fragmented by regional, class, religious, and family differences. The history of

13608-442: The region since as early as the 7th century. In modern times, the first person to self-describe Palestine's Arabs as "Palestinians" was Khalil Beidas in 1898, followed by Salim Quba'in and Najib Nassar in 1902. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution , which eased press censorship laws in the Ottoman Empire, dozens of newspapers and periodicals were founded in Palestine, and the term "Palestinian" expanded in usage. Among those were

13734-532: The resolution, calling it "shameful". In a speech to the Knesset , Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yigal Allon outlined the government's view that: "No one can expect us to recognize the terrorist organization called the PLO as representing the Palestinians—because it does not. No one can expect us to negotiate with the heads of terror-gangs, who through their ideology and actions, endeavor to liquidate

13860-502: The revolt per the deathbed disposition of his father. The First Book of Maccabees praises Judah's valor and military talent, suggesting that those qualities made Judah a natural choice for the new commander. In the early days of the rebellion, Judah received the surname Maccabee. It is not known whether this surname should be understood in Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. Several explanations have been put forward for this surname. One suggestion

13986-503: The road to ultimate independence. Upon hearing the news that the Jewish communities in Gilead , Transjordan , and Galilee were under attack by neighboring Greek cities, Judah immediately went to their aid. Judah sent his brother, Simeon, to Galilee at the head of 3,000 men; Simeon was successful, achieving numerous victories. He transplanted a substantial portion of the Jewish settlements, including women and children, to Judea. Judah led

14112-990: The term "Palestinian Talmud", which is an alternative name of the Jerusalem Talmud , used mainly in academic sources. Following the 1948 establishment of Israel , the use and application of the terms "Palestine" and "Palestinian" by and to Palestinian Jews largely dropped from use. For example, the English-language newspaper The Palestine Post , founded by Jews in 1932, changed its name in 1950 to The Jerusalem Post . The term Arab Jews can include Jews with Palestinian heritage and Israeli citizenship, although some Arab Jews prefer to be called Mizrahi Jews . Non-Jewish Arab citizens of Israel with Palestinian heritage identify themselves as Arabs or Palestinians. These non-Jewish Arab Israelis thus include those that are Palestinian by heritage but Israeli by citizenship. The Palestinian National Charter , as amended by

14238-522: The third son of Mattathias , the Hasmonean , a Jewish priest from the village of Modi'in . In 167 BCE, Mattathias, together with his sons Judah, Eleazar , Simon , John , and Jonathan , started a revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes , who since 169/8 BCE had issued decrees that forbade Jewish religious practices. After Mattathias died in 166 BCE, Judah assumed leadership of

14364-430: The wake of the Seleucid defeat. The Hellenizing High Priest Menelaus was removed from office and executed. His successor was another Hellenizer Alcimus . When Alcimus executed sixty priests who were opposed to him, he found himself in open conflict with the Maccabees. Alcimus fled from Jerusalem and went to the Seleucid king, asking for help. Meanwhile, Demetrius I Soter , son of Seleucus IV Philopator and nephew of

14490-482: The world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the territory of former Mandatory Palestine , now encompassing Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip . In Israel proper, Palestinians constitute almost 21 percent of the population as part of its Arab citizens . Many are Palestinian refugees or internally displaced Palestinians , including over 1.4 million in

14616-717: The year 66 CE, the first decisive Jewish victory in the First Jewish–Roman War the Roman general Cestius Gallus was driven in headlong flight before the Jews. Eusebius ' Onomasticon mentions the 'twin villages' and St. Jerome describes them as 'little hamlets.' Jerome (late 4th to early 5th centuries) noted that Bethoron was just a little village at his time. In his eulogy for Saint Paula , he describes Lower and Upper Bethoron as cities founded by Solomon and destroyed by war. The two Palestinian Arab Muslim villages of Beit Ur el-Fauqa and Beit Ur et-Tahta preserve

14742-651: Was a Jewish priest ( kohen ) and a son of the priest Mattathias . He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE after Judah Maccabee removed all of the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses and purified it. Judah was

14868-523: Was aided by the immigration of Egyptians (during the reigns of Muhammad Ali and Ibrahim Pasha ) and Algerians (following Abdelkader El Djezaïri 's revolt) in the first half of the 19th century, and the subsequent immigration of Algerians, Bosnians , and Circassians during the second half of the century. Many Palestinian villagers claim ancestral ties to Arab tribes from the Arabian Peninsula that settled in Palestine during or after

14994-515: Was built by She'era , daughter of Beriah, son of Ephraim . The Second Book of Chronicles mentions Beth-Horon in the context of disbanded Israelite mercenaries in Amaziah 's army who looted towns in Judah "from Samaria to Beth-Horon" (2 Chronicles 25:13). The Syrian ( Seleucid ) general Seron was defeated here in 166 BCE by Judas Maccabeus ( 1 Macc. 3:13–24) in the Battle of Beth Horon . Six years later Nicanor , retreating from Jerusalem ,

15120-423: Was defeated and slain (1 Macc. 7:39; Josephus , Antiquities Bk12 Ch10:5.) Bacchides repaired Beth-horon "with high walls, with gates and with bars and in them he set a garrison , that they might work malice upon ("vex") Israel" (1 Macc. 9:50–51). Later, the Jews fortified it against Holofernes ( Judith 4:4–5). There are traces of an ancient Roman paving still visible. In the battle of Beth Horon in

15246-461: Was inhabited by the Canaanites , Semitic -speaking peoples who practiced the Canaanite religion . Most Palestinians share a strong genetic link to the ancient Canaanites. Israelites later emerged as an outgrowth of southern Canaanite civilization, with Jews and Israelite Samaritans eventually forming the majority of the population in Palestine during classical antiquity , However,

15372-587: Was more violent than the first. The International Court of Justice observed that since the government of Israel had decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, their existence was no longer an issue. The court noted that the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of 28 September 1995 also referred a number of times to the Palestinian people and its "legitimate rights". According to Thomas Giegerich , with respect to

15498-579: Was only after the Crusades that the Christians lost their majority, and that the process of mass Islamization took place much later, perhaps during the Mamluk period . For several centuries during the Ottoman period the population in Palestine declined and fluctuated between 150,000 and 250,000 inhabitants, and it was only in the 19th century that a rapid population growth began to occur. This growth

15624-555: Was prepared for the 1932 Maccabiah Games and is now popular in Israel with the motif of "conqu'ring hero" becoming a Hanukkah song. Beethoven composed a set of theme and variations 12 Variations on 'See the conqu'ring hero comes' for Cello and Piano, WoO 45. Tom Lehrer refers to Judas Maccabeus in his song "Hanukkah in Santa Monica". Mirah refers to Judah Maccabee in her song "Jerusalem". In " The Goldbergs Mixtape",

15750-549: Was searching for him in the mountains, Judah surprisedly attacked the Seleucid camp and defeated the Seleucids at the Battle of Emmaus. The Seleucid commander had no alternative but to withdraw to the coast. The defeat at Emmaus convinced Lysias that he must prepare for a serious and prolonged war. He accordingly assembled a new and larger army and marched with it on Judea from the south via Idumea . After several years of conflict, Judah drove out his foes from Jerusalem, except for

15876-594: Was the first popular uprising against the Israeli occupation of 1967. Followed by the PLO's 1988 proclamation of a State of Palestine , these developments served to further reinforce the Palestinian national identity. After the Gulf War in 1991, Kuwaiti authorities forcibly pressured nearly 200,000 Palestinians to leave Kuwait . The policy which partly led to this exodus was a response to the alignment of PLO leader Yasser Arafat with Saddam Hussein . The Oslo Accords ,

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