Introduction

Before I respond to this claim, let me first give you a quick background. The claim that Palestinians didn’t exist before 1964 is tied to the birth of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In its main charter, Article 6, the PLO defines Palestinians as Arabs who normally resided in the region before 1947. This was the first time in history that the term Palestinian was coined to refer to a distinct nationality.

Before the establishment of the PLO, people living in the region were referred to as "Palestinian Arabs". This term was influenced by an ideological movement called Pan-Arabism, which emerged to oppose the Ottomans by weakening their religious ties to the area. Pan-Arabism sought to replace the Islamic bond with a new one that emphasized Arab unity. This idea resonated with the Palestinians, or Palestinian Arabs, who viewed solidarity with other Arab countries as a source of strength in their fight against Zionism.

So, in other words, Palestinians are people who were influenced by various powers and ideologies that helped shape their modern identity.

Photo by lilizaeima on Pixabay

What is a National Movement

“But Palestinians were only invented in 1964.”

Before we address the historicity of Palestinians as a nation, it is important to understand that national movements are not found in nature. All national movements are invented, and all of them had a starting point. More importantly, national movements can’t be used to measure people’s origins.

This isn’t something new in modern history. Take the Kosovaars, for example. They only started calling themselves by that name in recent times, when Kosovo sought independence from Yugoslavia in the 90s of last century. Before that, they mostly referred to themselves as Albanians. If they had to be more specific, they would say Albanians from Kosovo. However, that doesn’t undermine their new identity, nor does it refute their historical origin in the land.

Why Does it Matter What People Choose to Call Themselves?

“but Palestinians are Arabs who just decided to call themselves Palestinians”.

My question is why can’t people call themselves by the name of the land where they and their ancestors lived for centuries, even if they identified as part of a bigger entity in the past?

After all, Israeli Jews before 1948 were just Jews. The term Israeli was invented in 1948. If immigrants can do that in a foreign land, why not natives?

So whether Palestinians choose to call themselves by the name of the larger group (Arabs) or by the name of the land (Palestinians), or both (Palestinian Arabs), what’s the issue?

And it’s not like switching from Palestinian Arabs to just Palestinians is a groundbreaking change.

Does Arab Identity Negate Land Connection?

So the most important question in this post is, how did Palestinian Arabs view their homeland Palestine? Did they feel any special connection to it, or was it just another place in their vast Arabic/Islamic empire? Let’s examine what historical records show in that regard, shall we?

One of the early accounts by Ottoman Palestinians was written by a Palestinian writer called Khayr al-Din al-Ramli, whose family name originates from the Palestinian town of al-Ramla. In his book, al-Fatawa al-Khayriyah, he refers to Palestine as “our Homeland”. (1)

Another more recent example of Palestinian identity and self-awareness was in 1905 by a Palestinian poet, al-Nashashibi, who warned against organised land purchase by foreign immigrants. (2) He said:

Awake, this is your homeland. Do not let it be sold to strangers.

In 1948, the Philipines representative at the UN showed opposition to the UNGA181 Partition of Palestine by saying it goes against the national aspiration of the people of Palestine. So who were the people of Palestine at the time? Palestinian Arabs. Were they just a bunch of nomads with no territorial awareness or self-identity? No, they had national aspirations. (3)