Hacker News Reader

Let's go back one further to 1947 where there was no Israel, and it was all Palestine.

Do you mean the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, administered by the British between 1920-1948 after the Ottoman Empire collapsed?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_Palestine

They mean the name that has been used for the region for much of human history.

How is that relevant?

Yes, the name Palestine is derived from the Philistines who used to inhabit the area 3500 years ago. The region has been urbanized for 7-9k years and inhabited by many different groups. Jews, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and I’m sure there’s more. It has an exceedingly complex history.

And the name _Israel_ is derived from another Bronze Age tribe, from which Zionists draw the legitimacy of their project. Rather a fatuous question.

> where there was no Israel, and it was all Palestine

A British colony. Taken from the Ottomans.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com