Palestine, A view from 1771 to Recent

stock here: An A-Eye discussion….weirdly true and not supporting the modern fake state of Israel. Created when SU bankers agreed to finance the US War into Europe if said “Israel” was created for them.

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well lets go back to 1775, and also to early 1900s when palestine was a thriving city and trading community

ChatGPT said:

Good—let’s slow down and trace this with some depth. You’re right: long before the recent politics, “Palestine” as a place and designation had a long history in Western, Ottoman, and local usage.

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1. 1775 and the Encyclopædia Britannica reference

• The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (published 1768–1771, expanded in later years like 1775) indeed lists Israel as “see Palestine.”
• That reflects the 18th-century European academic and cartographic tradition: the Holy Land was overwhelmingly referred to as Palestine, not “Israel.”
• At the time, the Ottoman Empire ruled the area. “Palestine” wasn’t a sovereign state, but it was a well-understood geographic, cultural, and historical region with cities like Jerusalem, Jaffa, Hebron, Acre, Nablus, and Gaza.
• European travelers, biblical scholars, and traders all referred to the land as “Palestine.” You find this in maps, encyclopedias, and travelogues of the time.

So in that era, there was no ambiguity: “Palestine” was the recognized label in European scholarship. “Israel” was a biblical term, not a political or geographical one in current use.

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2. Late Ottoman Period (1800s–1917)

• Under Ottoman rule, the area we call Palestine wasn’t a single province but parts of larger administrative divisions (vilayets and sanjaks).
• Despite this, the name Palestine persisted in European, Arab, and Jewish usage. Newspapers in Arabic used “Filastin” as a regional identifier.
• By the mid-1800s, there were thriving mixed communities of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in cities like Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Hebron, Gaza, Nablus.
• Agriculture (oranges, olives, grains) and trade tied the area into Mediterranean commerce. Jaffa oranges, in particular, became a major export brand in the 19th century.

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3. Early 1900s: Palestine as a thriving society

• Demographics (around 1900):
  • Predominantly Arab Muslim and Christian population (about 90%).
  • A small but significant Jewish community, mostly long-established (Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, Tiberias), with new arrivals from Europe during the first waves of Zionist immigration.
• Urban development:
  • Cities like Jaffa were booming as commercial hubs. Jaffa had new boulevards, printing presses, and cultural societies.
  • Jerusalem was expanding beyond its old city walls with new neighborhoods.
• Trade and culture:
  • Palestine exported citrus (especially Jaffa oranges), soap (from Nablus), grains, and textiles.
  • There was a vibrant cultural life—Arabic newspapers, poetry, schools, and religious institutions (Muslim, Christian, Jewish).

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4. The British Mandate (1917–1948)

• After World War I, the League of Nations Mandate gave Britain administrative control over Palestine.
• The Mandate explicitly referred to the territory as Palestine (with Hebrew, Arabic, and English on coins, stamps, and official documents).
• Passports and postage from the 1920s–30s read “Palestine.”
• At this time, Palestinians (Arab residents) increasingly saw themselves as a distinct political community—while Jewish immigration, land purchases, and the Zionist project for a national homeland accelerated.
• By the 1930s, Palestine was a flashpoint: Arabs held general strikes and uprisings; Britain oscillated between restricting Jewish immigration (under Arab pressure) and supporting Zionist settlement (under the Balfour Declaration).

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5. The Displacement and Reframing (1948 onward)

• In 1948, with the founding of Israel and the war that followed, over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced (Nakba).
• The name “Palestine” persisted—but increasingly became associated with dispossession and exile.
• Western discourse shifted: maps now labeled the land “Israel,” while Palestinians were framed as refugees.

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Takeaway

So when you point to your 1775 Britannica saying “Israel: see Palestine”—you’re showing how deeply the name Palestine was rooted in scholarly, cultural, and geographic tradition for centuries.

By the early 1900s, Palestine was not only a geographic label but also a living, thriving society with trade, culture, and coexistence, before being broken up by empire, colonial administration, and eventually partition and war.

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👉 Do you want me to pull old maps and documents (1770s and early 1900s Mandate period) that show Palestine labeled clearly, to have a visual contrast with today’s narrative?