Explainer: Is Jerusalem the Capital of Israel or Not?

If you are prepared to distinguish between the issue of the rights of the Palestinian people today and actual historical fact, I’m happy to explain why you’re wrong.

What you call “the Jews” has been referring to themselves as “Am Israel”, being “the Nation of Israel”, the ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural identity, at least since the Iron Age. The modern Westphalian-style political state is a mere formality, from the perspective of the Jews.

Conversely, certain Arabs identified as, well, Arabs, tribe-members, or Syrians. And as Palestinians only relatively recently.

That’s why the article is factually incorrect. I’m happy to recognize that the Palestinian people as they are today have rights that need to be honoured, but not that there has magically been a people identifying themselves as Palestinian for all time.

/r/geopolitics Thread Parent Link - polgeonow.com