Palestine

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Pronunciations

Palestine (PAL-ih-styen) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Canaan, the ancient land on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

  • n. The former British Mandatory Palestine.

Example Sentences

  • "Some consider an 1834 revolt against an Egyptian plan to draft young Palestinian men into the army and impose a head tax as a formative moment in the emergence of Palestinian national consciousness. But it’s widely acknowledged that the rise of Zionism and the migration of significant numbers of Jews to the territory then known as Palestine in the early 20th century profoundly shaped Palestinian identity, even if it didn’t create it." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • English

Etymology

  • ultimately TH פְּלֶשֶׁת

      • Who Uses This

      • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there
      • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

      Alternative Spellings

      Mandatory Palestine

Notes

  • Definition 1: "Palestine has been inhabited and conquered by many nations since biblical times. The Philistines, Israelites, Babylonians, Romans, Crusaders, and Muslims all conquered ancient Palestine and laid claim to the region." (JPS)

    Definition 2: "In 1917, England issued the Balfour Declaration, declaring its support for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. On May 14, 1948, British rule over Palestine ended and the region was divided among Jordan, Egypt, and the newly established Jewish State of Israel." (JPS)

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