This article describes several
Definitions of Palestinian.
By place of birth
A "Palestinian" can mean a person who is born in the geographical area known prior to 1918 as "Palestine", or a former citizen of the British Mandate territory called Palestine, or an institution related to either of these. Using this definition, both
Palestinian Arabs and
Palestinian Jews were called "Palestinians".
Before the establishment of the State of Israel, the meaning of the word "Palestinian" didn't discriminate on ethnic grounds, but rather referred to anything associated with the region. The local newspaper, founded in 1932 by
Gershon Agron, was called
The Palestine Post. In 1950, its name was changed to
The Jerusalem Post.
In 1923,
Pinhas Rutenberg founded the Palestine Electric Company, Ltd. (later to become the Israel Electric Corporation, Ltd.)There was a Palestine Symphony Orchestra, and in
World War II, the British assembled a
Jewish Brigade, to fight the
Axis powers, that was known as the Palestine regiment.
Since the establishment of Israel, its citizens are called
Israelis, while the term
Palestinians usually refers to the Palestinian Arabs.
Mandate definition
Britain used the term "Palestinian" to refer to all persons legally residing in or born in the boundaries of the
British Mandate of Palestine without regard to their ethnicity, religion, or place of origin.
By place of origin
In its common usage today, the term...
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