Philistine’s name is believed to have evolved to Palestine. Moreover, the Hebrew name is believed to have evolved into Jew. Now, if we want to answer the question, “Who was there first,” then we meet with many difficulties. Because if we go back to the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the Arabs were in Palestine first. But is their land for that reason? Yes! Nope, not so fast. What if we go back further—thousands of years ago? Like, who was there first? Historians believe the first significant population to inhabit the land was the Canaanites. If “possession is 9/10th of the law,” the land belonged to them and their descendants. However, an influential people known as the Philistines migrated into the Canaanite land and took it over. So, the name of the Philistines is believed to become or evolved into “Palestine.”
So, if we stop the conversation right there, then the Palestinians can rightfully claim the land of Palestine as theirs just because they are the descendants of the Philistines. Can we admit that? Actually, it is more complicated. Other people migrated into the land. These people were the descendants of a man named “Eber,” whose name means “the other side.” Because he is coming on the other side of the Euphrates River, they were known as “Hebrews,” coming from “the other side” of the Euphrates into Canaan. Their most famous patriarch was Abraham. In fact, Genesis 12 talks about an amazing event that happened when Abraham came. The Creator God appeared to Abram, as he was known at the time, and made a remarkable promise: “To your descendants, I will give this land” (verse 7).
Now, this is a very important observation to make. We are dealing with two different concepts here: possession and ownership. Possession can be defined as physical control of any object; ownership includes possession because when you own something, you have absolute authority over the property. So, ownership is always guaranteed by the law, but possession is more often the physical control of a property. Now, if you understand that, you will agree that both the Canaanites and the Philistines only possessed the land. Furthermore, possession did not mean the right to ownership. So true that the Philistines came and took the land from the Canaanites; they only de-possessed the Canaanites. Nevertheless, here, in the Genesis event, we have the Supreme God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, who gave this land to the descendants of Abraham. Deal closed. Right? Because you cannot have a higher authority than that—more significant than the militant Philistines, the God who is infinitely superior to the grand British Empire, to the Ottoman Empire, to the United Nations, and so forth. The Supreme God gave the land away. He gave the land to the descendants of Abraham.
However, Abraham had eight sons. Does that mean the land belongs to all the eight sons who are descendants of Abraham? No. Because, out of Abraham’s eight sons, only Isaac was the legitimate heir chosen by God. That is, Isaac is the father of Jacob, who was also named Israel. Moreover, Israel had twelve sons—same scenario. Out of the twelve Israel’s sons (or tribes), only Judah and Benjamin became the ancestors of the Jews, or, say, that the Jews are mainly the descendants of these two tribes.
Still, we must admit that Abraham’s famous sons, Isaac and Ismael, are still making the headlines today. The Jews are the descendants of Isaac, and the Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael. However, who has the right to the land of Palestine? God’s promise to Abraham was repeated to Isaac, and then to Jacob (Israel), and to the descendants of Judah. The land belongs to Israel.
