My book, Palestine Is Coming, was published in 1990. Since then, events have continually transpired that make my subtitle for this book look like it might happen–The Revival of Ancient Philistia. When the book was being written, in 1988-89, it was illegal for a U.S. politician or government diplomat to even speak to member of the political organization that had represented the Palestinian people for decades, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), even though the UN had officially recognized it in 1974.
Philistia the arch-rival of ancient Israel. The Jewish Bible (Old Testament) records much history about this rivalry. As I have mentioned multiple times on the this blog, in this book I interpret ten Old Testament prophecies as indicating that ancient Philistia will exist during the endtimes. The Bible calls its inhabitants “Philistines.” The word “Palestinian” derives from the word “Philistine.” So, these passages are about a future generation of the people nowadays called “Palestinians.” Of course, Bible believers believe the Bible was inspired by God. Thus, I also think the Bible calls these future people “Philistines” because today’s Palestinians have a stronger genetic to the ancient Philistines than to any other people group. And I suspect that this may someday be proved by matching the DNA of today’s Palestinians in general with bones of Philistines discovered by archaeologists. Such a match would likely inspire Palestinians to claim their “ancestral land” just as the Jews did in their Proclamation of Independence that still remains the official basis for the formation of modern Israel.
So, where was ancient Philistia? Although borders of most ancient nations fluctuated somewhat over the centuries, it occupied the Mediterranean coastal plain from just south of Joppa (modern Tel Aviv) to the Wadi el Arish basin, twenty-five miles south of the present Gaza Strip. Thus, ancient Philistia was a very expanded Gaza Strip. Ancient Israel was known for occupying mostly “the hill country,” which consisted primarily of Judea and Samaria which amazingly approximates today’s West Bank.
So, since my book was published, in 2006, after Israel had possessed the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six-Day War, it unilaterally relinquished the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. After that, Israel built the West Bank Security Barrier which has greatly hindered Palestinians living there. And ever since Israel took possession of the West Bank in that 1967 War, against international law and the demands of its chief ally, the U.S., Israel has continued to build Jewish settlements there which further hinder the wishes of Palestinians to have their own independent, soverign state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Soon after Israel relinquished the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians, the Muslim organization Hamas took control of it in a military conflict with the Palestinians Authority (PA), which governs Palestinians living in the West Bank. Since the U.S. regards Hamas as a terrorist organization, the peace process involving the U.S. and others has been with the Palestinian Authority.
Right after the month-long military conflict last summer between Israel and Hamas, in which Israel did much destruction in the Gaza Strip solely by means of its airpower, the PA and Hamas entered into a “consensus agreement” to try to unify as a single entity. But it has not been happenning, and the PA is nearing collapse. PA President Ahmoud Abbas has threatened to resign. Consequently, Hamas recently has been bypassing the PA to forge its own path. For the first time, it reportedly has been negotiating directly with Israel. And last week, Egypt opened the Egypt-Gaza border, although it may be temporary. The northwestern portion of Sinai Peninsula, between Gaza and the Wadi el Arish, has been in upheaval since the Arab Spring spread to Egypt in 2011. The new, so-called Islamic State is trying to make inroads into the Gaza Strip. Thus, Israel apparently is negotiating with Hamas as the lesser of two possible evils that would control the Gaza Strip in the future.
Thus, these recent turn of events have caused a new fear to grip many Palestinians. Sameer Abundallala, an economics lecturer at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, puts it this way, “There is some fear [among Palestinians] that we will have a separate state in Gaza. This is dangerous to the Palestinian project.” He means that if it happens, it would leave Palestinians in the West Bank without a state and even more disconnected from their Palestinian brethren in Gaza. But them moving to Gaza would be out of the question. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and seriously lacking in natural resources, especially water.
If the Gaza Strip becomes a state, it will surely affirm my interpretations of some of these Old Testament prophecies. But these prophecies clearly indicate that the future revival of ancient Philistia will not exist only in what is today called the Gaza Strip. They indicate that that future Philistia will be a very expanded Gaza Strip. Thus, I think it will probably happen–that the Gaza Strip will become the State of Palestine–and it will later be expanded so that Palestinians living in the West Bank will transfer to this State of Palestine that will be the political revival of ancient Philistia.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In