The Bible is replete with stories of the Philistines attacking the Israelites. King David's youthful encounter with Goliath, a mighty Philistine warrior, is but one of these examples. Goliath lived in Gath, which is now part of Gaza. Gaza is mentioned in the Bible as one of the Philistine cities.

The region was renamed to "Palaestina" following the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. To punish the Jews, Emperor Hadrian renamed the land for the Jews' archenemies, the Philistines.

But Jews remained in the land until the rebirth of Israel in May 1948. The small and scattered population of Arabs identified as Ottomans before 1917, and with the collapse of the empire, identified as Arabs, not Palestinians. The creation of Palestinian identity began in the 1960s with the rise of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a terrorist group.

Terror has been part of the Palestinian culture from the beginning. Now Joe Biden wants to give the Palestinian Authority (formerly known as the PLO) 100 million dollars and an additional 9 BILLION DOLLARS TO UNWRA, which indoctrinates children to kill Jews.

In the British Mandate by the United Kingdom, the plan was to divide the land between Arabs and Jews. The Jews said "yes," and the Arabs said "no." The Arabs wanted all the land with no Jews.

The day after Britain withdrew all its forces, on May 14, 1948, five Arab nations attacked Israel (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq). With no military, against all odds, Israel won that war.

Then in 1967, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria attacked Israel. This time, Israel won the war in six days. Israel later entered into a peace agreement with Egypt and Jordan that remains in effect to this day.

In 1970, the Arabs who moved to Jordan following the 1948 war grew angry at the Jordanian king's attempts to live in peace with Israel. Yasser Arafat organized the Palestinian Liberation Organization, choosing the word "Palestinian" in hopes of inventing a claim to the land by declaring an ancient name to which the Arabs had no actual connection. Ironically, there is no "P" in Arabic. Palestine is NOT an Arabic word!

To this day, no other Arab country will accept "Palestinians" because in every instance, their goal has been to overthrow the existing government and replace it with their own, with the objective of wiping out Israel and the Jewish people.

In 1993, Bill Clinton negotiated the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat of the PLO, and the PLO was renamed the Palestinian Authority. In this "land for peace" swap, Israel pulled all security forces out of the entire Gaza.

In 2005-2006, Israel forcibly removed all Jews from the area, again hoping to achieve peace. The U.S., other nations, and UNRWA pour "humanitarian aid" into the coffers of the Palestinian Authority, which, in turn, used the money to indoctrinate children to become terrorists, buy weapons from Iran, build tunnels underground, and establish military operations in hospitals. All of this is with one goal in mind that manifested on October 7.

Palestinians and their supporters tell their true intentions when they sing their adopted anthem: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

"From the river" refers to the river Jordan. The "sea" refers to the Mediterranean. The space between those two bodies of water encompasses ALL of Israel.

When the pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas forces sing this song, they are literally and purposefully calling for the complete eradication of Israel and every Jew within it, so that the Islamic jihadists alone are "free" in this land.

Joe Biden wants to give 100 million dollars to the PA and an additional 9 BILLION DOLLARS to UNRWA. This money WILL end up funding terrorism.

This Christmas, please consider making a special gift to support Christians in Defense of Israel's ministry defending the Holy Land. We cannot do this important work without YOU!

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you this Christmas and always!

Mat Staver
Chairman
Christians in Defense of Israel