WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The first mention of a land called Palestine was by Yasser Arafat 57 years ago.
OUR VERDICT
False. A land known as Palestine is mentioned in historical sources as far back as 2500 years ago.
A Facebook meme claims the first mention of a land called Palestine was made by former Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat 57 years ago.
The claim is false. Experts told AAP FactCheck historical documents referring to an ancient land of Palestine date back thousands of years.
The Facebook meme (archived here) was shared by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) on September 13.
The meme reads: “The first ever mention of an ancient land called Israel was by an Egyptian Pharoah (sic), Merneptah, 3429 years ago. The first ever mention of an ancient land called Palestine was by an Egyptian opportunist, Yasser Arafat, 57 years ago.”
The meme appears to have originated in a post by British Zionist group Likud UK on September 8.
AJA president David Adler told AAP FactCheck via email: “While the term Palestine was a derivation from Philistines by the Romans who renamed Judea, it was just a district name. It was never a country, a separate state or land.”
However, the claim ignores several other historical sources that mention an ancient land of Palestine, says Dr Daniel Miller, a professor of religion at Bishop’s University in Canada.
Read the article by Jacob Shteyman on AAP FactCheck.