After the spread of Islam, Arabs began to live in Israel; just as there were Palestinian Jews, there were now Palestinian Arabs. Yet, the moniker ‘Palestinian’ was exclusive to Jews until 1948 when Israel was liberated by Jews from the British, and Palestinian Jews became Israelis.
Arabs living in Israel hated the moniker ‘Palestinian’ as it was closely associated with Jews. It was not until 1967 when an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood terrorist, Yasser Arafat, together with the Soviet KGB, invented the more modern name ‘Palestinian’ to unite Arabs in a politically antisemitic propaganda campaign. Only in 1969, was that term widely used.
Arafat knew that the Jews could not be beaten militarily; however, if an oppressed people were invented and used against Jews, then in the international court of opinion, the Arabs could ‘win.’
Those Arabs residing in Gaza are Gazans, who are primarily Egyptians with a smattering of other Arab countries represented within their population. Even as recently as 2012, a Hamas terrorist official pleaded with the Egyptians to ease fuel shortages, while emphasizing the Egyptian ethnic connection of the Gazans.
Arabs increased exponentially between the World Wars, only after Jews began revitalizing the land. One can easily decipher the origins of both current Israeli-Arabs, and those who erroneously consider themselves ‘Palestinian’ by their last name, as is illustrated here:
Judea & Samaria presents a far more complex tapestry of Arab and so-called Arab populations. There are those Arabs who were illegally settled by Jordan during the 19-year occupation (1948 – 1967) of the ancestral heartland of Israel; many of whom today hold Jordanian passports. More hidden, though widely known to both Israeli officials and among ‘Arab’ families, is that there exist numerous Jewish clans who were forcibly converted to Islam; north of 30% of those who claim they are ‘Palestinian’ are actually Jews.