Why Several Towns in the United States Are Called Palestine

The name Palestine appears in several American places, including Palestine, Texas; Palestine, Illinois; and East Palestine, Ohio. Most of these communities were named in the 18th and 19th centuries, long before the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict became a defining global issue. For many early settlers, Palestine was a biblical reference to the Holy Land. Like other US towns named Bethlehem, Hebron, Canaan and Zion, the name reflected Christian memory, migration and the habit of carrying familiar sacred names into new settlements. Today, the word has far wider political and personal meaning. It can refer both to these historic American place names and to Palestinian identity, homeland and displacement. The shared name shows how history, faith and geography can give one word very different meanings. I am not trying to argue about what is not.

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