Warren, I think it wasn’t terrorism that perverted that word. It was public relations.

As you say, there used to be Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews. If anything, “Palestinian” was more often used to describe the region’s Jewish population. That community’s most important news medium was the Palestine Post — now called the Jerusalem Post.

But at some point after 1948 – when the fledgling state of Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbors on all sides – it occurred to some clever spinmeisters that if the region’s Arabs could take sole possession of the term that would re-frame the debate. After all, doesn’t it simply make sense that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians?

The Israelis, along with everyone else, have been only too eager to accommodate this name change. It was seen as a minor concession.

Also, historically, as I’m sure you know, eastern Palestine, about 75% of the Mandate of Palestine became Trans-Jordan (meaning Palestine across the Jordan River) now simply known as Jordan. The majority of Jordanians – including BTW, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – are as Palestinian as Abu Mazan.