Palestinians are Israelites (quora)

Q

Did Jews in ancient Israel ever get forced to convert to Christianity or Islam when they were under occupation under the Romans or Arabs?
https://www.quora.com/Did-Jews-in-ancient-Israel-ever-get-forced-to-convert-to-Christianity-or-Islam-when-they-were-under-occupation-under-the-Romans-or-Arabs/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl

Answer requested

by Kyle Rogers

Hans-Georg Lundahl

History buff since childhood. CSL & Eco added to Medieval lore. + Classics.

Answered 3m ago

Jews, Samarians and Galilaeans in 1:st C. AD were divided.

The Christian part in some degree avoided the Roman deportations and massacres after AD 70. Partly by temporarily fleeing to Pella, in Jordan. The Jewish part, by participating in the revolt, exposed themselves to massacre.

Holy Land was largely Christian* before Constantine, there were monasteries there going back to Apostolic times.

Since Constantine, these Christian Israelites considered themselves as Roman citizens, which did not stop them from speaking Aramaic or living like Beduins.

At the invasion of Chosroes II, some “reverted” to Judaism (i e, thought Judaism was the OT religion which their ancestors had lived under before becoming Christians) and when Heraclius defeated him, those who didn’t convert to Christianity went with Chosroes to Persia.

At the invasion of Omar, some of the Beduin tribes were and some were not forced to become Muslims. One so forced told a monastery they had been coming back to “we are now Muslims, but still your friends”.

This is the origin, both of Christian and of Muslim Palestinians.

The main origin, since Muslims have had some additions in Omar’s time from Arabian Peninsula, and in 19th C. from Algeria and Circassia after a pogrom against Palestinian Jews, and since Christians have had some additions from non-Hebrew Romans, pilgrims, crusaders. Note, some additions does not add up to total replacement. If it did, one could consider Ashkenasim “13th Tribe” since they have had some additions from Kazars.

Note, for the Christians, I do not think one can speak of “forced to”. They freely did, Christian Church being persecuted in 1:st C. AD was not in a position to force conversions from Judaism.

When Roman Empire became Christian, Judaism was already recognised as a “religio licita” and remained so, even if conditions were somewhat less honourable, since they had contributed to persecuting Christians. So mass enforced conversions by force to Christianity did not occur. I can’t totally rule out individual cases of misrule and forgetting the law, but I would certainly consider that as marginal.

* Not sure how the percentages are. 50 %? More? Less? But very probably more than 10 % or even 20.

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Just now

Source for situation under Chosroes and Omar:

An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestian Monasticism Under the Christian Empire - Derwas J. Chitty - Livres
https://www.amazon.fr/Desert-City-Introduction-Palestian-Monasticism/dp/0913836451

Q

What language did Palestinians speak during the reign of King David?
https://www.quora.com/What-language-did-Palestinians-speak-during-the-reign-of-King-David/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl

Hans-Georg Lundahl

Self Employed at Writer and Composer

Answered just now

They spoke Hebrew. Very few of them spoke Philistine, but King David subsumed them into Judah, after beating them, so they started speaking Hebrew.

Palestinians are Israelites. If we go to 2000 years ago and then forward a few decades, they are the Christian portion of Judean, Samarian and Galilean Israelites. If we go to Chosroes’ time, they are those who did not permantly “revert” to Judaism (revert being incorrect, since Judaism was something rising with Caiaphas and Pharisees, not the real ancestral religion). In Omar’s time, they are BOTH the ones who stayed Christians AND the ones who under Omar’s pressure became Muslims. However, some of Omar’s men also became part of Muslim Palestinians.