Jina la Kiashuri pi-lis-te (pilistu palashtu, pilistu, pi-lis-te, pa-laas-ta-a-a, pilishti, pilishtu, pilistu, pilisti, pilistin) lilirejelea eneo linalotoka Gaza hadi Tantur, na huenda likajumuisha maeneo makubwa zaidi ndani ya nchi. Majina ya Kiashuri filisti, filistin na palashtu ni tahajia za Kiashuri za jina hili, ambazo hutumika kwa namna tofauti. Pengine inapaswa kutofautishwa na mikoa ya Kiashuri ya Tantur (kutoka Tantur hadi Akka), Magiddu ( مجیدو ; katika bonde la Yezreeli/ Marj ibn ‘Amer), Samerina (nyanda za juu za kati) na Yerusalemu ya Senakeribu (ikijumuisha Lakishi), pamoja na mikoa mingine inayowezekana. Kwa kipindi cha karne sita, majina haya yalipatikana kwenye maandishi machache ya Kiashuri.

The Assyrian name pi-lis-te (also pilistu palashtu, pilistu, pi-lis-te, pa-laas- ta-a-a, pilishti, pilishtu, pilistu, pilisti, pilistin) referred to an area that runs from Gaza to Tantur, and may include much larger areas inland. The Assyrian filisti, filistin and palashtu are Assyrian spellings of this name which are used variously. Perhaps it should be distinguished from the Assyrian provinces of Tantur (Tantur to Akka), Magiddu ( مجیدو ; in the Jezreel valley/ Marj ibn ‘Amer), Samerina (the central highlands) and Sennacherib’s Jerusalem (including Lakhish) and possibly other regions. Over a period of six centuries, these names were found on a handful of Assyrian inscriptions.

Agano la Kale linazungumzia "nchi ya Wafilisti". Katika Biblia, Bahari ya Mediteranea pia ilijulikana kama "Bahari ya Wafilisti" (Kut.

The Old Testament talks about a ‘land of the Plishtim’. In the Bible the Mediterranean Sea was also known as the ‘Sea of the Philistines’ (Exod.

Jina lao linatokana na watu waliokaa katika sehemu kubwa ya pwani ya Bahari ya Mediterania (Sura 23:31). Wafilisti walijulikana katika Agano la Kale kama Plishtim, na eneo lao la Mediterania liliitwa Pleshet: Filisti (1 Sam.

23:31), named after the people occupying a large portion of the shores of the Mediterranean. The Philistines were known in the Old Testament as Plishtim and their Mediterranean territory as Pleshet: Philistia (1 Sam.

17:36; 2 Sam. 1:20; Judg. 14:3; Amos 1:8). Wasomi wengi wa Kimarekani na wa Kiisraeli wa Biblia wanamtambulisha Peleset huyu na "nchi ya Wafilisti" ya Biblia, ambayo imefanyiwa mabadiliko kidogo ya kihistoria; yaani, angalau eneo la pwani kutoka Gaza hadi Tantur.

17:36; 2 Sam. 1:20; Judg. 14:3; Amos 1:8). Most American and Israeli biblical scholars identify this Peleset with a somewhat historicised, but ultimately biblical ‘land of the Philistines’; that is, at least the coastal region from Gaza to Tantur.

Simulizi za kimitholojia zenye msimamo mkali katika vitabu vya Yoshua, Kumbukumbu la Torati na Samweli zimeipa harakati ya kisasa ya Uzayuni wa walowezi-utaifa vipengele vyenye nguvu, vya kijeshi na vya kikatili vya "ushindi wa nchi ya Kanaani" na kuangamizwa kwa watu wake wa asili. Kitabu cha Waamuzi kimeipa Uzayuni pia mapokeo mengine ya kijeshi: hadithi za "vita takatifu" zinazohusishwa na mapambano (ya kweli au ya kufikirika) dhidi ya Wafilisti, na simulizi ya Samsoni (shujaa wa Waisraeli) na Delila mwenye hila, aliyemsaliti Samsoni kwa niaba ya Wafilisti wa Gaza (Waamuzi 16).

The militant myth-narratives of the Books of Joshua, Deuteronomy and Samuel have provided modern Zionist settler-nationalism with the muscular, militaristic and violent dimensions of the ‘conquest of the land of Cana’an’ and elimination of its indigenous people. The Book of Judges has also given Zionism another militarist tradition: the ‘holy war’ stories associated with the (real or imagined) struggle against the Philistines, and the narrative of Samson (an Israelite hero) and cunning Delilah, who betrayed Samson on behalf of the Philistines of Gaza (Judg. 16).

Filistia ya Enzi ya Shaba ya Marehemu na Enzi ya Chuma ilitawaliwa na Wafilisti na ikabadilika kuwa taasisi ya kipekee ya kijiografia na kisiasa, yenye viungo imara vya biashara ya kimataifa, uchumi wake wa kipekee, na mazingira ya kimijini yaliyoendelea. Wafilisti – watu waliokuwa na maendeleo makubwa ambao, kwa mujibu wa Agano la Kale, walitawala miji mitano maarufu ya Filistia: Gaza, Ashkeloni, Ashdodi, Ekroni na Gathi (Niesiołowski-Spanò 2011: 38) – kwa karne nyingi wameteseka chini ya uzito wa taswira yao hasi isiyoisha katika vitabu na masimulizi ya Agano la Kale. Kuanzia Goliathi hadi Delila, wamebeba sura ya Mwingine mwovu kwa asili katika simulizi ya kihistoria ya taifa la Israeli inayoendelea kujengeka (McDonagh 2004). Katika Agano la Kale, Wafilisti walijengwa kama mbuzi wa kafara wa kiitikadi wa kawaida (McDonagh 2004).

Philistia of the late Bronze Age and Iron Age was dominated by the Philistines and evolved into a distinct geo-political entity with strong international trade links, a distinct economy and a sophisticated urban environment. The Philistines – a highly advanced people who, according to the Old Testament, ruled five famed Pentapoli of Philistia: Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath (Niesiołowski-Spanò 2011: 38) – have, for centuries, suffered under the weight of their relentlessly negative portrayal in the books and stories of the Old Testament. From Goliath to Delilah, they have personified the intrinsically evil Other in the burgeoning narrative myth of the nation of Israel (McDonagh 2004). In the Old Testament, the Philistines were constructed as a typical ideological scapegoat (McDonagh 2004).

Ubaguzi wa rangi wa Ulaya ya kisasa na dhana potofu na chuki za Kibiblia dhidi ya Wafilisti zimeendelea kuishi katika maana ya kudharau na kukera ya neno la Magharibi la kisasa: "philistine ni mtu asiyejua utamaduni, au anayeupinga kwa kujivuna" (Eban 1984: 45; Rose 2004: 17; McDonagh 2004).

Modern European racism and biblical constructs and prejudices towards the Philistines have survived in the derogatory and offensive connotation of the modern Western term: ‘a philistine is a person ignorant of, or smugly hostile to, culture’ (Eban 1984: 45; Rose 2004: 17; McDonagh 2004).

Baadhi ya vyanzo vya hivi karibuni vinavyounga mkono Uzayuni vinaonekana kupendekeza kwamba 'p-l-s-t' ('Peleset'; Wafilisti) ilikuwa eneo linalolingana kwa kiasi kikubwa na eneo la sasa la Gaza. Kwa kweli, kinyume na madai haya ya kipropaganda, tangu mwishoni mwa Enzi ya Shaba na mwanzo wa Enzi ya Chuma I (takriban 1200 KK), Peleset walichanganyika na makundi mengine ya wenyeji waliokaa eneo la pwani ya Mediterania ya Palestina, kutoka Gaza upande wa kusini hadi Tantur upande wa kaskazini. Kwa uwezekano mkubwa, nchi ya Peleset ilienea zaidi kaskazini hadi Mlima Carmeli. Tantur ni jina la kawaida la kimataifa kwa Kiingereza la Tantura. Mji huu mdogo wa bandari ya Kipalestina (uliotolewa wakazi wake wakati wa Nakba ya Wapalestina mwaka 1948⁸) uko kusini mwa Haifa na kilomita 8 kaskazini-magharibi mwa mji wa Israeli wa Zikhron Yaakov (ulioanzishwa mwaka 1882) kwenye pwani ya Mediterania, kilomita 35 kusini mwa Haifa. Karibu na Tantura (Tantur) kuna eneo la kale linalotajwa kama Tel Dor, au Dora, na wanaakiolojia. Tantur ilikuwa kitovu cha mkoa wa Ashuru wa Tantura na ilidhibiti pwani hadi kaskazini hadi Akka kwa karibu karne moja. Karibu mwaka 1100 KK Wafilisti walipanua eneo lao la ndani kuelekea mashariki hadi kujumuisha mji wa Beisan (baadaye Scythopolis), mji muhimu wa kimkakati ulioko kwenye makutano ya Mto Yordani na Uwanda wa Esdraelon (Kiarabu: Marj Ibn ‘Amer). Ukubwa mkubwa wa eneo la pwani la 'nchi ya p-l-s-t' ('Peleset', 'Wafilisti'), kutoka Tantur kaskazini hadi Gaza kusini na pamoja na maeneo makubwa ya ndani, unapendekeza kwamba 'nchi ya Peleset' ilikuwa kubwa mara kumi na tano hadi ishirini kuliko Ukanda wa Gaza wa sasa, ikijumuisha sehemu kubwa ya eneo kubwa la Tel Aviv, eneo la mji mkuu wa Israeli, ambalo linajumuisha miji ya Holon na Petah Tikva, ambayo katika historia ya Kizayuni inajulikana kama Im Hamoshavot, 'Mama wa Makoloni'.

There are recent pro-Zionist sources which seem to suggest that ‘p-l-s-t’ (‘Peleset’; Philistines) was an area corresponding roughly to today’s Gaza region. In fact, contrary to these propagandistic claims, from the Late Bronze Age onwards and the beginning of the Iron Age I (about 1200 BC), the Peleset intermingled with other local populations inhabiting the Mediterranean coastal region of Palestine, from Gaza in the south to Tantur in the north. In all probability, the land of the Peleset extended further north to Mount Carmel. Tantur is the normal international English name for Tantura. This small Palestinian harbour town (depopulated in the Palestinian Nakba of 19488) is located south of Haifa and 8 kilometres north-west of the Israeli town of Zikhron Yaakov (founded in 1882) on the Mediterranean coast, 35 kilometres south of Haifa. Nearby Tantura (Tantur) is the ancient site referred to as Tel Dor, or Dora, by archaeologists. Tantur was the centre of the Assyrian province of Tantura and controlled the coast north to Acre for about a century. Around 1100 BC the Philistines expanded their inland territory eastwards to include the city of Beisan (later Scythopolis), an important strategic city located at the junction of the Jordan River and the Plain of Esdraelon (Arabic: Marj Ibn ‘Amer). The large extent of the coastal region of the ‘land of p-l-s-t’ (‘Peleset’, ‘Philistines’), from Tantur in the north to Gaza in the south and including vast areas inland, suggests that the ‘land of the Peleset’ was fifteen to twenty times larger than the current Gaza Strip, encompassing much of greater Tel Aviv, the Israeli metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Holon and Petah Tikva, the latter known in Zionist historiography as Im Hamoshavot, the ‘Mother of the Colonies’.

Tel Aviv ni mji uliokua kutoka kwenye mji mkuu wake, mji wa kale wa Kipalestina wa Jaffa, na kisha kuumeza. Wakazi asilia wa Jaffa walifukuzwa kwa wingi mwaka 1948 (Rotbard 2015). Eneo la mji mkuu wa Tel Aviv, ambalo kwa mujibu wa Avishai Margalit (wa Chuo Kikuu cha Kiebrania cha Jerusalem), halikuwahi kuwa nchi ya kihistoria ya watu wa Kiyahudi (Margalit, A. 1991), ndilo eneo kubwa zaidi la mijini nchini Israel likiwa na wakazi 3,700,000, sawa na zaidi ya asilimia 40 ya wakazi wote wa nchi hiyo.

Tel Aviv is a city which grew out of and then consumed its parent, the ancient Palestinian city of Jaffa, whose indigenous inhabitants were driven out en masse in 1948 (Rotbard 2015). The Tel Aviv metropolitan area, which, according to Avishai Margalit (of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem), had never been the historic homeland of the Jewish people (Margalit, A. 1991), constitutes Israel’s largest conurbation with 3,700,000 residents, over 40 per cent of the country’s population.

Kwa ujumla, kumbukumbu ya pamoja ya walowezi wa Kiisraeli wanaofanya ukoloni wa kimakazi inaunganisha Wafilisti wa kale na watu wa Palestina wanaozungumza Kiarabu wa leo. Mbinu za utakaso wa kikabila za Kizayuni katika Vita vya 1948 dhidi ya Wapalestina zilionekana wazi kupitisha na kuirekebisha simulizi ya kihistoria ya "vita takatifu" ya Samsoni dhidi ya Wafilisti. Ili kufanikisha hili, Waisraeli walipachika jina rasmi "Mbweha wa Samsoni" (Shu'alei Shimshon) kwenye mojawapo ya vikosi vyao muhimu vya kikomando vya mwaka 1948; kikosi hicho kilifanya kazi ndani ya Brigedi ya Givati, ambayo ilishiriki katika kuwafukuza Wapalestina.

Overall Israeli settler-colonial collective memory links the ancient Philistines with the modern Arabic-speaking people of Palestine. Zionist ethnic cleansing tactics in the 1948 War against the Palestinians evidently adopted and adapted the legendary narrative of Samson’s ‘sacred war’ against the Philistines. To do this, the Israelis officially named one of their key 1948 commando units Samson’s Foxes (Shu’alei Shimshon); it operated within the Givati Brigade which took part in the expulsion of the Palestinians.

Zaidi ya hayo, kikosi cha siri cha upelelezi chenye jina hilo hilo, Mbweha wa Samsoni, kilianzishwa upya na jeshi la Israeli mwaka 2002 ili kuunga mkono uvamizi wake wa Ukanda wa Gaza, eneo ambalo kumbukumbu ya pamoja ya Waisraeli inayotokana na Biblia inaliunganisha na Wafilisti wa kale. Nembo ya mbweha ya Amri ya Kusini ya Jeshi la Israeli pia imebuniwa kukuza mapambano hayo hayo ya pamoja ya Waisraeli dhidi ya watu wa asili wa Palestina.

Furthermore, a secret reconnaissance battalion of the same name, Samson’s Foxes, was re-established by the Israeli army in 2002, to back its occupation of the Gaza Strip, a region to which Israeli (biblicist) collective memory links to the ancient Philistines. The fox logo of the Israeli Army’s Southern Command is also designed to foster the same collective and Israeli struggle against the indigenous people of Palestine.