Britaniyaliklar 1917-yil dekabrida Quddusni egallagan, tarixchilar esa ko'pincha Falastin 1918-yilda britaniyaliklar tomonidan Mandat Falastin tashkil etilguniga qadar rasmiy ma'muriy birlik sifatida mavjud bo'lmagan, deb ta'kidlaydilar. Aslida, quyida ko'rib chiqilganidek, Falastin bir ming yildan ortiq vaqt davomida alohida ma'muriy birlik va rasmiy viloyat sifatida mavjud bo'lgan. Dastlab bu Rim imperiyasining birgalikdagi viloyati — "Suriya Palestina" (135–390 miloddan avvalgi) shaklida bo'lgan, keyinroq esa Suriyadan ajratilgan, Vizantiya Falastinining uch ma'muriy viloyati shaklida mavjud bo'lgan: Palaestina Prima (Палестина Прима), ya'ni Palaestina I, Palaestina Secunda (Палестина Секунда) va Palaestina Salutaris yoki Palaestina Tertia (Палестина Терция). Bundan tashqari, bu uch viloyat IV asrdan VII asr boshigacha amalda siyosiy, harbiy va diniy jihatdan Palaestina Prima'dan boshqariladigan yagona "uch-birlashgan" davlat tuzilmasi sifatida idora qilingan.

The British occupied Jerusalem in December 1917 and historians often argue that Palestine did not exist as an official administrative unit until the creation of Mandatory Palestine by the British in 1918. In fact, as we shall see below, Palestine existed as a distinct administrative unit and a formal province for over a millennium. This was first as the joint Roman province of ‘Syria Palaestina’ (135‒390 AD) and subsequently, as a province separate from Syria, in the form of the three administrative provinces of Byzantine Palestine: Palaestina Prima (Палестина Прима), or Palaestina I, Palaestina Secunda (Палестина Секунда) and Palaestina Salutaris or Palaestina Tertia (Палестина Терция). Moreover, these three provinces were effectively governed politically, militarily and religiously from Palaestina Prima as a ‘three-in-one’ polity from the 4th century until the early 7th century.

Yana bir bor, Filastin alohida ma'muriy birlik sifatida mavjud bo'lgan, ya'ni arab-musulmon ma'muriy viloyati Jund Filastin shaklida. Bu Jund Filastin ma'muriy viloyati (arabcha: جند فلسطين) 637‒638 yillardagi musulmonlarning Filastinni fath etishidan to 1099 yilda lotin salib yurishchilarining bosqinigacha deyarli to'rt yarim asr davomida mavjud bo'lgan.

And once again Palestine existed as a separate administrative entity in the form of the administrative Arab Muslim province of Jund Filastin. This administrative province of Jund Filastin (Arabic: جند فلسطين ) existed for nearly four and half centuries from the Muslim conquest of Palestine in 637‒638 until the Latin Crusader invasion of 1099 AD.

VII asrning 630-yillaridan 1099-yilda salibchilarning Falastinga bostirib kirishi va birinchi salibchi Quddus Lotin qirolligining tashkil topishi (1099‒1187) gacha bo'lgan deyarli yarim ming yil davomida rasmiy arab-islom ma'muriy viloyati Jund Filastin kengroq al-Sham hududi doirasida mavjud edi. Musulmon geografiyasi va kartografiyasida al-Sham ("Shimol") iqlim (al-Maqdisiy 2002: 135‒162) edi – hozirgi Suriya, Falastin/Isroil, Livan, Iordaniya va Turkiyaning janubiy qismi hududlarini o'z ichiga olgan keng hudud. Bir necha asr davomida al-Sham bir nechta ma'muriy musulmon viloyatlaridan iborat bo'lib, ularning orasida Falastin ham bor edi. 1890-yilda Kembrij universitetining arab va fors tili olimi Gay Le Strange (1854‒1933) "Musulmonlar ostidagi Falastin: Suriya va Muqaddas yerning 650 yildan 1500 yilgacha bo'lgan tavsifi" nomli muhim asarini nashr etdi; u Falastin tadqiqot jamiyati qo'mitasi tomonidan Londonda chop etildi. O'rta asr arab geograflarining asarlaridan keng tarjima qilgan Le Strange al-Sham ga oid barcha geografik arabcha ma'lumotlarni noto'g'ri ravishda "Suriya" deb tarjima qildi. Keyinchalik, zamonaviy Yaqin Sharq tarixchilarining ba'zilari al-Sham hududini zamonaviy Suriya bilan avtomatik tarzda aralashtirib yuborgani va hozirgi Suriya poytaxti Damashq shahri tarixan ham al-Sham deb atalgani sababli chalkashlik yanada oshdi. Al-Shamning bu tarixiy shahri o'rta asrlarda Dimashq (Damashq) musulmon viloyatining poytaxti bilan sinonimga aylandi.

For nearly half a millennium from the 630s until the Crusader invasion of Palestine in 1099, and the creation of the first Crusader Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099‒1187), the official Arab Islamic administrative province of Jund Filastin existed within the wider geographic region of al-Sham. In Muslim geography and cartography, al-Sham (‘the North’) was a geographic region (iqlim: al-Maqdisi 2002: 135‒162) – a vast region which included the territories of present-day Syria, Palestine/Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and south Turkey. For several centuries, al-Sham consisted of several administrative Muslim provinces, Palestine included. In 1890 Guy Le Strange (1854‒1933), a scholar of Arabic and Persian at Cambridge University, published an important work entitled: Palestine under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from AD 650 to 1500, published in London by the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. Translating extensively from the works of the medieval Arab geographers, Le Strange conveniently and mistakenly rendered all geographic Arabic references to ‘al-Sham’ into ‘Syria’. Subsequently further confusion was added to this automatic conflation of the al-Sham region with modern Syria by some historians of the modern Middle East and by the fact that the city of Damascus, the capital of present-day Syria, was also historically called al-Sham. This historic city of al-Sham became synonymous with the capital city of the Muslim province of Dimashq (Damascus) in the Middle Ages.

Falastin tarixi, Eski Ahd afsonaviy rivoyatlaridan farqli o'laroq, bir nechta "boshlanish" nuqtalariga ega, va Falastin g'oyasi bu ko'p sonli boshlanishlardan geosiyosiy tushuncha va alohida hududiy siyosiy birlik sifatida rivojlanib borgan. Falastin tushunchasi ko'pincha mavhum yoki tarixiy kontekstdan ajratilgan holda talqin qilinadi, holbuki u uch ming yil davomida chegaralari (jismoniy, ma'muriy, hududiy va madaniy) o'zgarib kelgan hudud sifatida tahlil qilinishi kerak.

The history of Palestine, unlike the myth-narratives of the Old Testament, has multiple ‘beginnings’ and the idea of Palestine has evolved over time from these multiple ‘beginnings’ into a geo-political concept and a distinct territorial polity. The concept of Palestine is often approached in an abstract or ahistorical way, rather than as a contextualised representation of an entity whose (physical, administrative, territorial and cultural) boundaries have evolved and changed across three millennia.

Lekin Falastinning sof g'oyalari yoki uning o'ziga xos ideal tushunchasi mavjud emas; Falastin haqidagi g'oyalar va bilimlarning shakllanishida empirik dalillar va insoniy tajriba asosiy o'rin tutadi. Eng muhimi, biz Falastinni faqat "tashqaridan" – idrok va umumlashmalar orqali – emas, balki "ichkaridan" – tana bilan his qilingan tajribalar va hissiyotlar orqali ham bilamiz. Falastin tushunchasini ommalashtirishda birinchilar qatorida bo'lgan qadimgi yunon olimlari vaqtni ikki xil tarzda tasavvur qilganlar: khronos – insonlar vaqtni miqdoriy va xronologik jihatdan o'lchaydigan usul: kunlar, oylar, yillar, asrlar; va kairos – insonlar muayyan lahzalarni yoki voqealarni muayyan nuqtai nazardan his qiladigan va eslaydigan usul. Vaqtning ushbu ikki xil tushunchasiga tayanib, ushbu ish Falastin tushunchasining ko'p chiziqli evolyutsiyasini hamda Falastin tajribalarining vaqt davomida va vaqtlar orasida qanday rivojlanganini o'rganadi. Shu bilan birga, sinxron (zamonaviy) yondashuvga eng yuqori qiymat beriladi.

But there are no pure ideas or an ideal concept of Palestine per se; empirical evidence and human experience are fundamental to the formation of ideas and knowledge about Palestine. Crucially, we do not know Palestine only ‘from without’ through perceptions and generalisations but also ‘from within’ through embodied experiences and affections. The classical Greek scholars – who were among the first to popularise the concept of Palestine – conceived of time in two distinct ways: khronos, the way human beings measure time quantitatively and chronologically: days, months, years, centuries; and kairos, the way human beings experience and remember particular moments or events from and with a particular perspective. Following this distinction between the two different notions of time, this work explores the multi-linear evolution of the conception of Palestine and the experiences of Palestine through time and across time. While putting the highest value on synchronic (contemporary)

Falastin xalqi haqida mahalliy jamoaviy ong va arabcha atamalar, ya'ni Ahl Filastin, Abnaa Filastin yoki Abnaa al-Balad, zamonaviy arab millatchilik atamalari Sha'b Filastin ("Falastin xalqi") yoki al-Sha'b al-Filastini ("Falastin xalqi") paydo bo'lishidan ancha oldin mavjud bo'lgan va ulardan keyin ham davom etgan. Albatta, atamalarning haqiqiy ma'nolari hamda ijtimoiy va jamoaviy o'ziga xosliklarning ifodalari tarixiy jihatdan rivojlanib, o'zgarib borgan, Falastin xalqining ko'p madaniyatli o'ziga xosligi ham bundan istisno emas. Arabcha sha'b, ya'ni xalq yoki millat, so'zining islomiy ma'nosi Qur'onda mustahkamlangan bo'lib, u ijobiy va ko'p qarashli tarzda tasvirlanadi: {Ey insonlar! Biz sizlarni yaratdik ... va sizlarni xalqlar [shu'ub] va qabilalar [qabail] qilib qo'ydik, toki bir-biringizni tanib olasiz}.

In Palestine, the indigenous collective consciousness of, and Arabic terminology for, ‘the people of Palestine’ (Ahl Filastin, Abnaa Filastin or Abnaa al-Balad) long preceded, but also followed, the modern Arabic nationalist terms Sha’b Filastin (the ‘people of Palestine’) or al-Sha’b al-Filastini (the ‘Palestinian people’). Of course, the actual connotations of terms and representations of social and collective identities have evolved and changed historically and the evolution of the multicultural identity for the people of Palestine is no exception. The Islamic reference to the Arabic term sha’b, people or nation, is enshrined in the Quran and the term is described positively and pluralistically: ‘O mankind! We created you … and made you into nations [pl. shu‘ub] and tribes [qabail], that ye may know each other’.

Shunday qilib, ijtimoiy plyuralizm Islom tarixi davomida jamoaviy identitetlarning shakllanish usulining asosiga aylandi. Falastinning mahalliy tushunchasi evolyutsiyasi uchun ayniqsa muhim ahamiyatga ega bo'lgan narsa - 15–20-asrlarda mahalliy falastinlik arab yozuvchilarining asarlarida Falastin xalqining o'z-o'zini tasviri. Bu tasvirlar quyidagicha shakllangan: arabcha "Ahl Filastin" va "Ard Filastin" ("Falastin xalqi" va "Falastin yurti") iboralari 10–18-asrlarda mahalliy falastinlik arab yozuvchilari tomonidan takror-takror ishlatilgan, ya'ni 19-asr oxiri va 20-asr boshlarida paydo bo'lgan yangi falastin milliy harakatidan ancha oldin. 19-asrning ikkinchi yarmida arabcha "Ahl Filastin" iborasi "Abnaa Filastin" (Falastinning (mahalliy) o'g'il-qizlari) va "Abnaa al-Balad" (yurtning o'g'il-qizlari) iboralariga aylandi; 20-asr boshida bu iboralar "Sha'b Filastin" - Falastin millati yoki xalqi ga, 20-asrning ikkinchi yarmida esa "al-Sha'b al-Filastini" (Falastin xalqi/millati) va "al-Kiyan al-Filastini" (Falastin mavjudoti) ga aylandi. Bu barcha iboralar (Sha'b Filastin, al-Sha'b al-Filastini va al-Kiyan al-Filastini) zamonaviy falastin hududiy millatchiligi ta'sirida Falastin millatining jamoaviy identitetining shakllanishi va mustahkamlanishiga ishora qiladi; lekin ularni qat'iy harfiy emas, balki erkin o'qilganda, bu jamoaviy iboralar Ahl Filastin, Ard Filastin va Abnaa al-Balad atrofida markazlashgan, zamonaviylikdan oldingi mahalliy jamoaviy ongga chuqur ildiz otganini ham ko'rish mumkin.