I think it's interesting how they have "Hebrew" listed as one of Palestine's official languages.

Say, are Palestinian children taught Hebrew starting in middle school or when they get to high school?

Maybe they should have made the whole region striped and called in Israelistine or Palesrael.

Being fair on this one, NBC is using the official International Olympic Committee designations and its that group that sets the wording.

The Olympic Council of Asia as the regional Olympic Committee specifies that there is a Palestine National Olympic Committee complete with flag and anthem.

It's all Palestine.

Given that the Palestinians sent a team to the Olympics I don't see how Reuters could have drawn the map differently. I am much more offended by the NBC awarding Palestine the title of 'the Holyland' and not Israel.

They mention that Gaza was transferred to the Palestinian Authority but not that Hamas kicked the Palistinian Authority out.

What does this sentence in the Palestine country profile mean? In the late 1990s, the PLO and Israel agreed to expand The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),

At best sloppy writing.

Very little written about Israel, particularly compared with Palestine. In fairness, languages spoken in Israel are Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian.

Hebrew is spoken in Palestine by the illegal Israeli settlers who live within its borders. You may also be interested to learn that Palestine was a country far before Israel was established.

Palestine has never been a country. It never had its own government. It is a geographical area that has been controlled by the Jews (back in the days of the Maccabees), the Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the British, etc.

I have an album of Palestinian Folk Dances from the 1940's. The songs are Hebrew dances like Hava Nagila, Tzena, etc. There are no folk dances about killing non-believers of Mohammed or suicide bombers. The word Palestinians referred to people who lived in that region (Jews and Arabs).

People trying to change history today are uninformed or trying to spread propoganda.

What's worse is that the ISRAEL map doesn't even have the Golan Heights in it as israel. It's boundary doesn't exist and it's embedded with Syria.

And Samuel might be interested in knowing that the kingdoms of Judah and Israel existed before there the Roman Empire renamed it Palestine in 70ad. That country called "Palestine" wasn't an independent country but part of a greater Roman empire that had just vanquished its Jewish residents.

I think we are all in very serious trouble in the world right now. It is becoming more and more divided over Israel and Palestine even within families. I am for Israel and my brother is for the poor Palestinians, and his mind can not be changed. It reminds me of the Republicans and the Democrates. There will never be any common ground. I pray for us all.

I find it interestesting to read the distortion of history. Palestine was the named given to the area after the Romans captured and destroyed the Jewish state of Judea which existed since about 3500 years ago. A state of Palestine never existed.

Come on people. The history of the world is a long list of groups of people being forced off their land. In a few generations that land becomes the conquers, and it becomes their homeland, until they themselves are kicked out by another group.

Israel/Palestine is no different. If you really want to go back far enough the Hebrew's conquered the area, its in our own Torah. Point is the reality on the ground is independent of what anyone's preferred reality might be.

Citing 3500 year old claims to land makes no sense in the context of genetic mixing. Contrary to what many of my Jewish brothers believe, we are not "pure", half of us have blue or green eyes. Where did that trait come from? Gentile Europeans. Do a DNA test, you'd be surprised what you find out.

I'd have to agree in most respects. History has often revolved around the passing of land between two peoples, be it by force or politics. Also, the British gave all of the land known at the time as Palestine to the Jews by means of a mandate during World War II.

And before it starts, it wasn't the, "palestinians" land in the first place, as has been said the land has changed hands tens of times. And to top things off half of the current Israeli land was given to the inhabitants of the area prior to 1948 and this land was only seized after a massive attack by surrounding hostile nations staging a massive attack against Israel the day after its formation.

Get used to it people - just like there are Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, there are Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews (in settlements). It's time to found a Palestinian state and end the dispute.
Itamar, Israel

What baffles me is the argument stating: The Palestinians didn't have a government. What, so you're saying they weren't modern enough to deserve the land they were already living on? It kills me that people don't recognize... this was 1948! This was 60 years ago. 60. This is recent history, not some historical massacre we can blow off as "from another time".

FACT: When Israel claimed independence, they did so with about 20% of the population being Jewish... and with no representation for the other 80% of the population.

Read up, my friends.

dear samuel, I'm sorry to inform you that palstine and israel were given birth to at the same date. In deed there was a region called palstine before the UN declared israel and palstine free, but it was not a nation rather then a state of other empiers (the otmanion, the english, the holy roman... ect...).
To the origenal post if i remmber correctly the palstinin terrtories were never legely a part of israe. We did concore them but my guss is that the UN didn't agree to that.
so the map is leagel, and fare both sides hate it.

Eric, my man.
Israel didn't arbitrarily crowned itself "independent". It addressed the UN with a request to be a legit country. The UN had representatives from all the residing populations (yeah, including the Arabs) and let them showcase their opinion and general agenda to develop the area.
The Arab representatives mostly showed no particular objection since Israel was supposed to be cooperative, as it was until Islamic pressure changed the picture.
Not to mention the fact that the Israeli population owned about 85% of the land at that time (land they purchased from the Arab inhabitants, none the less).

It's all Israel.

Israel now, Israel forever. Like the man says, Get used to it. The "palestinians'" leaders, and government-controlled printed and broadcast media, their schoolbooks have NO ROOM FOR ISRAEL at all. There will never be peace, never be reconciliation, until this changes and the people uproot and denounce the radical political Islamists who would keep them poor and miserable as long as it takes to get rid of the Jews, to make the entire region Judenrein, or even (as the most despicable of their clerics twist Islam) to kill them to the last one. Or at minimum, to reduce them, and the Christians, back to dhimmitude.

After looking through all the comments, it's all I can do to applaud education with the heaviest of sarcasm.
Of all, Deshe is closest to the mark. I would have those that truly care about the issue take a look at "From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters.
Some basic facts:
a) Caesar Hadrian renamed Judea as "Palestine" with the intention of erasing the memory of a Jewish presence there.
b) Zionism never was a purely European idea.
c) The founding of Israel was not nearly so contested an idea until neighboring leaders decided to make it so--going so far as to cause and sustain the "Refugee Crisis"

screw religion... all it has brought is hell on earth. Yes I realize that statement is inconsistent. seriously though, it isn't helping.

Not only Israel was FAR BEFORE Palestine..., Palestine never really existed as a country, there is not such thing as Palestinians!

Here are a few questions:
Where did the name "Palestine" came from?
Did Palestines gave that name to themselves?
When did Palestinians ever ruled over Palestine?
What is the common history of the Palestinians?!

Remember:
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE AN OPINION ABOUT SOMETHING - FIRST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
(If people would think and learn before they say, we would live in a much better world!)

I think if people knew what the religions really taught them we would be living in a very civilized and peaceful world and i see people blaming each other i would like to say stop blaming and find ways of living peacefully.

Noah's comment confuses me, are we suposed to base our cultural identity and peoplehood on raciology and genetics? because, if so, the jewish people is mostly dead, and only a few arabs that live outside the arabian peninsula are truly arabs.
When we look back at all the ancient civilizations that lived in the old days like the babilonians, the assyrians, the sumerians, we say, they are dead, although we mostly know that not all of their descent was killed, but that they were asimilated, we say they are dead because their civilization died, their culture, the jewish culture, Israel, as a people, lives on, and that's why it is alive.

there is only israel and the whole place belongs to them given to them by no other than the ALMIGHTY GOD the maker of heaven and the earth and all those places which the arabs have taken by force or deception will be returned to israelit is their right. those who know nothing about history kindly dont comment