"Palestinians are Arabs"

Two things.

Christian Arabs and Muslim Arabs are two different populations as such. Goes for Palestinian populations too, but right now IDF and anti-Christian Jews in Jerusalem are the less gentle neighbours.

But ... to some this sounds like "Americans are Americans" ... you are born in LA and you get a career option in NYC, you move.

You get your moveable property into vans, yourself into a plane or train, you start anew. Like even in NYC more people would have grandparents born in NYC than in LA, and even in LA, more people would have grandparents born in LA than in NYC.

So, in the Ottoman Empire, you were born in Istanbul and you got a career choice in Jerusalem ... moveable property into vans, yourself into a plane or a train ... oh, wait. Today the vans might take 22 hours and the plane 2 hours. Back when Istanbul was ruled by Sultans, the plane wasn't there and the motorways opened in 1973, way after the Ottoman Empire went down, even a few years after I was born. 1 862 km on horseback would be ...*

You can ride an average, healthy and energetic horse for 25 and 35 miles (40 — 56.5 km) in one day in ideal conditions. However, most of them will successfully hand only 15 and 20 miles (24 — 32 km) a day with enough water, food, and rest. Keep in mind that distance travelled also depends on you, weather conditions, terrain, and equipment you use.

1 862 / 24 = 77.58 days, a bit more than 77 and a half day.

Transporting furniture and other possessions (except smaller items like books and clothing) would take lots longer than even that. In order to take that many days out of your normal income, and in order to pay for them, you'd need to be a very important person, like a man the Sultan chose to govern Jerusalem. Ordinary people wouldn't. Jerusalem — Gaza, Gaza — Cairo, Jerusalem — Amman, Jerusalem — Beirut would of course be a bit better.

428 / 32 = over 13 days
346 / 32 = under 11 days
100 / 32 = over 3 days
237 / 32 = over 7 days

So, to a somewhat well to do man, such an adventure would be a somewhat "once in a lifetime" but still feasible vacation. Visiting relatives, as opposed to moving, would be rare, but still feasible, as one would take little luggage between possessions at home and the possessions of the relatives you visit.

In other words, a Palestinian would not have many ancestors in Istanbul. He would mostly have ancestors in Palestine, but also Gaza and Cairo, together with Sinai constituting Northern Egypt, and in Jordan and in Lebanon.

Is there something Biblically interesting about this area? Yes. It's one of the versions of Greater Israel. No, not the one for Abraham's children, including Ishmaelites and Midianites** who already have the Northern part of the Arabic Peninsula, but the one outlined in Isaias 11:

And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, and Moab shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes
[Isaias (Isaiah) 11:12-15]

Seems that whenever the Messiah comes, the Jewish people will, with Samarians, come to dominate an area corresponding to modern Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese (and that's one population of Arabs, per each of the religions, Christians, Jews, Muslims and Druz separately) with a close connection to Gaza and Cairo.

Whenever he comes or ... has come?

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea
[Isaias (Isaiah) 11:11]

And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt
[Isaias (Isaiah) 11:16]

Oh, Assyrians, a people that ceased to be dominant, around the time of ... Nebuchadnezzar II? Or perhaps many Assyrian soldiers and officials were still around under Neo-Babylonians and Persians, and perhaps even some under the Seleucids ... did Isaias mention Germans? No. Russians? No. French? No. Muslim Arabs? No. US Americans, English, Irish? No, no, no. Assyrians. It would seem that Isaias counted on the Messiah coming some time after the Macchabean times, and not much longer after that. It would also seem that the description of where the return was from would not fit modern Ashkenazi Jews but ...

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God
[Acts Of Apostles 2:9-11]

Can we do a line-up?

Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia = from Elam, and from Sennaar
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia = from the Assyrians
strangers of Rome ... Cretes = from the islands of the sea
Egypt = and from Egypt

But what about Ethiopia?

??? x = and from Ethiopia

Not mentioned in Acts 2! They had to wait to Acts 8, same or next year:

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert And rising up, he went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore
[Acts Of Apostles 8:26-27]

Was that a Jew?

And he was returning, sitting in his chariot, and reading Isaias the prophet
[Acts Of Apostles 8:28]

I'd say, two things. The Messiah already came. Jews, Samaritans, and people obeying their Messiah already mingled. Do you get the point? Christian Palestinians are the direct heirs to this Greater Israel. They are not an obstacle to a future one, because that's not something that God has promised.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. Bridget of Vadstena***
8.X.2025

23 Jul. Romae natalis sanctae Birgittae Viduae, quae, post multas sanctarum locorum peregrinationes, divino afflata Spiritu, quievit. Ipsius autem festivitas octavo Idus Octobris celebratur.
7 Oct. In Suecia Translatio corporis sanctae Birgittae Viduae.
8 Oct. Sanctae Birgittae Viduae, cujus dies natalis decimo Kalendas Augusti, ac Translatio Nonis Octobris recensetur.

* Citing:
Wild Jolie: How far can a horse travel in a day?
https://wildjolie.com/blogs/guide/how-far-can-a-horse-travel-in-a-day

** Ishmael and Madian are joint ancestors of the North and Mid Peninsular peoples.
*** Mother's name's day!