By Jonathan Walsh
Rabat - Anat Berko prompted widespread ridicule after suggesting during parliamentary debates that there can be no such thing as “Palestine,” based on the fact Palestinian people do not use the letter ‘P’ in Arabic.
The 56-year-old member of the ruling Likud party made the comments during a debate in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) on Wednesday.
“As we’ve noted, the letter ‘P’ doesn’t even exist in Arabic, so the borrowed term (Palestine) is worth looking into,” Berko said.
Referring to the Roman use of the name ‘Palaestina’ to describe the area, she continued. “The source of the name is clear,” she said.
“What? Did everyone hear this? Are you an idiot?” asked Tamar Zandberg, member of the opposition party Meretz.
Berko responded, “There’s no ‘P’ sound… Pa pa pa,’ there’s no ‘Pa.’ There’s ‘Fa.’”
The name ‘Palaistinê’ was first seen in 5th Century BCE Greek history books, when Herodotus used the name to describe the area between Phoenicia (modern-day Israel, Lebanon and Syria) and Egypt. However, it is commonly pronounced ‘Falasteen’ in Arabic, due to the lack of a ‘P’.
The debate itself centered on the Labour Party’s proposal for a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Party chairman Isaac Herzog for only just "waking up" to the non-viability of the two-state solution.
In response, Herzog dared the PM to annex the Palestinian territories. "Let's see what happens then,” he said.
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