Have You Studied Your Toponymy Lately?

Ddi you know that a Professor Thomas L. Thompson has published an article, "The Politics of Reading the Bible in Israel" in the Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal, Volume 7, Number 1, May 2008, pp. 1-15?

Here's the abstract:

The biblical themes of exile, return, the blossoming of the desert and the promise of the land have been transformed to support Zionist nationalist policies of ethnic cleansing. Biblical and archaeological scholarship, itself, has contributed substantially to the de-Arabicisation of Palestinian toponymy, the understanding of the Bible's allegorical narratives as nationalist epic and an ethno-centric understanding of Palestine's ancient history.

Imagine that. Our history, culture, religion, literature, philosophy and an 1800-year continuous presence in the Land of Israel under Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Arabs, Crusaders and other invaders and conquerors leading up to the Ottomans, English and Jordanians is, what? A misplaced toponymy?

Pluh-ese!