Palestinian identity

Prior to the rise of nationalism during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the term Palestinian referred to any person born in or living in Palestine, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious affiliations. During the British Mandate for Palestine, the term "Palestinian" referred to any person legally considered to be a citizen of Mandatory Palestine as defined in the 1925 Citizenship Order.

The population of Palestine have long used the term "Palestinian" as one of the endonyms of self-identification - e.g. Al-Maqdisi in the 10th century and Khalil Beidas in the 19th century. Terms such as "Arab" and "Palestinian Arab" were also used, particularly in the early 20th century following the immigration of non-Arabic speakers.

After the establishment of the State of Israel during the 1948 Palestine war, the Jews of Mandatory Palestine became known as "Israeli Jews", having developed a national Jewish identity centered on a Jewish National Homeland in Palestine, derived from a political and ideological movement known as Zionism. By the mid-1950s, the term "Palestinian" has shifted to be a demonym that exclusively refers to the Arabs of former Mandatory Palestine who did not become citizens of the State of Israel, including their descendants, who had developed a distinctly Palestinian Arab national identity.

In contemporary times, the term "Palestinian" is the national demonym of the Palestinian people.