Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

An interview with Harold Rhode

(Elder of Ziyon via JNS) — The key to discussing the Middle East is understanding the cultures and languages. In Hebrew, you have the root “P-T-Ch,” corresponding to “F-T-Ch” in Arabic. The root has the general meaning of “open.” But in Arabic, there is an additional meaning: opening up a land to Islam. So the leader in battle is called “fatih” and the man who conquered Istanbul was called Mehmed Fatih.

Similarly, there is Fatah, the organization. The name is a reverse acronym of the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine—Ḥarakat al-Taḥrīr l-Filasṭīn. The r...