When addressing the United Nations, Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives speak of the 1967 “borders” – a reference not to  borders recognized internationally in 1967, but to their hope to build an Arab state on all land east of the indefensible 1949 armistice line between Israel and Jordan.

However, maps used within the PA tell a different story, one in which Israel does not exist at all, within any borders.

The PA’s official state tourism map, revealed this week by journalist David Bedein, labels all of Israel, Judea, Samaria and Gaza as “Palestine.”  The 1949 armistice line is marked and labeled the “armistice line,” but there is no mention of the country established to its west more than 62 years ago.

In addition, the names of several Israeli cities have been “Arabized,” with Be’er Sheva labeled “Bir Assaba” and Tel Aviv also referred to as “Tell Ar-Rabee.” Arab towns such as Tamra and Shfaram are marked on the map, while far larger majority-Jewish cities are not.

The Jewish connection to sites such as the Old City of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, and the Tomb of the Patriarchs is not mentioned.

Earlier in the year a PA television program declared that the entire Land of Israel is “Palestine,” while a children’s program played songs referring to Israeli cities such as Tzfat, Haifa and Beit Shean as “Palestine.”

“Palestine” was the name given the land designated by the British for the Jewish homeland. However, once part of that area became the state of Israel, local Arabs, who began calling themselves “Palestinians”, designated the state they wish to establish as “Palestine”.

The term was first used by the ancient Romans when they attempted to erase memory of Jewish connection to the land, after they destroyed the Second Jewish Temple over 1900 years ago.