[mwolverine]

While GREEKS, EUROPEANS, continued to reference the region by the name given it by Herodotus, locally it was conquered by Alexander the Great. His encounter with Jews was peaceful and well documented (to this day, Jews name children after him), but he neither traded, fought or made treaties with “Palestinians”. The Arabs who had by then settled in the southern edge of the region fought him and in turn he massacred the entire population of Gaza.

After Alexander’s death, the region came under the occupation of the Assyrian Greeks Seleucid empire. They imposed Hellenistic (colonial European) ways on Jews and defiled the Temple, leading to the revolt of the Maccabees – still celebrated by Jews today, the holiday of Hanukkah.