Regional Geography

(Africa topic 2)

Asking what lies within a name is more of a subjective question than it is objective. Yes, all names have some sort of meaning or origin behind them, but it isn't always relevant. I doubt that my friends really ever wonder why my last name is Hobson; they just use it to refer to and identify me. On the other hand, a genealogist might take great interest. Similarly, it seems as if the dispute of regional names, such as Israel and Palestine, has a similar contradiction: some just want to refer to the region in the easiest, most familiar way possible, while others take it directly to heart. Perhaps more of a distinction should be made between physical and political naming conventions. An example would be classifying Israel and Palestine to both be in the physical region of Palestine, whereas certain areas (which are still being debated) should be referred to as Israel when speaking politically.

While this comic is clearly done in jest it really highlights the importance a name holds to people. Their are some issues which heavily divide people, in this case the tensions between Israel and Palestine and lead to the formation of very strong opinions. With these opinions come the aspect of properly assigning a title to them. In some cases the same thing is known by many names and is highly contested.