Israeli MP Dr. Anat Berko: Palestine Cannot Exist Because Arabs Do Not Have the Letter P

According to The Independent, Israeli MP, Dr. Anat Berko, said "I want to go back to history, what is our place here, about Jerusalem, about Palestine, when like we said, Arabic doesn't even have 'P,' so this loan-word also merits scrutiny." The statement caused a backlash by another Israeli MP, Tamar Zandberg, of the left-wing Meretz Party, who replied, "What? Did everyone hear this? Are you an idiot?" Another Arab MP, Osama Sa'adi, left the Knesset in protest.

In the same debate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu berated Labour Party Chairman Isaac Herzog for only now waking up to the territorial problem, realising that the two-state solution is unviable. Herzog replied by challenging the Prime Minister to annex Palestinian territory, saying, "Let's see what happens now".

The Independent cited Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, as the source, and in the Haaretz article the writer says: "While the lawmaker was correct in saying that Arabic doesn't have a ‘P’ sound, the word for ‘Palestine’ in Arabic begins with the consonant ’F,’ the same as in Hebrew, and is pronounced: Falastin.”