This #lolcat wonders which countries existed before borders were made up

Correction: Palestine did exist even before the British empire colonized, which includes in the Ottoman era, Mamluk era and so forth. Unless you were saying that the Ottoman empire were colonizers, a term I’ve never heard used for them.

You're absolutely right. Just because in the older days borders weren's so strict (but 'That mountain range', 'that set of hills' or 'somewhere beyond yonder stream') it doesn't mean there were no countries. With their own sets of rules, their own distinct cultures, et cetera.