I just placed some dates in a resealable plastic bag with some moist soil and they germinated.

From there, it takes a lot of time. I've read they have a deep taproot to find water. I don't think they are particularly fussy about soil as long as it is well drained.

Thread on how to germinate a date palm
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/palms/msg10165408590.html

General search on gardenweb for date palms:
http://search.gardenweb.com/search/?term=date+palms&x=0amp;y=0

and yours shouldn't be the Canary Island or Pygmy Date.

I threw several date seeds into a plant pot this spring, and one did germinate, but after struggling for over a week to free itself from its tough seed coat, it died.

If I had it to do over, I would have taken the chance of gently trying to remove the seed coat, maybe with the help of some baby fingernai scissors or something.

You should probably also use sterile soil to avoid damping off.