Palästinenser

Ein Beitrag von Doctora Zunzun auf dem Facebook Forum "Americans Against Genozide in GAZA (AAGG)

"The Indigenous Roots of PaIestine: Debunking the "Colonizer" Myth"
In today’s polarized debate over the Israeli-PaIestinian conflict, a persistent myth often surfaces: that modern PaIestinians are mere "Arab colonizers" — recent arrivals with no authentic claim to the land — or, even more strangely, "Persian colonizers" because the region once fell under the rule of the Persian Empire. Some argue further that any pride in PaIestine's ancient heritage merely celebrates ancient conquest over indigenous peoples.
However, when we turn to serious historical scholarship, archaeological findings, and genetic science, a very different — and richer — truth emerges.

Ancient PaIestine: Deep Roots in Human Civilization
First, it is important to recognize that PaIestine was not among the world's first civilizations. Ancient Sumer (modern Iraq), Egypt, and the Indus Valley flourished earlier (Albright, 1949; Britannica, History of PaIestine).
However, beginning around 3000 BCE, ancient Canaan — the historical heart of modern-day PaIestine — saw the development of some of the earliest urban societies, agriculture, and trade networks.
PaIestine's ancient cities like Jericho, which may be among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, are testament to this deep history. The Canaanites, the indigenous peoples of the region, built thriving communities long before the Persian Empire ever arrived.

Empires Came and Went — The People Endured
It is historically accurate that PaIestine was ruled by multiple empires over the centuries — Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Arab, Ottoman, and others (Armstrong, 1996; Britannica, Persian Period).
However, imperial rule in the ancient world did not equal colonization in the modern sense.
In antiquity, conquest typically meant new rulers and tribute systems, not mass displacement or wholesale population replacement (Sommer, 2011; Cambridge History of Judaism).
Thus, while PaIestine fell under Persian rule after Cyrus the Great’s conquest in 539 BCE, the local Canaanite-descended populations continued to live on their land.
Being ruled by Persia does not make PaIestinians "Persian colonizers." The indigenous identity persisted despite external rule.
Arabization: A Cultural Shift, Not Ethnic Replacement
Some claim PaIestinians are "just Arabs" — suggesting they have no indigenous claim. This too is misleading.
Following the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, the peoples of the Levant — including Palestine — underwent Arabization, adopting the Arabic language and Islamic culture over several centuries (Hourani, 1991; Hitti, 2002).
Yet, Arabization was a cultural transformation, not an ethnic one.
The underlying population remained largely the same, integrating new linguistic and religious elements while maintaining deep ancestral continuiton.

Genetic Evidence: PaIestinians as Indigenous Levantines
Modern genetic research has provided some of the strongest evidence for Palestinian indigeneity.
A 2017 study led by researchers analyzing ancient Canaanite DNA concluded that modern Levantine populations — including Palestinians — derive approximately 90% of their ancestry from ancient Canaanite populations (Haber et al., 2017; Schuenemann et al., 2017).
Further studies on Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA show that Palestinians share high frequencies of haplogroups J1 and E1b1b, which were common among ancient Near Eastern populations (Lazaridis et al., 2016).
Thus, despite historical admixture — from Arabs, Persians, Crusaders, and others — the core Palestinian genetic makeup remains rooted in the ancient Levant, making them indigenous to their homeland.
Religious Coexistence: A Complex, Shared History
Another popular argument claims that only Jews have a "true" historic connection to the land, while PaIestinians are outsiders.
Historical records show otherwise.
For centuries, PaIestine was home to Palestinian Jews, Christians, and Muslims living side by side (Khalidi, 1997; Pappé, 2006).
When European Jewish immigrants began arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they encountered local Jewish, Christian, and Muslim PaIestinian communities who had been continuously present for thousands of years.
There is no doubt that the Mizrahi Jewish people have ancient roots in the land — but so do PaIestinian Muslims and Christians, many of whom are themselves descendants of ancient Jewish and Canaanite populations who gradually adopted different faiths and cultures over time.
Conclusion: Indigenous Survival, Not Colonization
In conclusion:
PaIestinians are not Persian colonizers.
They are not foreign Arab settlers displacing indigenous populations.
They are the Arabized, but genetically continuous descendants of the ancient peoples of the Levant.
Celebrating PaIestine’s ancient heritage is not glorifying conquest — it is acknowledging the resilience of a people who maintained their roots through millennia of empire, migration, cultural change, and conflict.
In any honest discussion about the Israeli-PaIestinian conflict, recognizing the historical and indigenous ties of all peoples to the land is essential.
But the story of PaIestine is not one of foreign colonization — it is a story of indigenous continuity, cultural evolution, and survival against overwhelming historical odds.
Truth — and justice — demands we honor that.

�� References
Albright, W. F. (1949). The Archaeology of PaIestine. Penguin Books.
Armstrong, K. (1996). Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. Ballantine Books.
Britannica. (n.d.). History of PaIestine.
Britannica. (n.d.). Persian Period in PaIestine.
Cambridge History of Judaism. Volume 1. (Cambridge University Press).
Haber, M., et al. (2017). "Continuity and Admixture in the Last Five Millennia of Levantine History." American Journal of Human Genetics.
Hitti, P. (2002). History of the Arabs (10th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Hourani, A. (1991). A History of the Arab Peoples. Faber & Faber.
Khalidi, R. (1997). PaIestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness. Columbia University Press.
Lazaridis, I., et al. (2016). "Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East." Nature.
Pappé, I. (2006). The Ethnic Cleansing of PaIestine. Oneworld Publications.
Schuenemann, V. J., et al. (2017). "Ancient DNA study reveals Canaanite ancestry of modern Middle Easterners." Science Advances.
Sommer, M. (2011). Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. Allen Lane.
--Drafted with the assistance of AI (ChatGPT), based on verified scholarly sources.
Feel free to share, with our without attribution. The important thing is to correct the record in every moment, and in every place that we can, at a time that assortments of these myths are being used by genocidal apologists to excuse crimes against humanity.