Whose Land is it? Answer: Both

Palestinians, principally those of hill-country towns and villages in the West Bank, and Israeli Jews are equally indigenous and equally aboriginal to the land.

This is a controversial assertion: it questions received certainties and threatens long established narratives. Palestinians regard Israeli Jews as neo-colonialists; Israelis regard Palestinians as immigrant late-arrivals. They, and respective supporters, the world over, operate on these certainties.

But the narratives are untrue. They demand rebuttal. This booklet is devoted to this end. It charts the histories in the land of the two peoples: first, those who ultimately became Jews; then, those who ultimately became Palestinians. DNA verifies a linkage. Each people contains in it part of the other. After all, they were neighbours together for a full seven hundred years (1300 -586 BCE).

Nineteenth century research on Palestinian ancestry by (British) scholar soldiers and diplomats has gone ‘unremembered’ in Israel. They found that the presence in the land of hill-country Palestinians long predates the Arab invasion of 636 CE. Historians and early Zionist statesmen Ben Zvi and Ben Gurion quote this research. And yet it has never gained traction in the Isreali political establishment. It needs re-iterating.

For the most part, Palestinian culture has lacked literacy. Perhaps, as a result, Palestinians have too easily been prisoners of propaganda. The time has come to spoil good stories about Jews with... facts.

“A Nation that Forgets its Past has no Future” said Winston Churchill. The key to the future does lie in the past. Palestinian and Jew need to acknowledge this far past together. Emerging from the conflict depends upon it. Once re-engaged, a scintillating future awaits: the world will be their oyster!