Origin of the Palestinians

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The study of theorigins of the Palestinians, a population encompassing theArabinhabitants of the formerMandatory Palestineand their descendants,is a subject approached through aninterdisciplinarylens, drawing from fields such aspopulation genetics,demographic history,folklore, includingoral traditions,linguistics, and other disciplines.
Thedemographic history of Palestinehas been shaped by various historical events and migrations. Over time, it shifted from aJewishmajority in the earlyRomanperiod to aChristianmajority inLate RomanandByzantinetimes.TheMuslim conquest of the Levantin the 7th century initiated a process ofArabizationandIslamizationthrough the conversion and acculturation of locals, accompanied by Arab settlement. This led to aMuslim-majority population, though significantly smaller, in theMiddle Ages.Some Palestinian families, notably in theHebronandNablusregions, claim Jewish andSamaritanancestry respectively, preserving associated cultural customs and traditions.
Genetic studies indicate a genetic affinity between Palestinians and otherLevantinepopulations, as well as otherArabandSemiticgroups in theMiddle East and North Africa.Historical records and later genetic studies indicate that the Palestinian people descend mostly from Ancient Levantines extending back toBronze Ageinhabitants of Levant.They represent a highly homogeneous community who share oneculturalandethnic identity,speakPalestinian Arabicand share close religious, linguistic, and cultural practices and heritage with other Levantines (e.gSyrians,Lebanese, andJordanians). According to Palestinian historian Nazmi Al-Ju'beh, like in other Arab nations, theArab identityof Palestinians is largely based onlinguisticandculturalaffiliation and is not necessarily associated with the existence of anyArabianorigins.
The historical discourse regarding the origin of the Palestinians has been influenced by the ongoing effort ofnation-building, including the attempt to solidifyPalestinian national consciousnessas the primary framework of identity, as opposed to other identities dominant among Palestinians, including primordialclannish,tribal, local, andIslamistidentities.
As recently as 2001, genetic research was incomplete enough that genetic scientists still cited theories about the roots of today's Palestinians' in present-day Israel/Palestine dating back only 1200 BC — in one theory, from Egyptian garrisons that were abandoned to their own fate in Canaan, in another, from immigrants from Crete or the Aegean, conflating Palestinians with "Philistines", from which the word "Palestine" is derived.A 2010 study by Behar et al. found Palestinians tested clustered genetically close to Bedouins, Jordanians and Saudi Arabians, which was described as "consistent with a common origin in the Arabian Peninsula".More recent studies since 2017have found that Palestinians, and other Levantine people, are primarily descended from ancient Levantines present in what is today Israel and Palestine, dating back at least 3700 years.According to Marc Heber et al, all modernLevantine Arabsdescend from Canaanite-like ancestors, whereas later migrations impact on their population ancestry was slight.
Principal Component Analysis of ancient and modern populations of Palestinians, Jews and others showing Palestinians clustering with Bronze-Age Levantines
A 2015 study by Verónica Fernandes and others concluded that Palestinians have a "primarily indigenous origin".
In a 2016 study by Scarlett Marshall and others published inNature, the study concluded that the biogeographical affinities of "both Syrians and Palestinians are highly localised to the Levant", the authors also noted that the biogeographical affinity of Palestinians goes in agreement with historical records and previous studies on theiruniparental markers, which all suggest that Palestinians at least in part descend from localIsraeliteconverts to Islam after theIslamic expansion.
According to a study published in June 2017 byRanajit Das,Paul Wexler,Mehdi Pirooznia, andEran ElhaikinFrontiers in Genetics, in aprincipal component analysis, Natufians, together with a Neolithic Levantine sample, "clustered predominantly with modern-day Palestinians and Bedouins" and that Palestinians have a "predominant" ancient Levantine origin (58%) and residual Iranian origin (18%), with someEastern Hunter-Gathererand smaller amounts ofAnatolianadmixture.
In a study published in August 2017 by Marc Haber et al. inThe American Journal of Human Genetics, the authors concluded that: "The overlap between the Bronze Age and present-day Levantines suggests a degree of genetic continuity in the region."
A 2020 study on human remains fromMiddle Bronze AgePalestinian(2100–1550 BC) populations suggests a significant degree of genetic continuity in Arabic-speaking Levantine populations (such as Palestinians, Druze, Lebanese, Jordanians, Bedouins, and Syrians), as well as several Jewish groups (such as Ashkenazi, Iranian, and Moroccan Jews).Palestinians, among other Levantine groups, were found to derive 81–87% of their ancestry from Bronze age Levantines, relating toCanaanitesas well asKura–Araxes cultureimpact from before 2400 BCE (4400years before present); 8–12% from anEast Africansource and 5–10% from Bronze ageEuropeans. Results show that a significant European component was added to the region since the Bronze Age (on average ~8.7%), seemingly related to theSea Peoples, excluding Ashkenazi and Moroccan Jews who harbour ~ 41% and 31% European-related ancestry respectively, both populations having a history in Europe.
A 2021 study by theNew York Genome Centerfound that the predominant component of the DNA of modern Palestinians matches that of Bronze Age PalestinianCanaaniteswho lived around 2500–1700 BCE.
In ageneticstudy ofY-chromosomal STRsin two populations from Israel and the Palestinian Authority Area: Christian and Muslim Palestinians showed genetic differences. The majority of Palestinian Christians (31.82%) were a subclade ofE1b1b, followed byG2a(11.36%), andJ1(9.09%). The majority of Palestinian Muslims were haplogroupJ1(37.82%) followed byE1b1b(19.33%), andT(5.88%). The study sample consisted of 44 Palestinian Christians and 119 Palestinian Muslims.
In a 2003geneticstudy,Bedouinsshowed the highest rates (62.5%) of the subcladeHaplogroup J-M267among all populations tested, followed by Palestinian Arabs (38.4%),Iraqis(28.2%), Ashkenazi Jews (14.6%) and Sephardic Jews (11.9%), according to Semino et al.Semitic-speaking populations usually possess an excess of J1 Y chromosomes compared to other populations harboring Y-haplogroup J.The haplogroup J1, the ancestor of subclade M267, originates south of theLevantand was first disseminated from there intoEthiopiaand Europe inNeolithictimes. J1 is most common inPalestine, as well asSyria,Iraq,Algeria, andArabia, and drops sharply at the border of non-semitic areas likeTurkeyandIran. A second diffusion of the J1 marker took place in the 7th century CE when Arabians brought it from Arabia to North Africa.
According to a 2010 study by Behar et al. titled "The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people", in one analysis, Palestinians tested clustered genetically close to Bedouins, Jordanians and Saudi Arabians which was described as "consistent with a common origin in the Arabian Peninsula". In another analysis of West Eurasians only, Palestinians fell between Saudis (and more distantly, Bedouins) on one side and Jordanians and Syrians on the other. Admixture analysis in the same study inferred that the Palestinian and Jordanian DNA largely resembled the mixture of Syrians, Lebanese, Druze and Samaritans. They differed from the Saudi profile, which almost completely lacked a European-like component and had a smaller proportion of the component typical of more northerly West Asian populations, both of which were more prominently present in Palestinians and other Levantine populations. Palestinians differed from Druze and Samaritans in having more sub-Saharan African-related admixture.
A 2013 study by Haber et al. found that "The predominantly Muslim populations of Syrians, Palestinians and Jordanians cluster on branches with other Muslim populations as distant as Morocco and Yemen." The authors explained that "religious affiliation had a strong impact on the genomes of the Levantines. In particular, conversion of the region's populations to Islam appears to have introduced major rearrangements in populations' relations through admixture with culturally similar but geographically remote populations leading to genetic similarities between remarkably distant populations." The study found that Christians and Druze became genetically isolated following the arrival of Islam. The authors reconstructed the genetic structure of pre-Islamic Levant and found that "it was more genetically similar to Europeans than to Middle Easterners."
In recent years, genetic studies have demonstrated that, at least paternally,Jewish ethnic divisionsand the Palestinians are related to each other.Genetic studies on Jews have shown that Jews and Palestinians are closer to each other than the Jews are to their host countries.At the haplogroup level, defined by the binary polymorphisms only, the Y chromosome distribution in Arabs and Jews was similar but not identical.
A 2010 study by Atzmon andHarry Ostrerconcluded that the Palestinians were, together with Bedouins, Druze and southern European groups, the closest genetic neighbors to most Jewish populations.
OneDNAstudy by Nebel found substantial genetic overlap among Israeli/Palestinian Arabs and Jews.the study concluded that "part, or perhaps the majority" of Muslim Palestinians descend from "local inhabitants, mainly Christians and Jews, who had converted after the Islamic conquest in the seventh century AD".
As noted previously a 2020 study found common ancestry for modern Levantine Arabic-speaking peoples and Ashkenazi populations, but with the latter harbouring a much higher (41%) European-related component.
A study found that the Palestinians, like Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians, have what appears to be female-mediatedgene flowin the form ofmaternal DNA haplogroupsfromSub-Saharan Africa. 15% of the 117 Palestinian individuals tested carried maternal haplogroups that originated in Sub-Saharan Africa. These results are consistent with female migration from eastern Africa into Near Eastern communities within the last few thousand years. There have been many opportunities for such migrations during this period. However, the most likely explanation for the presence of predominantly female lineages of African origin in these areas is that they may trace back towomen brought from Africaas part of theArab slave trade, assimilated into the areas under Arab rule.
The complexdemographic history of Palestinehas been influenced by several historical occurrences and migrations. The region was home to diverse ethnic groups and populations over centuries. During theBronze Age, the region of Palestine was mainly inhabited byCanaanites, who mainly established themselves in fortified cities, as well as various Semitic nomadic groups such as theShasu.Following theLate Bronze Age collapsec. 1200–1150 BC, and the consequent advent of theIron Age, theIsraelitesemerged in the central highlands establishing settlements throughout the country, founding the kingdoms ofIsraelandJudah, while thePhilistinessettled along the coastal strip of what became known as thePhilistine pentapolis.The Israelite kingdoms came to an abrupt end under theAssyriansand theBabylonians, and the period ofBabylonian exileset in until theexilic returnduring the Persian period.
Following theMaccabean Revolt, the consequentHasmoneanconquests in Palestine prompted Jewish settlement outside of Judea inGalilee,Samaria,andIdumaea,establishing a preponderance of Jewish elements throughout Palestine by the 1st century BC, where pagans and Samaritans also lived.However, theJewish–Roman warsbetween 66 and 135 significantly diminished Jewish numbers, especially with the destruction of the Jerusalem metropolis and its environs. Nevertheless, Jewish communities continued to thrive along the eastern, southern and western edges ofJudah, in theGalilee,Golanand theScythopolisregion.
In the centuries that followed, the region experiencedpolitical and economic unrestand the division of the Roman empire into twowesternandeasternempires. With theconversion of Constantinein the 4th century, the situation for the Jewish majority in Palestine "became more difficult".A series of laws were passed that discriminated against Jews and Judaism, and Jews were persecuted by both the church and the authorities.Many Jews had emigrated to flourishingDiasporacommunities,while locally there was both Christian immigration and local conversion. By the middle of the 5th century, there was a Christian majority.By the 6th century, much of the community churches inJudea, westernGalilee, the Naqab and other places had been built.
In the period prior to theMuslim conquest of Palestine(635–640),Palaestina Primahad a population of 700 thousand, of which around 100 thousand were Jews and 30 to 80 thousand were Samaritans,with the remainder beingChalcedonianandMiaphysiteChristians.
TheMuslim conquest of the Levantin the 7th century which brought the region under the rule of the Muslim Arabs from the west-centralArabian Peninsula. In the following centuries, several Arabic-speaking Muslim dynasties such as theUmayyads,Abbasids, andFatimidscame to rule the region.This era witnessed a gradual process of Arabization and Islamization, accompanied by significant emigration and immigration. Frequentplaguerecurrences between 688 and 744 and devastating earthquakes (in749,881and1033) caused a steady decline of the population, falling from an estimated 1 million in the 5th century to a lowest estimate of 560,000–400,000 by the onset of theFirst Crusade.
It is unknown whether Palestine's population shifted toward Islam before or after theCrusader period(1099–1291). Some academics suggest that much of Palestine was already predominantly Muslim at the time theCrusadersarrived.Alternatively, it has been argued that the process of Islamization occurred much later, perhaps during theMamlukperiod.
Unlike other regions, the Levant and Palestine experienced minor Arabian tribal settlement, which mostly includedKinana,Khath'am,Khuza'a, andAzd Saratnewcomers, and instead the prominent pre-Islamic Arab tribes of Palestine were incorporated into military and governance, namelyLakhm,Amilah,GhassanandJudham.Some of these local Arab tribes and Bedouin fought as allies of Byzantium in resisting the invasion, which the archaeological evidence indicates was a 'peaceful conquest',and the newcomers were allowed to settle in the old urban areas. Theories of population decline compensated by the importation of foreign populations are not confirmed by the archaeological record.In contrast to other regions where Muslim soldiers establishedgarrison cities(amsar), in theLevant, Muslim troops settled in pre-existing cities where they lived off ofjizyaand thekharajtaxes paid by the majority non-Muslim population, and had little interest in making converts to Islam.
During the early Islamic period, there was a significant movement of local populations, particularly Christians, from coastal areas to inland settlements and destinations across the Mediterranean. Arabs and other Muslims established themselves in fortified towns and fortresses along the coast. Historical accounts from Muslim writers confirm the presence of Muslims, including military personnel and individuals in administrative or religious roles, originating from regions such asSyria,Iraq,Persia,Egypt, and theMaghrebresiding in Palestine, particularly in large towns.
The pace ofIslamizationamong the Christian, Jewish, and Samaritan communities in Palestine varied during the early period (661–861).After the 630s most of the urban centers declined, which caused localecclesiasticaladministrations to weaken or disappear altogether, leaving Christians most susceptible to conversion.Nevertheless, Christians managed to survive in larger numbers than Jews and Samaritans, possibly due to their superior numbers or better organization.Jewish communities, which were almost on the brink of extinction, only recovered following the arrival of Jews from variousdiasporacommunities.Following the749 Galilee earthquake, northern Palestine foestered movement from the devastated cities in theTransjordan, such asHippos.
The Christians appear to have maintained a majority in much of both Palestine and Syria under Muslim rule until the Crusades. The original conquest in the 630s had guaranteed religious freedom, improving that of the Jews and the Samaritans, who were classified with the former.However, asdhimmi, adult males had to pay thejizyaor "protection tax". The economic burden inflicted on some dhimmi communities (especially that of the Samaritans) sometimes promoted mass conversions.Among the cultural survivals from pre-Islamic times are the significant Palestinian Christian community, roughly 10% of the overall population in late Ottoman times and 45% of Jerusalem's citizens,and smaller Jewish and Samaritan ones, as well as an Aramaicsubstratumin some localPalestinian Arabic dialects.
When theCrusadersarrived in Palestine during the 11th century, they made no distinction between Christians who for theLatin ritewere considered heretics, Jews and Muslims, slaughtering all indiscriminately.The Crusaders, in wresting holy sites such as theHoly Sepulchrein Jerusalem, and theChurch of the Nativityin Bethlehem from the Orthodox church were among several factors that deeply alienated the traditional Christian community, which sought relief in the Muslims. When Saladin overthrew the Crusaders, he restored these sites to Orthodox Christian control.
Together with the alienating policies of the Crusaders, theMongol Invasionand the rise of theMamlukswere turning points in the fate of Christianity in this region, and their congregations – many Christians having sided with the Mongols – were noticeably reduced under the Mamluks. Stricter regulations to control Christian communities ensued, theological enmities grew, and the process of Arabization and Islamicization strengthened, abetted with the inflow of nomadic Bedouin tribes in the 13th and 14th centuries.
TheZengidoffensive inKurdistancirca 1130 resulted in the migration of numerous Kurds to settle in Palestine and Syria. Additionally, the Mongol invasions during the thirteenth century triggered a large-scale movement of Kurds into Palestine and Syria, not all of it permanent.
Beit Sahourwas first settled in the 14th century by a handful of Christian and Muslim clans (hamula) fromWadi Musain Jordan, the Christian Jaraisa and the Muslim Shaybat and Jubran, who came to work as shepherds for Bethlehem's Christian landowners, and they were subsequently joined by other Greek Orthodox immigrants from Egypt in the 17th–18th centuries.
By the start of theOttoman periodin 1516, it is commonly thought that the Muslim majority in the country was more-or-less like that of the mid-19th century.During the first century of the Ottoman rule, i.e., 1550,Bernard Lewisin a study of Ottoman registers of the early Ottoman Rule of Palestine reports a population of an estimated 300,000, who were mainlyfellahin(peasants).According toJustin McCarthy, the sedentary population of Palestine during the 17th and 18th centuries was likely not much different than it was in 1850 (~350,000).
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries,Egyptexperienced significant waves of emigration to Palestine and Syria.One notable influx occurred in the 1780s due to a severe famine in Egypt. According to one estimate, approximately one-sixth of the Egyptian population migrated during this period, with many settling in Palestine.Migrants from theHauranalso arrived and established villages such asAl-Masmiyya al-KabiraandAl-Masmiyya al-Saghira.
Between 1831 and 1840, duringMuhammad Ali's conquests and later under his son,Ibrahim Pasha, Egyptian settlers and army dropouts settled in Palestine. These immigrants primarily settled in well-established cities such asJaffaandGaza, where they founded sakināt (residential districts). Some dispersed into villages. Historically, there were 19 villages in the southern coastal plain and nearRamlawith families of Egyptian descent. Today, remnants of this migration can still be seen in the northern parts of the Samaria region, particularly in the'Ara Valley, where a significant population of Egyptian descent resides.
Algerianrefugees ("Maghrebis") started arriving in Palestine as early as the 1850s followingAbdelkader's rebellion.They were in a destitute state when they were transferred through northern Palestine to Syria and other areas. Many eventually settled in abandoned villages in the eastern part of theLower Galilee.During the Mandatory period, twelve settlements in the Galilee were inhabited by Algerians.The village ofKafr Sabt, for example, was entirely inhabited by Algerians.Small numbers ofAlgerianBerberrefugees also settled inSafedafter the exile of Abdelkader toDamascusin 1855.During the same period, there were also significant waves of migration from theBalkansand theCaucasus.
Some rural and urban Palestinians haveAlbanian,Bosnian,Circassian, or other non-Arab ancestry due to the legacy of the Ottoman period, which brought non-Arab communities to the region in the 19th century.
During the Mandatory era,Haifabecame a hub for migration, drawing thousands from theHauran,Galilee, andGolanregions. This influx was driven by employment prospects generated by the construction of a deep-water port and the expansion of maritime economic activities under British auspices.TheSharon plainalso attracted Arab migration during the Mandatory period, driven by Jewish settlement and government development initiatives that eradicatedmalaria, enhanced healthcare services, extended life expectancy, and generated job opportunities in the area.
While Palestinian culture is today primarily Arab and Islamic, many Palestinians identify themselves with earlier civilizations that inhabited the land of Palestine,includingNatufiansandCanaanites.According toWalid Khalidi, in Ottoman times "the Palestinians considered themselves to be descended not only from Arab conquerors of the seventh century but also from indigenous peoples who had lived in the country since time immemorial."Early Jewish advocates ofCanaanismin the 1940s, including founderYonatan Ratosh, claimed Palestinians were the descendants of Canaanites and encouraged Israeli irredentism.
According toClaude R. Conderof thePalestine Exploration Fund(PEF) in 1876: "It is well known to those familiar to the country that whatever else they may be, theFellahin, or native peasantry of Palestine, are not Arabs; and if we judge from thenames of the topographical featurestheir language can scarcely be called Arabic."Modern linguists contend thatPalestinian Arabic, like otherLevantine Arabicdialects, is a mixture ofHejazi Arabicand ancient northern Arabic dialects spoken in the Levant before Islam, with heavyAramaicandHebrewsubstrates.
Palestinians anthropologistAli Qleiboand sociologistSamih Farsounboth argue:
George Antonius, founder of modern Arab nationalist history, wrote in his seminal 1938 bookThe Arab Awakening:
American historianBernard Lewiswrites:
Many Muslim Palestinian villagers avow oral traditions of descent from nomadic Arab tribes that migrated to Palestine during or shortly after theMuslim conquest of the Levant.Other Muslim Palestinians have linked their ancestors' entry into Palestine to their participation inSaladin's army;Saladin is revered not only as a hero of Islam but also as a national hero, downplaying hisKurdishroots.
Traditions of Arabian ancestry are noted among somePalestinian familiesof thenotable class(a'yan),including theNusaybah familyof Jerusalem,theTamimifamily ofNabi Salih, and theBarghouti familyofBani Zeid.TheShawish,al-Husayni, andAl-Zayadinaclans trace their heritage to Muhammad through his grandsons,Husayn ibn AliandHassan ibn Ali.
Despite these traditions, many families migrated to Palestine in later periods, often asBedouinsor semi-nomadic herders who crossed theJordan Riverafter residing inTransjordan. This migration pattern complicates efforts to differentiate between Transjordanian and Arabian ancestry, as Transjordan served as a pathway for migrants and nomads from theArabian Peninsula. Some Palestinian families still retain strong ties with relatives across the Jordan.
Bedouins have drifted in waves into Palestine since at least the 7th century, after the Muslim conquest. Some of them, like the Arab al-Sakhr south ofLake Kinnerettrace their origins to theHejazorNajdin theArabian Peninsula, while the Ghazawiyya's ancestry is said to go back to theHauran's Misl al-Jizel tribes.They speak distinctdialects of Arabicin the Galilee and the Negev.
Arabs in Palestine, both Christian and Muslim, settled and Bedouin were historically split between theQays and Yamanfactions.These divisions had their origins in pre-Islamic tribal feuds between Northern Arabians (Qaysis) and Southern Arabians (Yamanis). The strife between the two tribal confederacies spread throughout theArab worldwith their conquests, subsuming even uninvolved families so that the population of Palestine identified with one or the other.Their conflicts continued after the 8th centuryCivil war in Palestineuntil the early 20th centuryand gave rise to differences in customs, tradition, and dialect which remain to this day.
Families like the Nimrs, originally serving as local governors ofHomsandHama's rural sub-districts (both in modern-day Syria), and other officer families including the Akhrami, Asqalan, Bayram, Jawhari, Khammash, Mir'i, Shafi, Sultan and Tamimi, arrived in Palestine as part of a 1657 Ottoman campaign to reassert their rule over the Nablus area. Joining them were families such as theJarrar familyfromBalqa(now in Jordan), and theTuqan family, from either northern Syria or Transjordan.The valleys surrounding Nablus are also predominantly inhabited by migrants from Transjordan.
Some Palestinian families follow oral traditions that trace their roots toJewishandSamaritanorigins. Traditions of Jewish ancestry are especially prevalent in the southernHebron Hills, a region with documented Jewish presence until the Islamic conquest. One notable example is of theMakhamra familyofYatta, who according to several reports, traces its own ancestry to aJewish tribeinKhaybar.Traditions of Jewish ancestry were also recorded inDura,HalhulandBeit Ummar.
Much of the local Palestinian population in the area ofNablusis believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to Islam, a process that continued well into the 19th century.Traditions of Samaritan origins were recorded in the city of Nablus as well as villages in its vicinity, includingHajjah.Several Palestinian Muslim families, including the Al-Amad, Al-Samri, Buwarda, and Kasem families, who defended Samaritans from Muslim persecution in the 1850s, were named byYitzhak Ben Zvias having Samaritan ancestry.He further asserted that these families elders and priests had kept written records attesting to their Samaritan lineage.
Many Palestinians referred to their Jewish neighbors as theirawlâd 'ammnâor paternal cousins.Under Ottoman rule, Palestinian Arabs distinguished between their compatriot Jews, whom they referred to asabna al-balad, 'natives', oryahūd awlâd 'arab, 'Arab-born Jews', and recent Zionist immigrants.
Muslims ofMoroccan descentsettled in Jerusalem following theReconquistain Spain in 1492; these Muslims were granted land by the Ottoman Empire, that became theMoroccan Quarter. Its people were called "Mughrabi" which means "Moroccan" in Arabic till the 20th Century. Many Palestinians carry the surname "Mughrabi" to this day.
Turks in Palestineare a known group amongst Palestinians to this day, many of them pride on their Ottoman roots and are openly discussing their arrival to the Southern Levant. In 2014, many of the modern inhabitants of theShujayaand A-Turkmen neighborhoods inGazastated that they were ofTurkmenandKurds in Palestinedescents. The A-Turkmen neighborhood bears this name because of its people's origin.
Kurdish-descended Palestinians inhabit various locales, among themAr-Rihiya(originally founded by Kurdish shepherds),Beit Hanoun, and the now depopulatedBayt Nuba.Palestinians of Turkmen ancestry used to inhabit now depopulated villages such asAl-Ghubayya al-Fawqa,Al-Ghubayya al-Tahta,Al-MansiandAbu Shusha.
Al-Sudania neighborhood in Gaza City, was inhabited bySudanesemigrants in the 20th Century, leading to its name. Some Gaza Strip residents are thus of Sudanese descent due to intermarriages, they live inDeir El-Balah,Al-ShatiandJabalia. Even the granddaughter of the former Sudanese sultan,Ali Dinar, is among them.
Families ofBosniak ancestryreside inYanun,Nablus, andTulkarm, and previously inQisarya.
TheAjami, Jaffaneighborhood was founded byMaroniteswho migrated there from Lebanon in the middle of the 19th Century,to serve as aChristianenclave in theSanjakof Jaffa.
Throughout the Roman and Byzantine eras,Aramaicemerged as the dominant language in Palestine, supplantingHebrew, which ceased to be spoken around the 2nd century. Various dialects of Aramaic were spoken by communities such as Christians, Jews, Samaritans and pagans.Following theMuslim conquest of the Levantby the Arab MuslimRashiduns, the formerly dominant languages of the area, Aramaic and Greek, were gradually replaced by the Arabic language introduced by the new conquering administrative minority.A steadylanguage shiftfrom Aramaic vernaculars to Arabic took place over a long period of time, with an extended period ofbilingualismwhich lasted until the 12th century.Arab tribes in Palestine, of bothYaman and Qaystribes, contributed to the acceleration of the shift to Arabic.
Palestinian Arabic, like otherLevantine Arabicdialects, is a mixture ofHejazi Arabicand ancient northern Arabic dialects spoken in the Levant before Islam, with a heavyAramaicandHebrewsubstrate.
According to Bassal, Palestinian Arabic dialects contain layers of languages spoken in earlier times in the region, includingCanaanite, Hebrew (BiblicalandMishnaic),Aramaic(particularlyWestern Aramaic),Persian,Greek, andLatin, indicating the impact of former peoples and civilizations on the linguistic profile on the region. As a result of the early modern period, Palestinian dialects came to be influenced byTurkishandEuropean languages. Since the founding of Israel in 1948, Palestinian dialects have been significantly influenced byModern Hebrew.Over time, linguistics have identified a few substrate terms derived from Canaanite, Hebrew, and Aramaic that have persisted in contemporary vocabulary.
The ongoing effort ofnation-buildingand the effort to solidifyPalestinian national consciousnessas the primary framework of identity, as opposed to other identities dominant among Palestinians (including primordialclannish,tribal, local, andIslamistidentities), have an impact on internal Palestinian historical discourse regarding the origins of Palestinians.
During the 20th century, claims that Palestinians have direct genealogical connections to the ancientCanaanites, without an intermediary Israelite relationship, began to emerge from certain sections within Palestinian society and their followers. TheCanaanitesare often portrayed as Arabs, allowing the Palestinians to assert that they had lived in the region for a very long period, predatingIsraelitesettlement.Aref al-Aref, in an effort to undermineJerusalem's Jewish history and emphasize its Arab identity, linked the founding of the city to the "Arab"Jebusites, despiteHebrew Biblebeing the only extant ancient document that uses the name "Jebusite" to describe the pre-Israelite residents of JerusalemThe claim of kinship with the Israelites, according to Bernard Lewis, allows to "assert a historical claim antedating the biblical promise and possession put forward by the Jews."
Following the1948 Arab–Israeli War, Palestinian writer Mustafa Dabbagh published his book "Our Country Palestine" in which he attributed the first settled civilization in Palestine to the Banu-Can'an tribe, which he claimed was closely linked to theAmoritesandPhoenicians, and asserted that all of them emigrated to the region from theArabian Peninsulaaround 2500 BCE. In his book he claimed that the blend of the Canaanites and thePhilistines, who migrated from the Greek islands around 1500 BCE, eventually formed the nucleus of the current Palestinian Arab population.
Some Palestinian scholars, like Zakariyya Muhammad, have criticized arguments based on Canaanite lineage, or what he calls "Canaanite ideology". He states that it is an "intellectual fad, divorced from the concerns of ordinary people."By assigning its pursuit to the desire to predate Jewish national claims, he describesCanaanismas a "losing ideology", whether or not it is factual, "when used to manage our conflict with the Zionist movement" sinceCanaanism"concedesa priorithe central thesis of Zionism. Namely that we have been engaged in a perennial conflict with Zionism—and hence with the Jewish presence in Palestine—since the Kingdom ofSolomonand before ... thus in one stroke Canaanism cancels the assumption that Zionism is a European movement, propelled by modern European contingencies..."
Commenting on the implications of Canaanite ideology, Eric M. Meyers, aDuke Universityhistorian of religion, writes:
According toMeir Litvak, the historical discourse regarding the origins of Palestinians has been significantly impacted by the attempt ofPalestinian nationalismto establish itself as the dominant framework of identity among Palestinians, and to use origin ideas to counterZionistarguments. Litvak notes that Palestinians felt compelled to engage inhistoriographyto counter Jewish claims, aiming to demonstrate Palestine's enduringArab identitythroughout history, from ancient times to the present day. Litvak suggests that Palestinian historiography, particularly in Arabic, is uncritical and lacks reflection, accepting only narratives that align with the national cause. He claims that established truths are rarely questioned, and evidence contradicting the national narrative is often disregarded or labeled as false or hostile. Academic standards regarding the use of historical evidence are seldom upheld in this context.
A number of pre-Mandatory Zionists, fromAhad Ha'amandBer BorochovtoDavid Ben-GurionandYitzhak Ben Zvibelieved that the Palestinian peasant population as descended from the ancient biblical Hebrews, but this belief was disowned when its ideological implications became problematic.Ahad Ha'am believed that, "the Moslems [of Palestine] are the ancient residents of the land ... who became Christians on the rise of Christianity and became Moslems on the arrival of Islam."Israel Belkind, the founder of theBilu movementalso asserted that the Palestinian Arabs were the blood brothers of the Jews.Ber Borochov, one of the key ideological architects of Marxist Zionism, claimed as early as 1905 that "[t]heFellahininEretz-Israelare the descendants of remnants of the Hebrew agricultural community",believing them to be descendants of the ancient Hebrew and Canaanite residents "together with a small admixture of Arab blood".He further believed that the lack of a crystallized national consciousness among Palestinian Arabs would result in their likely assimilation into the new Hebraic nationalism.
David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben Zvi, later becoming Israel's first Prime Minister and second President, respectively, suggested in a 1918 book written inYiddishthat the fellahin are descended from ancient Jewish and Samaritan farmers, "Am ha'aretz" (People of the Land), who continued farming the land after the Jewish-Roman Wars and despite the ensuing persecution for their faith. While the wealthier, more educated, and more religious Jews departed and joined centers of religious freedom in the diaspora, many of those who remained converted their religions, first to Christianity, then to Islam.They also claimed that these peasants and their mode of life were living historical testimonies to ancientIsraelitepractices described in theHebrew Bibleand theTalmud.Ben Zvi stated in a later writing that "Obviously, it would be incorrect to claim that all fellahin are descended from the ancient Jews; rather, we are discussing their majority or their foundation", and that "The vast majority of the fellahin are not descended from Arab conquerors but rather from the Jewish peasants who made up the majority in the region before the Islamic conquest".
In his book on the Palestinians,The Arabs in Eretz-Israel, Belkind advanced the idea that thedispersion of Jewsout of the Land of Israel after the destruction of theSecond Templeby theRomanemperorTitusis a "historic error" that must be corrected. While it dispersed much of the land's Jewish community around the world, those "workers of the land that remained attached to their land," stayed behind and were eventually converted to Christianity and then Islam.He therefore, proposed that this historical wrong be corrected, by embracing the Palestinians as their own and proposed the opening of Hebrew schools for PalestinianArab Muslimsto teach them Arabic, Hebrew and universal culture.
Tsvi Misinai, an Israeli researcher, entrepreneur and proponent of acontroversial alternative solutionto theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, asserts that nearly 90% of all Palestinians living within Israel and theoccupied territories(including Israel's Arab citizens and Negev Bedouin)are descended from the Jewish Israelite peasantry that remained on the land, after the others, mostly city dwellers, were exiled or left.Irish theologianMichael Priorhad a similar perspective on the Palestinians' ancestry.
According to Israeli historianMoshe Gil, in order to accept the theory of the Jewish origin of the Palestinians, it must be assumed that there was a mass conversion of Jews to Islam at some time, but according to him "there is no information in the sources - Jewish, Christian or Muslim - about a mass conversion of Jews to Islam in any place and at any time, unless it is a case of a forced conversion," and in any case "there is no such information about the Land of Israel" and therefore "there is no reason to think that the Arabs of the Land of Israel were descendants of Jews".
Statements that today's Palestinians are genetically not indigenous to Palestine are spread by Israeli leaders and interest groups.
According to Palestinian poetSamih al-Qasim, Zionist arguments portray Palestinians as broadly Arab, de-emphasizing their specificity to Palestine.
For example, in July 2019, Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahustated: "A new study of DNA recovered from an ancient Philistine site in the Israeli city of Ashkelon confirms what we know from the Bible – that the origin of the Philistines is in southern Europe. ... The Palestinians' connection to the Land of Israel is nothing compared to the 4,000 year connection that the Jewish people have with the land." Apparently unaware that the words Philistine and Palestinian share etymology but not meaning.He later changed his implication from Palestinians being descended from southern Europeans to being descended from Peninsular Arabians: "There's no connection between the ancient Philistines & the modern Palestinians, whose ancestors came from the Arabian Peninsula to the Land of Israel thousands of years later. The Palestinians' connection to the Land of Israel is nothing compared to the 4,000 year connection that the Jewish people have with the land".
Individual authors have also argued that Palestinians are mostly descended from relatively recent Arab immigrants to Palestine. Notable among them wasJoan Peters, who in 1984 publishedFrom Time Immemorial, in which she argued through the flawed use of statistics,that Palestinians were largely descended from economic migrants from other Arabic-speaking countries who arrived in Palestine the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The term Palestinian has had two different meanings.
Prior to 1948, the term "Palestinian" applied to people from Palestine, including Jews.
In contemporary usage,particularly since the creation of Israel on most of the territory ofMandatory Palestinein 1948 and the expulsion or flight of most Muslim and Christian Palestinians from that land, the terms "Palestinians" and "Palestinian people" are usually used to refer to the Levantine Arab (i.e. native Arabic- and historically Aramaic-speaking) people descended from the people who have lived in historic Palestine over the millennia with admixture of immigrants over that period.This contemporary usage thus often implicitly excludesPalestinian Jewswhen describing ethnoreligious groups before 1948.
The emergence ofPalestinian identityis relatively recent, coming in the first decades of the 20th century, according to legal historian Assaf Likhovski,though several scholars have traced it to as early as the mid-18th century.