Deceptive Claims Rewrite the History of Canaan

Abstract

This short essay presents the author's view of the history of Canaan and of Palestinian claims to the land of Israel. The author outlines a history of the region from the arrival of Abraham, through the Israelite kingdoms and the destruction of the first and second temples, and states that, although dispersed at various times, Jews lived continuously in Canaan under successive rulers. The author contends that Arab refugees and Bedouins from neighbouring countries settled in the region mostly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, that their descendants constitute today's Palestinians, and that Palestinian national aspirations first emerged after the Six-Day War of 1967. Referring to the United Nations vote of November 1947, the events of 1948, and the refusal of Jordan and Egypt to take back control of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, the author argues that Palestinian claims to the entire territory of Israel are historically and religiously unjustified and that charges of conquest and an apartheid-like system against Israel are unfounded. The author proposes that the only solution for the refugees and their descendants is international and financial support for their incorporation into the surrounding Arab countries, and presents Israel's position as a stand against what the author describes as the expansion of radical Islam in the West.

Abstract prepared by the editorial office from the full text of the article; the authors did not supply one.