In the early 20th century, under British military occupation of Palestine, colonial administrators began broadly classifying Palestinians as "Arabs," while deliberately contrasting them with "Jews." This imposed identity linked Palestine to Arab identity and cast incoming European settlers as Jews, collapsing the tribal and Indigenous lineages into a single colonial construct. The contrast was later reinforced by British protectorate states in the Persian Gulf, and today it persists through Gulf Cooperation Council regimes, Western diplomatic language, and the State of Israel's Zionist narrative. Persian Gulf states recycle the Ishmaelite "Arab" narrative and present Palestinians as junior members of a single Arab nation, Western governments echo the same framing, and the State of Israel uses it to label Indigenous Bedouins in the Naqab, Jordan Valley, and "West Bank" as "nomadic Arabs," suggesting their "true" homeland is in the Arabian Peninsula. From its colonial origins to its modern recycling, this misclassification continues to erase indigenous identity and deny Palestinians recognition as an Indigenous people of the very land they've inhibited for over 5,000 years.
Bajis Hasanat Abu Mu'ailiq
Published on 25 Nov 2025
