Mahmoud Abbas: “Our narrative says that we were in this land since before Abraham. I am not saying it. The Bible says it. The Bible says, in these words, that the Palestinians existed before Abraham. So why don’t you recognize my right?”

He was clearly basing this on mention of the Philistines in the Bible.



As Palestinian Media Watch explains:

Abbas’ statement about the Bible is false. The only Biblical reference Abbas could be talking about is the text that Abraham dwelt “many days in the land of the Philistines.” (Genesis 21: 34). However, the Philistines have no connection to today’s Palestinian Arabs. The Philistines were a people of Greek origin who settled in the land of Canaan and lived beside the Israelite tribes. The Palestinians who are Arabs could not have had ancestors in the land from biblical times predating Israelite and Judean statehood because Arabs only arrived in the land in 637 CE with the Muslim invasion. Needless to say, the “Palestinians” are not mentioned in the Bible. Significantly, Abbas says that this “fact” – which is a fabrication – is what gives Palestinians a “right” to the land.