Edward Said

certainly the Arabs have a much greater

claim because they've had a longer

history of inhabitants of actual

residents in Palestine than the Jews did

if you look at the history of Palestine

there's been some quite interesting work

done by biblical

archaeologists you'll see that the

period of actual Israelite as it was

called in the Old Testament dominance in

Palestine amounts to about 200 to 250

years but there were moabites there were

jebusites there were Canaanites there

were Philistines there were many many

other people in Palestine at the time

and before and after and to isolate one

of them and say that's the real owner of

the land I mean that is that is

fundamentalism because the only way you

can back it up is say well God gave it

to us yes but I mean Christians think

that God gave it to them and Muslims

think that God gave it to them I mean

that's not a rational argument nobody

has a claim that overrides all the

others and entitles that person with

that so-called claim to drive people out

I mean that's the

point I mean Jews have a claim in I've

never denied that of course they do but

is it a claim that that can tell a

Palestinian well you've got to leave

this house because I I mean I got it

3,000 years ago I mean it's true I come

from Poland or from Brooklyn but I have

a bigger right to this house than you do

so get out that's I I I I I'm sorry I

disagree with that with that kind of

logic uh