A new DNA analysis promises to reveal where the Canaanite peoples immigrated to following Israel’s conquest. What became of these biblical peoples? Israeli media has been eagerly reporting on this research project, given that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict revolves around the right to inherit the Land

T o whom does the Promised Land belong? To the children of Israel, or to the descendants of those who lived in the land before them? The Palestinians have taken to identifying with the latter. They maintain that they are descendants of the Canaanites, the Jebusites, the Philistines, or other nations who lived in Canaan before the biblical appropriation of the land by the children of Israel.

Several years ago, my friend and colleague Zvi Yehezkeli gave a lecture at the Birzeit University to Palestinian students. “Before I begin, I would like to tell you a story,” the Israeli TV commentator (Channel 10) said. “Moses reaches the border of the Land of Israel. God commands him to climb up Mount Nebo and look out over the Promised Land. Moses scales the mountain and descends...