Trying to erase 3,000 years of Palestinian presence

JVL Introduction

The Britain Palestine Project held a conference “Recognition is the Beginning” on June 2nd with several excellent speeches which can now been viewed on YouTube and listened to on Spotify. This is the 5th of the videos and spotify posts; we shall post more in the days to come.

Here we post a powerful lecture  by William Dalrymple about the long history of Palestinian presence in the land.  In addition to memories and writings can now be added the DNA evidence showing that modern Palestinians – and, indeed, Mizrahi Jews – derive most of their ancestry from Bronze Age Levantine populations. The claim that Palestinians have no legitimate connection to the land is nonsensical but the work to erase that connection has helped lead us to the horrors of Gaza and in the West Bank – the Nakba continues.

Furthermore, Dalrymple reminds us of Britain’s terrible role and responsibility for building the Palestinians catastrophe and our ongoing complicity. Britain has a particular role in dismantling the catastrophe.

This article was originally published by Britain Palestine Project on Tue 2 Jun 2026. Read the original here.