69 million page views

Macalister provided some light, but some confusion, also

Reader comment on item: The 11th Encyclopædia Britannica on Who Lived in Palestine

Submitted by dante (United States), Aug 8, 2016 at 02:14

the article is useful in presenting Macalister's perceptions of the diverse non-Jewish population as it appeared to him in the first decade of the 20th Century and as he recorded it for EB. however, when Macalister offers his speculations about a notionally "fundamental Canaanite element" in Palestine, he creates more confusion than clarification. the area of what came to be called "Palestine" was conquered many times in antiquity and subsequently; some of the conquests resulted in wholesale deportations of the indigenous populations. the idea that "[i]t is by no means unreasonable to suppose that there is a fundamental Canaanite element in this population..." is ridiculous; it is unreasonable, about as ludicrous as Macalister's conclusions about purported skeletal similarities between ancient remains and a certain part of the contemporary population.

if it has not been done, some scholar should study the regional "tribal" identities of the Muslim (often non-Arab) population and, also, the family names of the Muslim population as evidence of its origins; it is not uncommon to find surnames that indicate an origin in other parts of the "Middle East," e.g. Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Arabia, Turkey, Balkans, Iran, Yemen, Algeria, etc.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (18) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Diverse Population. [18 words]Reynald de ChatillonJul 6, 2020 02:07259544
Palestine is Judea. [13 words]JosephSep 1, 2019 07:55253745
I went scrambling for my dictionary when the word marriage was redefined, [111 words]LynnSep 23, 2016 11:03232965
1Genetics.. [39 words]Jack W.Sep 5, 2016 16:21232307
Double Standard ? [77 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JK WilliamsonSep 2, 2016 18:27232184
2Why does the PA not honor the rights of so-called Palestinian Jews living in Israel? [247 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserAug 16, 2016 11:31231437
Has the definition of Palestinian Jews been extended? [172 words]Isa AlmisryJan 5, 2017 04:04231437
so-called palestinians [6 words]Michael BlochAug 12, 2016 06:48231301
2The 11th Encyclopædia Britannica on Who Is a Palestinian [342 words]Bill NarveyAug 8, 2016 08:21231256
perceptive observation [85 words]danteAug 12, 2016 19:13231256
1Macalister provided some light, but some confusion, also [194 words]danteAug 8, 2016 02:14231254
Thanks for sharing this [130 words]Steve HagermanAug 6, 2016 19:20231231
Actually the Anglo-American Committee Of Inquiry (1946-47) was very clear and detailed on this [192 words]DaniAug 6, 2016 11:43231223
clear & detailed? perhaps, but you didn't make it easy to verify. [32 words]danteAug 10, 2016 00:49231223
About Joan Peters [40 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JoanneAug 5, 2016 13:07231212
1Jebusites and the mystery of memory loss [75 words]ANN FARMERAug 4, 2016 17:19231201
1There never seems to be enough nonsense about Israel [36 words]Michael SAug 2, 2016 21:32231161
4Palestine Fantasy More Popular Than Reality [143 words]DaveJul 31, 2016 16:19231106

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)