Who are the Palestinians today ?
The Palestinians are the indigenous people of Palestine; their local roots are deeply embedded in the soil of Palestine and their autochthonous identity and historical heritage long preceded the emergence of a local Palestinian nascent national movement in the late Ottoman period and the advent of Zionist settler‑colonialism before the First World War.
The Palestinians are the descendants of all the indigenous peoples who lived in Palestine over the centuries, including Canaanites since time immemorial. Since the seventh century, they have been predominantly Muslim in religion and almost completely Arab in language and culture.
The Palestinians number today 14.3 million people. 5.3 million in the State of Palestine (3.2 million in the West Bank and 2.1 million in the Gaza Strip), 1.7 million in the 1948 territories, and nearly 7 million in the diaspora (6.3 million live in Arab countries and 750,000 in foreign countries).