Are they? Which ones? If this is so, why does a leading official of Hamas say that 'Half the 'Palestinians' come from Egypt and the other half from Saudi Arabia'? His words can and should be taken with a few grains of salt, yes, but to what extent is this true? But, whoever their ancestors were, they accede somewhere along history's line to be Arabized and/or Islamized, which means they were de-indigenized, at least to some extent, as they joined their colonizers. Consequently, the longest status I'd be inclined to give most of them would be 'settlers of long standing'--but then, who the hell am I? I don't live there.