ABSTRACT
Oral and written narratives are integral to a geopolitical strategy that ties a people to an ancestral land and claims of continuity with ancient progenitors. Genomic analysis traces ancestry far back into prehistoric times, but the farther a most common recent ancestor, the greater the likelihood of random mating through migrations, which results in chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA admixture. As well, mutations, genetic drift and natural selection affect population genetics over time. Thus, DNA data belie the concept of (ure) race and void any biological meaning to the concept of ethnicity. Absent the availability of ancient DNA data for comparisons, claims by Palestinians and Israelis to “historic” rights in ancient Palestine as biological heirs to its ancient inhabitants are not evidence based but pretentious.
