The Editor,
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco, CA

April.19,2001

Dear Editor:

The claim by Randy Barnes {"Jews were there" April 19}, that " Israel was the land of the Jewish people 1000 years before the Arabs moved into[the] area", is completely false and contradicts historic facts.

Today's Palestinians are the descendents of the Canaanites, Jebusites, the Philistines and other tribes that lived in that land since history began. Professor Maxime Rodinson, who is Jewish, wrote in 1968, as Professor of History at The Sorbonne University in Paris : " The Palestinian people are the true indigenous people of Palestine and their roots in the land can be traced back to at least forty centuries."

Yours sincerely

Ismail Zayid, MD.