section_path: Indigenous peoples by region/Asia/West Asia
section_name: West Asia
paragraph_text: West Asia
  
  There are competing claims that Palestinian Arabs and Jews are indigenous to historic Palestine /the Land of Israel. The argument entered the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in the 1990s, with Palestinians claiming Indigenous status as a pre-existing population displaced by Jewish settlement, and currently constituting a minority in the State of Israel. Israeli Jews have also claimed indigeneity, citing religious and historical connections to the land as their ancient homeland; some have disputed the authenticity of Palestinian claims. In 2007, the Negev Bedouin were officially recognized as Indigenous peoples of Israel by the United Nations. This has been criticized both by scholars associated with the Israeli state, who dispute the Bedouin's claim to indigeneity, and those who argue that recognizing just one group of Palestinians as indigenous risks undermining others' claims and "fetishizing" nomadic cultures.