Palestine has never been a ‘nation’ in the European sense of the word

Daniel Teegan (Irish Examiner, Letters 25/6/15) distorts the reality of Israel, saying it is a continuation of Western colonialism in the Middle East.

Palestinians have not been living in the region for thousands of years; most of the Arab population of Israel and the West Bank goes back a few generations, or centuries at most.

The Ottoman Turks, who ruled for 500 years, forcibly moved many different ethnic groups into the area, including Arabs. Jews have been indigenous for 3,000 years.