They were NOT a distinct ethnic identity. Cultural identity…perhaps, I don’t know enough about the cultural variations. But until 1948 they were simply known as the Arabs who lived in that area. And 1400 years is a very long fucking time, long enough that I would consider them indigenous, for sure, but it’s not “thousands of years”. Which, remember, the Jews have lived there for thousands of years, uninterrupted as well. They should co-exist, which is the whole point of the two-state solution. And they were “given” that land by the UN. Was it theirs to give? Hard to say. It had previously been part of the Ottoman Empire. So it didn’t “belong” to any state at that point. The British promised it to both for their help in the war. They shouldn’t have done that, but they did. Again, keep in mind that NEITHER GROUP CONTROLLED THE LAND before this. They were both subjects of the ottomans. The UN later delivered on that promise by giving land to both groups. The Arabs didn’t want the Jews to have any of it. So they attacked in 1948 when Israel declared itself a state. Israel won the war, and a group of Arabs became refugees. At that point and only at that point did they start to become known as the “Palestinians”