the pre-exilic Jews never lived in Israel
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the placenames of the Bible actually allude to places in Arabia, and were later reinterpreted to refer to places in Palestine when the Jews moved to Palestine after the Exile; and the ancient Jews actually came from Yemen, on the Arabian peninsula. In his view, the epigraphic evidence for Jewish presence in Palestine comes from a later period, or is mere coincidence of names. One Palestinian historian, Jarid al-Kidwa, agrees, claiming that the pre-exilic Jews never lived in Israel. It is significant that Salibi was able in this book to resolve many mysteries and contradictions that arises in the modern view to the history of pre-Islam semitic groups. However, the theory has not been widely accepted anywhere, neither in the Arab world nor outside it.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamal_Salibi -
Very interesting, and it kind of makes since the place called Jerusalem inhabited by the Canaanites before the Jews moved in... my only concern is if there is some kind of evidence to support that Babylon attacked and occupied the Yamen area and actually took slaves? Another indication is the word El (the Arabic Eel, as in Israa'eel) turns into the word Yahw(h) i.e. Babylonian God into a Canaanite God...