Contrary to propaganda, Arabs are not descendents of Canaanites.
Arabs invaded and conquered other countries in a series of genocidal
jihads originating from
Arabia in the 7th Century C.E. See the historical timeline of Arab expansion through the Middle East:
http://www.caabu.org/education/chronologypart1.htmlMedieval Arab genealogists divided the Arabs into two groups:
* the "original Arabs" of
South Arabia, descending from Qahtan (identified with the biblical Joktan). The Qahtanites are said to have migrated the land of Yemen following the destruction of the Dam of Ma'rib (Sad Ma'rib). The Qahtanite Arabs were responsible for the ancient civilizations of Yemen including the biblically renowned Sheba (a descendent of Qahtan).
* The "Arabized Arabs" (musta`ribah) of
North Arabia, descending from Adnan, supposed to be a descendant of Ishmael through Kedar.
The Arabic language as it is spoken today in its classical Quranic form was the result of a
mix between the original Arabic tongue of Qahtan and the northern Arabic which borrowed from other northern Semitic languages from the Levant. See Qahtanite.
...
On its formation in 1946, the Arab League defined an "Arab" as follows:
"An Arab is a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab