All of the genetic studies have shown that the Eastern European Jews are not of predominantly Eastern European origin, but rather closely linked, in this order, to Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese, Greeks and Italians. There was, of course, some admixture through many centuries in Europe, but it is estimated that such genes are 5-10% of the gene pool. There is no evidence of Turkic-Khazarian descent. Also, about half of the Jews in Israel are now of Mizrahi origin, descended from people who never sojourned in Europe, but after the A.D. 70 destruction of the Second Temple remained in the general area, such as the Jews most recently from Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Aden, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Iran and so on. (Examples of such people are former PM Ehud Barak and Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer).
The Palestinians, themselves, are a mixed group--descended from "arabs" (itself not a race, but a cultural and linguistic group), Egyptians, Bosnians, Greeks, Romans, converted Jews (from the period of around 600 A.D.), Idumaeans, Berbers, and many, many other peoples. The most "covered up" fact in the Palestinian world is, of course, the fact that many if not all have significant European heritage, from Greeks, from Romans, and from European slave-soldiers who settled in the area or fathered children during the Roman era. There are also descendants of western and middle-european crusaders who are documented to have intermingled with "native" women during, at least, the First and Second Crusades. Some assert that Palestinians actually have more European genes than do most Israeli Jews--this is probably not true, but the differences are not that large. Indeed, it is well-known that Palestinians can easily mix among Israelis for purposes good and bad because it is often impossible to distinguish between a Jewish Israeli and a Palestinian.
Neither the Arabs of that area nor the Jews constitute a "race", even in the broadest sense of the word. "Arabs" descend from as many as 15 ancient and recent source groups (according to haplotype and genetic disease-pattern studies), and probably more. They range from people like Suha Arafat (who has light Caucasian features), to people who might be described as "Negritic", such as the late Anwar Sadat. Ethnologists and physio-genetic anthropologists have long ago abandoned the concept that any group is unmixed or of pure race, and this pseudo-scientific notion was especially discredited in the post-Nazi era. (Interestly enough, studies of Germans using modern techniques have shown admixed "saxon" (undifferentiated mid-European), Slavic (significantly in the east), swabian, and celtic descent. More slavic genes have been introduced into the general population through the return of the admixed "Ostdeutsch" (Germans who settled in slavic regions in the last several hundred years).
Ultimately, the question of who carries what genes (apart from scientific inquiries) is itself something which fascinates those who like to focus more on "race", than on culture, religion, and language, and may itself be the ultimate form of racism. The truth is, for anyone who cares about truth, that both the Jews and Arabs are semito-european admixtures, with some populations (such as Falasha Jews) who are neither. It is hypocritical of some Palestinians to have such an intense focus on the "race" of the Israeli Jews, whilst themselves asserting that they are not of "racist" bent. If the Israelis wished to focus with equal energy on the "race" of the Palestinians, there would be quite a few revelations which might shock the propagandized Palestinian populace. |
