Well, there is good news and bad news on that score.
The good news is that the genetics of Arabs and Jews have been pretty extensively researched. The classic study dates to 2000, from a team lead by Michael Hammer of University of Arizona. They looked at Y-chromosome haplotypes - this is the genetic material passed from father to son down the generations.What they revealed was that Arabs and Jews are essentially a single population, and that Palestinians are slap bang in the middle of the different Jewish populations (as shown in this figure).
Another team, lead by Almut Nebel at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, took a closer look in 2001. They found that Jewish lineages essentially bracket Muslim Kurds, but they were also very closely related to Palestinians. In fact, what their analysis suggested was that Palestinians were identical to Jews, but with a small mix of Arab genes - what you would expect if they were originally from the same stock, but that Palestinians had mixed a little with Arab immigrants. They conclude:
We propose that the Y chromosomes in Palestinian Arabs and Bedouin represent, to a large extent, early lineages derived from the Neolithic inhabitants of the area and additional lineages from more-recent population movements. The early lineages are part of the common chromosome pool shared with Jews (Nebel et al. 2000). According to our working model, the more-recent migrations were mostly from the Arabian Peninsula...So, as far as male lineage goes, the genetic story is very clear. Palestinians and Jews are virtually indistinguishable.
Women are a bit more tricky...
Up until last year, the matrilineal heritage of Jews also seemed pretty clear. Analysis of elements in mitochondrial DNA (which is passed from mother to daughter) seemed to show that Jewish populations around Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East were derived from at least 8 unrelated 'founding mothers'.
Where they came from wasn't clear, but the most likely explanation was that they were from local populations that bred with immigrant Jewish males. Their offspring became absorbed into the Jewish community.
In 2008, a more sophisticated analysis was published that made use of whole mitochondrial DNA sequences. They found no evidence for the genetic bottle necks that indicate founding mothers in the large Jewish populations. Instead, they found a complicated picture with a very diverse gene pool suggesting intermarriage both with local populations and other Jewish groups.
The overall conclusion is that the female Jewish line deviates a lot more from the Palestinian heritage than the male line, but the heritage is still there.
So that's the good news. Jews and Palestinian Arabs are blood brothers - although this close genetic relationship probably stems from pre-Judaic times, rather than any more recent conversion of Palestinian Jews to Islam.
And the bad news? Well, this basic story has been known for the best part of a decade now. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, it hasn't lead to the warring sides laying down their weapons and engaging in a group hug. This is a religious conflict, not a genetic one.
Mr Misinai is, sadly, on a hiding to nothing.
M. F. Hammer (2000). Jewish and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations share a common pool of Y-chromosome biallelic haplotypes Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97 (12), 6769-6774 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.100115997
A NEBEL, D FILON, B BRINKMANN, P MAJUMDER, M FAERMAN, A OPPENHEIM (2001). The Y Chromosome Pool of Jews as Part of the Genetic Landscape of the Middle East The American Journal of Human Genetics, 69 (5), 1095-1112 DOI: 10.1086/324070
M THOMAS (2002). Founding Mothers of Jewish Communities: Geographically Separated Jewish Groups Were Independently Founded by Very Few Female Ancestors The American Journal of Human Genetics, 70 (6), 1411-1420 DOI: 10.1086/340609
Doron M. Behar, Ene Metspalu, Toomas Kivisild, Saharon Rosset, Shay Tzur, Yarin Hadid, Guennady Yudkovsky, Dror Rosengarten, Luisa Pereira, Antonio Amorim, Ildus Kutuev, David Gurwitz, Batsheva Bonne-Tamir, Richard Villems, Karl Skorecki (2008). Counting the Founders: The Matrilineal Genetic Ancestry of the Jewish Diaspora PLoS ONE, 3 (4) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002062
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a religious one - it is primarily about land.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but why are they fighting over the land?
ReplyDeleteThere's no need to ask why they are fighting about land. Most wars are about land, or water, or associated resources. Often all three.
ReplyDeleteThe role of religion and nationalism is to make compromise harder by presenting a simple conflict of interest as a holy war or struggle for national liberation/survival. Thus turning an economic issue, subject to compromise, into a conflict of absolutes.
At root, this war is about land and water. Of course, there's also the small matter of history and historic grievances ... but there are always grievances.
That's true in a general sense but in this specific case it's difference because religion has been the cause of a mass migration to a specific location, and thereby precipitating the land dispute.
ReplyDeleteIn that way it's different to, say, the dispute between Greece and Turkey. That's a land dispute that's exacerbated by religion.
This is a religious conflict, not a genetic one.
ReplyDeleteNo. The conflict is still a genetic one even though Jews and Palestinians share a genetic heritage. Although the two groups may come from the same place genetically speaking, they are today different enough from each other genetically that they view themselves (rightly) as different peoples. They're obviously all more related to each other than any of them are to Australian Aborigines, for instance, but these things are relative.
Two groups don't have to be very different genetically from each other to go to battle over land/resources. Think Northern Ireland. Or, better yet, think about what happens in other animals -- meerkats, for instance. Even though neighboring meerkat groups interbreed with one another, they still battle it out over territory. Meerkat extended family groups are different enough from one another to create feelings of antipathy towards outsiders due to conflicting genetic interests.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about (at least) two distinct biological groups fighting over land/resources in a dispute that has been couched in religious rationalizations ('cause people are weird like that).
what land are they fighting over exactly? israel?
ReplyDeletei have a school project due and i really have to know the answer to this question. if anyone can help me out here comment back
Yes, they are fighting over Israel.
ReplyDeleteOr could it be more easily seen as one of identity vested in my culture. My culture,its factual and mythical history,its conjectured destiny;its value system is superior, sacred etc. I am prepared to die for it and its symbols--my assertion of it is sufficient--I don't need your acceptance of its validity.My culture is the only authority I am morally bound to. My identity is my cause, my culture is its expression. If I even think you pose a threat I give myself the right to attack you and dispose you.
ReplyDeleteComparative genetic study of Palestinians and Jews to promote peace
ReplyDeleteLAS VEGAS, Feb. 21 – “Palestinians have as much Jewish genetic
material in their blood as most Jewish immigrants in Israel do,” said Dr.
Brigitte Boisselier, spokesperson for the International Raelian Movement.
“With our new “Stop Killing Palestinian Jews” foundation, we intend to
demonstrate that fact scientifically so this massacre between Semitic
brothers can finally stop!”
Boisselier said similarities of genetic makeup between Jews from
different regions have been amply studied over the past decade. But related
studies yielded a surprise.
“Hundreds of genetic markers on the Y chromosome and the mitochondrial
DNA, as well as most of the remaining genome, have confirmed the common
origin of the different Jewish communities,” Boisselier said. “But recent
studies also show that some of the similarities linking different Jewish
groups to a common ancestry are found in a large portion of the Palestinian
people as well, despite their more open breeding culture.”
She said a book on the Israeli bestsellers’ list, “When and How Was the
Jewish People Invented?” by scholar Shlomo Zand, presents some
corroborative historical evidence.
“Zand says Palestinian Arabs who’ve lived for decades under the heel
of the modern Israeli state are in fact descended from the very same
‘Children of Israel’ described in the Old Testament,” Boisselier explained.
“He estimates that around 10,000 ancient Judeans were vanquished during the
Roman wars. Of those remaining, Zand says some converted to Islam and
assimilated when Arab conquerors subjugated the area. Others fled and
became the spread-out Jewish communities we know today.”
Boisselier said Zand’s explanation of the historical Palestinian
population is substantiated by the few genetic studies made thus far that
compare Palestinian and Jewish DNA.
“That means the Gaza massacre really amounts to massive fratricide, and
we need to demonstrate that fact so all this violence and hatred can stop!”
she exclaimed.
Rael, spiritual leader of the Raelian Movement, initiated the creation
of the “Stop Killing Palestinian Jews” foundation to enable a
comprehensive, scientific study that will compare the genetic makeup of
Palestinians and Jews.
“This new study will be based on the entire genome of the sample
subjects,” Boisselier emphasized. “We plan to have at least 500,000 genetic
markers checked for each individual so the common Judean ancestry of
Palestinians and Jews can be overwhelmingly demonstrated. It’s our hope
that when the two warring parties realize they are literally blood
brothers, they will stop fighting to create a united Palestine .”
“Love, not war, is the only real solution to the Gaza massacre,” Rael
said in a recent news release. “Only love can save humanity. A two-state
solution is not the solution, for it’s perpetuating a terrible apartheid.
Those who lost their land, homes and children will never be able to forgive
and live side by side with their tormentors. A one-state solution – a new
Palestine united by brotherly love – is the only real solution.”
Boisselier said Rael’s solution would please David Ben Gurion and
Yitskhak Ben Tsvi, who also knew of the genetic link between the two
peoples.
“By presenting indisputable scientific evidence that Palestinians and
Jews were one and the same people just a few hundreds years ago, we hope
both groups will take the sole path to lasting peace – the one-state
solution of love described by Rael,” Boisselier said.
She said a team of scientists from ‘Stop Killing Palestinian Jews’ is
currently designing the protocol for the study. Collection of genetic
samples is slated to begin in May.
Contact: Panteha Naghi, 702-513-2387, media@rael.org>usa-media@rael.org
"My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain -- especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state."
Albert Einstein
Palestinians and the Jews are two different races and have different cultures. They have nothing in common. If they shared common ancestry, we wouldn't find them fighting nowadays, it is as simple as that.
ReplyDeleteJews and Palestinians are the same race.
ReplyDeleteLook at the REAL mixture of peoples in the US and in other countries - why dont we find the same intolerant bloodshed?
ReplyDeleteWhat to focus on people:
Because of the geopolitical location of Israel itself (thanks to the powers that be for reinstating that reality.. hint hint.. England USA and Russia) it will forever be a conflicted area -US wants controlling interest - Arabs want controlling interest - Russia wants controlling interests - Why do you think Israel can buy nukes from the USA? Its just 1 chess move on a chessboard - 1 move that constantly chooses to involve way too many people and begs for sympathy for political reasons not any real human ethical value reasons.
Using the Bible to justify ANYTHING is like using a Bronze Age
knife and hammer to perform modern open heart surgery
Yes, I agree, the war is mostly over land and water, and two groups wanting the same piece of land. But history and religion matter, because it is the preservation of Jewish story and memory that led to the Zionists thinking that returning after 2000 years of exile was a legitimate national idea. The whole frame of that statement is religiously rooted. But other writers are correct that similarities do not prevent warfare, on the contrary from Freud to Volkan, we know that the narcissism of small differences makes for good conflict. And then there is the overriding issue of one land for two peoples that was bound for conflict from the inception of Zionism.
ReplyDeleteNo, the importance of the genetic story, its significance and tragic beauty, is its moral force. So that when people engage in this hellish and self-destructive hatred, they have to face the fact that they are killing their own family. This does give people pause sometimes. And I would like to see this become more common knowlege. Much of my work and writing is dedicated to Israeli/palestinian reconciliation, for twenty five years. It will happen someday.
Marc Gopin
www.marcgopin.com
Here's a proposed solution to the conflict by a spiritual leader.
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense:
http://raelianews.org/news.php?item.369.5
The genetic similarities are only part of the story. Some Palestinian clans have distinctive customs that set them apart from standard Muslim practices: they light candles for the dead, light a menorah in the winter time, have special Friday evening prayers, use talismans that are ancient phylactries, etc. Other subsets apparently have surnames that appear to Jewish but Sephardic (Spanish) in origin, such as Elbaz and Abulafia. The assumption is that some Sephardic Jews immigrated to the area from Spain at the time of the Inquisition and then converted to Islam.
ReplyDeleteThe point that genetic concordance simply means that Jews and Palestinian Arabs share a similar lineage is well taken. It is certainly possible that the genetics are all from a 'pre-Canaanite' era. The customs that are at odds with prevailing Muslim practices, do give one pause. There are also odd factoids like an entire clan of Cohens that live in Jordan.
I think the combination of genetic evidence and customs do point to the fact that at least some Palestinians could be of Jewish descent. Sadly, as you also pointed out, shared genetic heritage and even customs don't change the facts on the ground...
Real genetic Jews are Palestinians?
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.rense.com/general89/mid.htm
Mideast Jews, Palestinians Virtually
Genetically Identical
Scientific Journal Axes Gene Research
On Jews And Palestinians
By Robin McKie
Science Editor - The Observer
First Published Sunday 11-25-1
2-22-10
A keynote research paper showing that Middle Eastern Jews and Palestinians are genetically almost identical has been pulled from a leading journal.
Academics who have already received copies of Human Immunology have been urged to rip out the offending pages and throw them away.
Such a drastic act of self-censorship is unprecedented in research publishing and has created widespread disquiet, generating fears that it may involve the suppression of scientific work that questions Biblical dogma.
'I have authored several hundred scientific papers, some for Nature and Science, and this has never happened to me before,' said the article's lead author, Spanish geneticist Professor Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, of Complutense University in Madrid. 'I am stunned.'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/25/medicalscience.genetics
You state it is a religious conflic? The majority of Israelis are not that religious. For a minority it might be a religious conflict. Hence, I would think for the majority it would have to be more of a cultural conflict. To fight over cultural differences is not far removed from fighting over colour differences which is completely uncivilised.
ReplyDeleteGiven the evidence, the so called Palestinians can just all convert to Judaism, return to their ancients roots, and then the conflict would end. Let us invite the Palestianians to return to their ancestral roots, then and return to Judaism and give up the 8th century lie that is Islam.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. They can also give up the 2nd millenium BC lie that is Judaism.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea - they can all embrace the eternal truth that is Christianity!
ReplyDeleteThis you think is unpopular?
ReplyDeleteLook at the evidence the Samaritan Torah is the original one.
At best, modern mainstream Judaism uses a version from the Babylonian captivity which isn't even in the same alphabet as the archaeological finds in Israel.
At worst, the oldest copy of the version we use is from 1000 AD and it doesn't match any of the older texts.
I thought the modern day white Jews is a convert from khazar kingdom & have no blood connection to Hebrews of the bible times that looked more like the Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by saying "white Jews"? May be you concider Italians and Spaniards or Greeks being "black"?
ReplyDeleteYour Khazar "theory" stands on very weak legs and is debunked by genetics and philologists. Why European Jews (with an exeption of Spanish and Portuquese Jews) spoke High German if they came from Khazaria (Modern Ukraine)? Russia and Ukraaine is no exception. By the way they called themselves "Germans" (Ashkenazim in Hebrew).
My personal opinion is that this conflict should be traced back at least to the Cold War era. The Soviet Union and the USA could not wage a direct war on one another, so the Russians backed the Arab countries in the ME area, while the Americans backed Israel. Both superpowers were exploiting previous local tensions and hatred to confront one another by proxy in this geopolitical area in pretty much the same way as they did in other areas around the globe. This had a price: fostering further local hatred and violence. So today the Cold War is gone, the Middle Eastern conflict is not (yet).
ReplyDeletePolitical conflicts between Palestinians & Jews reflects their historical ignorance of spiritual laws. By studying the roots of their religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), they'll discover that they were all derived from Canaanite, Egyptian, Sumerian and Zoroastrian beliefs, which in turn evolved from primitive beliefs. There is a logical continuity in the evolution of our common ancestral beliefs, and not an instantaneous divine interference causing "revelations" in contradictions with pagan beliefs. The "missing link" between classical polytheistic beliefs and Jewish monotheistic beliefs can't be found in texts bec they were taught orally in initiatic philosophical & esoterical schools, which Jews had the merit to encode in the bible, and later Christians and Moslems as well. But bec this link has been lost, each one thinks that he has gotten the right interpretation. The only solution is the study and evolution of those roots instead of the infantile advocating "divine"
ReplyDeleteinterpretations parachuted from tribal Arab & Hebrew instincts. The truth, whether we like it or not, is that our "civilized" spiritual roots were neither Hebrew nor Arab but Assyro-Sumerian and Egypto-Canaanite. Hence, our indentity is ultimately "Levantine" and our geographical embrace is mainly the Mediterranean where local laws of nature (created by God) made us what we are--lost, degenerated tribes incapable of unifying the extremely ancient heritaqe of their civilized forefathers. To solve the issue we must transcend Palestinian & Isreali nationalisms to ascend to Levantine nationalism. Synthesis is the end game evolution and not antithesis. This is what "God" has meant for us and this is what shall happen sooner or later.
actually, i think their common genetic heritage probably dates to back somewhere between the 1st jewish diapsora and the second one, especially since the Y-chromosomal Aaron is common in palestinians males also.
ReplyDelete"The truth, whether we like it or not, is that our "civilized" spiritual roots were neither Hebrew nor Arab but Assyro-Sumerian and Egypto-Canaanite. Hence, our indentity is ultimately "Levantine" and our geographical embrace is mainly the Mediterranean where local laws of nature (created by God) made us what we are--lost, degenerated tribes incapable of unifying the extremely ancient heritaqe of their civilized forefathers."
ReplyDeleteI have come to realize the same thing. The moon god of Islam and the Hebrew JHVE are distorted scraps from our common pagan and polytheistic roots!
Look at Zoroastrianism and European paganism as well as Egyptian ancient beliefs. Worship of the Sun AND the Moon. Of Fire and Earth. Male war Gods and FEMALE Gods of love.
This is our natural religious instincts expressed, but with the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam this has been denied, hidden away and labelled as apostasy. Pagans have been persecuted. But still Judaism, Islam and Christianity realized that they must keep something of this in order for people to be attracted to their cold, puritan and law abiding religions. That is why we have angels, saints and Holy Mary. That is why there is Kaballah and Sufism.
One could argue that the making of only One God is apostasy to all of humanity and all of the Creators creatures.
Carving out one male God from the palate of gods and spirits in our nature is to deny our history. Here also is embedded the destruction of Cults that worshiped the Feminine Divine, motherhood and fertility such as Astarte, Ashera , Freja and Isis!
Remember the names of the old Gods! call upon their names! Rid of the false and corrupt political Monotheism that has infected our world and caused massive destruction. It seeks only to control and diminish us.
Since there never has been a country, ethnic group, or other self-contained entity called Palestine or Palestinian, it's a fool's errand to find Jewish "Palestinians". There may be Arabs with Jewish genes, and there may be Jews with Arab genes, but there aren't any Palestinians.
ReplyDelete