catalan I am interested in pretty much everything, especially history. This user account status is Approved Comments Comments Posts Posts “If two On It’s Hanukkah, and what that means “Once again, there are lot's of geneticists who find genetic patterns in Jewish people.” Mooser That’s correct. It’s kind of amazing that my wife was identified as 100 percent Jewish despite her family originating in Poland. Also interesting that Sephardi Jews are actually very similar genetically to Askenazi but with a lot more Italian and Middle Eastern patterns. The fact that this can be done with a blind genetic test is remarkable and does confirm that Jews in Europe were fairly reclusive and that there was not as much rape and sexual violence as I expected. There were not virtually any conversions to Judaism in Europe in the last one thousand years. The Jews are a people whatever that means; how much of modern Jews DNA is Levantine vs Germanic, Slavic or Turkic is a different question. On It’s Hanukkah, and what that means “People like you who believe that the religion-based identity of Jewish grants to those who choose to hold it the right: - to a religion-supremacist "Jewish State" in as much as possible of Palestine; “ Eljay I don’t believe a word of what you said. I don’t know what religion based means. I don’t believe that identities give any rights. I have no opinion on the size of “a Jewish” state. I am though afraid of Ustashi. On ‘From the river to the sea’ is just fine so long as it’s Israel’s sovereignty " Is that converted "European Jew" or did you have some sort of Semite DNA transplant ?” Ossinev Well without the snarking this would have been a good question. So that’s the result that I got from ancestry. I was very surprised by this large percentage of Italian too. It seems like I am related to two families of the Thessaloniki Jewish community. Both trace their origins from Italy and it seems that I might be distantly related to Modilgliani, the Italian painter. Ancestry connected me with several Greek and Bulgarian Jewish cousins. As to what “European Jew” means I honestly don’t exactly know but you can read on their website. My wife, who is of Polish Jewish background got 100 percent “European jew” versus me ar only 42. I was surprised that I have so tiny Spanish and Portuguese; I am also a quarter middle Eastern too and that is defined by them as Arab/Persian. I don’t know what to make of any of this. It is what it is-I am kind of excited to be 27 percent Italian though always felt a strange connection to Italy. From what I understand the Askenazi Jews are as a rule a lot more “European Jew” than the Sephardi. And yet we are also very similar. Do an ancestry test and you will understand better how the whole thing works; it’s hard to explain it. On The perverse use of anti-Semitism charges against supporters of Palestinian rights “You Zionists have a disturbing obsession with death and retribution. (War) criminals can be held accountable through imprisonment.”Eljay Isn’t imprisonment a form of retribution? How many people do you want to imprison? As a side note, who are “you Zionists”? If Zionists are all those who believe in two states somewhere along the 1967 lines, that makes virtually the whole world Zionists. I mean conceivably even Hamas would accept that arrangement. Are Hamas and Iran also Zionists? How are my views of a two state arrangement similar to the international consensus “Zionist”? The Saudi peace initiative envisioned two states along the 1967 lines (not the Partition borders). Is the Saudi peace initiative “Zionist”? On ‘From the river to the sea’ is just fine so long as it’s Israel’s sovereignty “It’s that zionist mentality, that of a master criminial – a thief, rapist, murderer, sociopath and liar, to assume that everyone he or she deals with is afflicted with “ marnie But if the Zionists are indeed rapists, sociopaths, etc, wouldn’t annihilation (or at least kicking them out) be their just reward? I mean, if you have that much hatred for a guy in New Mexico who has nothing to do with Israel, imagine how the Gazans feel towards the “Zionists”. Or you want good things to happen to “murderers and sociopaths” ? You object to my point but then restate it. On ‘From the river to the sea’ is just fine so long as it’s Israel’s sovereignty “No, Catalan, I am trying to recognize them as human” Jonathan Humans are a very aggressive ape; just look at what we have done to earth in our mere 40 thousand year existence. If I was a Gazan, and a human as you say and I lived with no money, in polluted air, with barely any water and electricity, well I would wish the death of all Israelis. I don’t see how that’s not normal. Now, I happen to think that demanding the 1947 borders and he return of all refugees as BDS does is not the way out of this sad and tragic predicament. And that the dream to lol the Israelis is just that, a dream. Nonetheless, it is very human for the Gazans to hate the army which has them defeated, isolated and hopeless. On ‘From the river to the sea’ is just fine so long as it’s Israel’s sovereignty “the belief that a “free Palestine” would necessarily lead to the mass annihilation of Jewish Israelis is rooted in deeply racist and Islamophobic assumptions about who the Palestinians are...” Jonathan The belief is grounded in introspection and common sense. If I were a Palestinian, especiallly from Gaza, that’s exactly what I would want. The Palestinians are human, like me, and presumably want the same things as I do. Sadly, they don’t have the ability to annihilate the Jews; they can however call for the boycott of Starbucks and Victoria Secret. Why not just admit that both sides would not cry too hard if the other side were annihilated. Rather thank humanizing them, Jonathan, you are making them into saints, which actually is a form of condescention at best. Why not instead put yourself in their shoes and admit that their dreams of annihlation are not beastly but rather a normal response to being the loser? On ‘From the river to the sea’ is just fine so long as it’s Israel’s sovereignty “The idea that the death penalty is an effective deterrent is an old one, but is a myth.” John You are distorting my thought John. I am not arguing if the death penalty is a deterrent if the alternative is say, life imprisonment or some very long sentence. The issue in Israel is that you can kill several innocent people under the guise of “liberation, struggle” and all that other nice sounding stuff. And then, a few years later, you would be released when the next Israeli soldier gets captured and sometimes even for remains. The deterrent effect of the death penalty would be that you can’t just kill and then serve a few years. That situation is unique as other prisoners don’t just get released when there is a hostage. That only happens in Israel, especially with the Shalit case and before thay the Lebanon war. You can’t be surprised that Israel is contemplating an alternative. But BDS folks are always surprised that ever action has a reaction. As a side note, you are simplifying American reality and the issue of the death penalty. It is a complex topic that won’t be resolved with clever one liners like “the death penalty is not a deterrent”. You are not so much brighter than those that embrace the death penalty as you think. On Netanyahu angling to institute capital punishment for Palestinians just in time for elections “Palestinians, the indigenous inhabitants of the lands between the River and the Sea, have every right etc “ Misterioso That’s like, according to you. Rights are funny things and nobody knows who gives them and how. Are rights given by God; by the UN, by society? If the Palestinians want to resist violently, who am I to say anything about it? You do seem obsessed with the “indigenous” element. I think it’s total bs, just scientifically speaking. There is no rights that come about because you lived somewhere long. I have lived in New Mexico a total of 12 years. I am, evidently, of Jewish, Arabian/Persian, and Italian origin. My origins don’t bestow any rights or deprive me of any rights in New Mexico. The word indigenous itself is just emotional bs. We don’t have connections to the place we live in, just to other people. Believe what you want to, but the word “indigenous” has no scientific basis. Plus the history of human migration, out of Africa, towards Europe and China is well known now. We are all indigenous to Africa, big deal. On Netanyahu angling to institute capital punishment for Palestinians just in time for elections load more comments
