The Lost Palestinian Jews

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   The Lost Palestinian Jews

    According to amateur historian Tsvi Misinai, many Jews and Palestinians share not only DNA, but also customs and even names.

"We are of the same race and blood, and cooperation will bring great prosperity to the land," wrote Emir Faisal to Felix Frankfurter in 1917. Faisal was known for his affinity to the Zionists who had begun streaming to the Holy Land; in 1919, he signed a cooperation agreement with Chaim Weizmann, to whom he wrote that he was "mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people."

    But Faisal's proclamations of kinship with the Jews were more than lip service to a commonly held belief, says Tsvi Misinai, who knows perhaps more about the origins of the modern Palestinians than anyone. "Faisal's paternal line was Hashemite," he says, "meaning he was directly descended from Muhammad. But the mother of his maternal grandfather, King On, was descended from a family of forced Jewish converts to Islam that immigrated to the east bank of the Jordan, later returning to one of the villages west of the Jordan. Unlike today, when Faisal was growing up, his grandfather's mother's Jewish origin was known, and they made no great effort to hide it. And what was known to Faisal is known to many Palestinians today as well."

    This is a story of what may be one of the best-kept secrets in history - one that could, in time, heal the terrible rift that has torn the Land of Israel asunder. After years of research, Misinai says that he can declare with certainty that nearly 90 percent of all Palestinians are descended from the Jews. "And what's more, about half of them know it," he says. Not only that, many Palestinians retain Jewish customs, including mourning rituals, lighting Shabbat or memorial candles and even wearing tefillin.

    While the common wisdom among many Israelis is that the group that calls itself "Palestinian" is a motley collection of Arabs from various parts of the Middle East who immigrated to the Land of Israel following the employment opportunities provided by Jews, Misinai says that the vast majority of today's Palestinians are descended from the remnants of Jewish families who managed to avoid being deported over the past 2,000 years, or returned to their lands after they were exiled, as the Jews in the Holy Land suffered blow after blow - from the Roman destruction of the Temple to the Crusades to famine, poverty and war throughout the Middle Ages.

    One thing many were unable to avoid, however, was converting to Islam - a forced conversion that never really "took," done more out of fear than conviction. Misinai has made it his mission to spread the word among Palestinians, giving them the opportunity to retrieve their lost heritage. And not just introduce them to their roots; according to Misinai, the reintegration of what he calls the "descendants of Israel" with the Jewish people is the best - perhaps the only - way to solve the seemingly endless Middle East crisis. Despite what some may be thinking,

    Misinai is not a nut. In fact, he is a hi-tech entrepreneur, perhaps the first in Israel's history. While the kids from ICQ and Google were still in diapers, in the early 1980s Misinai was building Sapiens into a world-class application developer, focusing on the insurance industry. All those rule-based, object-oriented applications we use every day; it was Misinai who invented the concept, and the product, winning the Rothschild Award for industrial development in the field of software in 1992. Several years afterward, he retired from the hi-tech business to return to his first love - researching the history of the Land of Israel.

    "I became interested in this area because of my father, who was a great collector of artifacts about the Land of Israel," he says, a hobby he has continued. But besides objects, Misinai collected stories - legends and folklore from the mouths of mukhtars, village elders throughout the land, attesting to the truth of his assertions. "There are large clans throughout the country, in the Hebron Hills, in Samaria and among the Negev Beduin, who know of their heritage and even have family trees that document their roots. Not only that; many of them have specifically Jewish customs, and their neighbors would call them 'the Jews,' even though they were technically as Muslim as anyone else."

    Close to nine out of 10 Palestinians in the Land of Israel - Israel proper, Judea, Samaria and Gaza - have Jewish roots. In fact, he says, the percentage in Gaza is somewhat higher than 90 percent. Misinai is far from the first researcher to have stumbled upon this historical find. The first president of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and the first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, wrote several books and articles on the subject.

    In fact, Ben-Gurion believed so strongly in the idea that in 1956 he set up a task force headed by Moshe Dayan and Haim Levkov (the Palmah's "point man" among the Arabs of Israel, he worked with Yigal Allon to set up the Trackers' Unit, traditionally the domain of Negev Beduin), that was supposed to develop ways to "Judaize" the Beduin, teaching them something about modern Jewish life and tradition to integrate them with the Israeli people, ethnically if not religiously. The Beduin were willing enough, but the teachers who were supposed to live and work with them dropped out of the program because of the rough living conditions. In the end, Dayan convinced Ben-Gurion that the idea would upset "the Islamic world," and the program was dropped.

    That's an important point, Misinai says. "I don't necessarily believe most, or even some, of the Palestinians would want to convert to Judaism, at least right now. Reintegrating them with the Jewish people does not necessarily require them to convert, and I imagine many of the rabbis would be reluctant to go ahead with such a program." Plus, he says, many Israelis of all stripes would be suspicious that the Palestinians were embracing their "Jewish identities" as a way of getting Israeli ID cards - to get National Insurance money, if not to carry out terror attacks.

    IN HIS book, Brother Shall Not Lift Sword Against Brother, which discusses what he calls "the Engagement," Misinai foresees a gradual process of education and integration that could take 40 to 50 years, with immigration and natural growth among the Jews keeping the demographic balance in check. "It sounds like a long time, but we often forget that it's been 40 years since the Six Day War and the only 'progress' that we've made has been the Oslo process, which has turned out to be a tragedy for Israel and the Palestinians," Misinai says.

    Besides, he says, many of the Palestinians might not have to convert anyway. "Many of the families in question know they are of Jewish origin, and they marry among themselves. Halachically there may be some questions, but I have consulted with rabbis who say they are resolvable. It would certainly be in line with historic Judaism, which in the past - during the Temple periods, for example - had more lax standards for accepting returnees.

    For example, Jews who were idol worshipers during the First and Second Temple periods were not forced to convert back in order to be considered part of the people of Israel." Besides, he says, with most of the available spouses living in the land coming from Jewish backgrounds themselves, the opportunity to intermarry with someone of non-Jewish ancestry was low - far lower than the chances for such a marriage to take place in modern-day America or Russia, he says.

    "Several Palestinians have gone through formal conversion, but I know of a number who have taken on Jewish practices - and who say they don't need to convert because they know they're already Jews." And the evidence for the Jewish ancestry of the Palestinians is persuasive - very persuasive, when all the information is taken into account. First, there are the names - not just place names, but family names. "Many villages here have names that are not Arabic, and very rarely appear in other Arab lands. Among such names are Kafr Yasif, Kafr Kana, Kafr Yatta, Kafr Manda, Kafr Samia, and many others," says Misinai.

    Indeed, Ben-Zvi in his 1932 book The Peoples of Our Land wrote that west of the Jordan River, 277 villages and sites - nearly two-thirds! - had names that were similar to or the same as the Jewish settlements on the same sites during Second Temple times. That in itself, said Ben-Zvi in his book, is proof that the inhabitants of those villages were Jews who had remained after the destruction. "If in fact the Jewish settlements became inhabited by entirely different people, they would not have preserved the Hebrew names (which in fact, did occur in most of those settlements where the population did change, such as in the eastern part of the Jordan).

    Such is not the case in western land of Israel where the old Hebrew names are preserved, which proves the continuity of settlement in this place," he wrote. It's not just place names; many Palestinians have Hebrew-derived family names as well, reflecting their origins, says Misinai. Already in the 1860s, "Colonel Condor of the Institute for Israel Research found biblical names among Palestinian fellahin [peasants]. Many of these names have no root in the Arabic lexicon. Large, distinguished families from various parts of the country carry Hebrew names or Jewish family names."

    Among the surnames of some of the larger clans are the Abu Khatsiras, who control much of the fishing in Gaza; Elbaz, a family of Jews who immigrated from Morocco; Abulafia, the family with the famous Jaffa bakery which is descended from the 13th-century Spanish kabbalist Rabbi Abraham Abulafia; the Almogs of Jenin; the Dawouda (Davids) of Hebron; and even, believe it or not, 4,000 forced converts to Islam named Cohen living in Jordan.

    Not only that: The Palestinian dialect of Arabic contains many terms and words not found in "standard" Arabic - the result of the integration of Hebrew and Aramaic into the Arabic they were forced to learn after the various Arab and Turkish conquests. Israel Belkind, one of the organizers of the Bilu movement, who researched the roots of the Palestinians during the 1890s, wrote that "it was already proven by Major Condor, in his research on the land of Israel, that the 'Arabs' of the Land of Israel had spoken Aramaic in the days of the Crusades, the language spoken by the Jews until the Arab conquest - meaning that these Aramaic-speaking 'Arabs' were actually Jews themselves."

    In fact, Misinai says, Aramaic was still the lingua franca among some villagers not too long ago. "In 1974, the settlers who established the modern Ofra were astounded to find that the residents of the village on the ancient biblical site of Ofra - called Tybiba - were Christians who spoke Aramaic."

    While many gentiles converted to Christianity in the religion's early days, they would most likely be Greek speakers; any group that spoke Aramaic is far more likely to have Jewish roots. Many Jewish customs have survived among the Palestinians as well, Misinai says. "In Islam, parents are required to have their sons circumcised by the age of 13. While in many Islamic countries the custom is to wait several years, among Palestinians many perform the ritual a week after their son is born - meaning on the eighth day," he says.

    Other customs include sitting seven days for deceased loved ones instead of just three (a custom, Misinai says, that has fallen by the wayside since the first intifada), lighting memorial candles for the dead (a custom found nowhere in the Muslim world), lighting Shabbat candles and practicing levirate marriage - the practice of having a brother marry his deceased sibling's wife under certain circumstances. That's a widespread practice among the Beduin, says Misinai, and in fact "much of the legal code of the Beduin is remarkably similar to many laws in the Torah and the Mishna."

    In addition, several Palestinian families own ancient hanukkiot, which they used in mid-winter - around Hanukka. YEHUDA BOORLA described in his book Be'ein Kochav (about his service as an officer in the Turkish army during World War I) interesting information about an Arab attendant from the Land of Israel who accompanied him. One section of the book describes a "moment of discovery" on the part of the attendant. Upon hearing the author speak about the Islamic custom of cutting off the breasts of Jewish women, the Arab attendant realized that his mother, who suffered from the same deformity, was in reality Jewish. Until today, elderly Palestinians in Jordan who moved there from west of the river tell of this tradition, says Misinai. "They say that this was done in cases where Muslim men married Jewish women, so that the Jewish women would not be able to breast-feed and their children would not take in the milk of their Jewish mothers. Thus the children would not be thought to be Jewish."

    One of the most curious of the Jewish customs that were once widespread among the Palestinians was the putting on of tefillin - usually done by someone who was ill, especially by those suffering from headaches. The rare tefillin were wrapped in cloth (to preserve them, says Misinai). When a sick person needed "treatment," they would place the tefillin box (which houses the scroll) on the middle of the ill person's forehead and wrap the connected fabric straps around his head. With the use of a key, an assistant would tighten the strap, thereby creating pressure around the head. The heightened pressure increased the headache pain - so when the tefillin was removed, it seemed as if the victim's original pain had decreased, if not disappeared completely. "Other than among a few people, the true meaning of the tefillin was lost," says Misinai.

    Food, too, is high on the agenda of these lost Jews. Many Beduin refrain from eating camel and other nonkosher animals, and around Pessah time, many Palestinians find themselves with a yen for matza. "In the region around Bethlehem, there is a high demand for matza during Pessah. When trucks delivering matza pass through, the customers crowd the trucks, taking the boxes right off the trucks even before unloading and bringing them into the store."

    The same story repeats itself in Nazareth and Shfaram, where residents make special trips to Upper Nazareth to buy matza. "Possibly they do this because they like matza, but given the other testimonies about these people, it's more logical to say that, at least in origin, the demand for matza during the start of the spring has more to do with religious custom than a recurring heightened seasonal desire for dry crackers," says Misinai.

    And while all the anecdotal evidence cited could be the result of historical confusion or some other factor, the one thing that cannot be falsified is the genetic record - which overwhelmingly proves the closeness of traditional Jews and Palestinians, says Misinai. "In 2001, Human Immunology magazine published a genetic study conducted by Prof. Antonio Arnez-Vilna, a Spanish researcher from the University of Complutense in Madrid, who discovered that the immune systems of the Jews and the Palestinians are extremely close to one another in a way that almost absolutely demonstrates a similar genetic identity. Following the publication of the article, the magazine instructed readers to destroy it due to the fact that the author had inserted political opinions into the article," Misinai says, adding that no allegations of falsified data were ever made.

    OTHER STUDIES, including a 2002 test by Tel Aviv University researchers, determined that only two groups in the world - Ashkenazi Jews and Palestinians - were genetically susceptible to an inherited deafness syndrome. All the studies he cites in his book, says Misinai, show that "the Palestinians are genetically much closer to Ashkenazi Jews than they are to the Arabs." The findings, by the way, also should dispel once and for all the canard that Ashkenazi Jews are descended from the Central Asian Khazars, and not from the population of the Land of Israel.

    If "secret Judaism" is as widespread among Palestinians as Misinai says, why are so many so opposed to Jewish settlement here? Because the issue has been "hijacked" by groups - the leadership of the Arab world, and Palestinians who have forgotten their Jewish roots. For this reason, most of the youth are not told about their origins until later on - when they have learned the art of obfuscation, balancing multiple identities to ensure their survival.

    It should be noted not all Palestinians hate Israel, Misinai points out; in 1982, for example, the leaders of Bidya in Samaria offered to enlist in the IDF in the First Lebanon War to fight the PLO. "The Jewish origin of many of Bidya's clans is a well-known fact, even today," says Misinai. But still, there's no denying that many Palestinians would like to see the Jews just disappear. And there are several reasons for that, says Misinai, the "loss of memory" among many Palestinians who now see the Jews as a "competitive other," and fear of radicals and terrorists among those who would otherwise feel affinity for Jews - as they undertake terrorist acts to throw off suspicion that they are "collaborators."

    In his book, Misinai painstakingly describes the origins of the Palestinians, who he says are made up chiefly of two groups: Jews who lived in the mountain regions of Judea and Samaria, who were able to maintain their Jewish identities for hundreds of years before being forced to make a choice between exile and conversion to Islam; and members of the ancient nations of Edom and Moab, who were converted to Judaism en masse at least twice.

    The two groups, whom Misinai calls respectively the "descendants of Israel" and the "brethren of Israel," are the chief components of what we today call the Palestinians, with the addition of a smattering of Arabs (barely a few percent), Samaritans (who maintain their own distinct religious identity), descendants of the soldiers who served in the occupying Roman army after the destruction of the Second Temple and even some survivors of the ancient Canaanite and Philistine nations - "idol worshipers who can be found in Gaza and in the village of Jisr a-Zarka, near Haifa," says Misinai.

    The collective memory of the mountain people was better than that of the "brethren of Israel," who eventually settled in the lowlands and coast from where most of the Jewish refugees originated; most of these people forgot their Jewish roots, and they comprise the bulk of refugees who fled Israel in 1948. And, Misinai says, they're the ones who are most active in terror activities. It's this group that participated most actively in the intifada, with their objective to return to the lands they abandoned in 1948 (which they themselves occupied only about 100 years before, as they settled near areas were Jews had built towns and cities to get work).

    In essence, though, the brethren have now returned to their ancestral homeland east of the Jordan. Which leaves the "descendants" the major component of the Palestinian population on the west side of the Jordan. And it's these people, Misinai believes, that Israel can - and must - work with to resolve the Palestinian issue. Not by creating a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, but by offering the "mountain people" the opportunity to reconnect with their roots - with the Jewish people and with the modern State of Israel.

    "It sounds impractical, but Zionism always was impractical. And yet it succeeded," says Misinai. But the Palestinian problem has thrown Zionism out of kilter. Nobody, despite reluctance to go through another partition, is interested in being an "occupier." But Israel's reintegration - Engagement, as Misinai puts it - of the Palestinians with the Jewish people would allow Zionism to renew its roots, and complete the task of 0building the modern Israeli nation.

    "There are lots of reasons why this would work," says Misinai. "The fact that most Palestinians consider themselves Muslim is not an issue, because most of the Palestinians are not particularly religious Muslims. Until recent decades, there were few mosques relative to population outside Jerusalem. It was King Hussein, and later the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs, that prompted much of the mosque building in recent years. Bidya, for example, only had one mosque for 25,000 residents until recently."

    In his writings, Ben-Zvi cited an interesting phenomenon that he observed. "When the Palestinian peasant swears in the name of the prophet Muhammad, the oath is not taken seriously. But if he goes to the grave of a holy person of the village or of the surrounding area and swears there, we may completely rely on his oath." THE PALESTINIANS' veneration of the Jewish prophets, their preservation of the grave sites of the Jewish patriarchs, and their embrace even of Jewish rituals (Ben-Zvi cites witnesses who recounted Palestinians and Beduin coming to dance at the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai in Meron on Lag Ba'omer) indicates that the "Musta'abari [secret Jews] spirit" is still alive and that if offered the possibility of being not so religious Muslims or not so religious Jews, the majority would opt for the latter.

    This is where the state has a major role to play, Misinai says. "Most Palestinians are loyal above all to their families, then to their clans, then to those in position of power and only at the end to their religion and people. A strong State of Israel, confident in its direction and its just cause, can successfully execute the Engagement plan."

    One reason Palestinians have kept their Jewish roots secret for so long - despite the desire of many to come out of the Islamic closet - is because of their fear of the bully elements in the Palestinian and Arab leadership, the same groups that perpetuate the misery of Israeli Jews and descendants of Israel. "Many of the descendants' families are forced to prove their loyalty to the 'cause' on pain of death," says Misinai. "For example, many families name one of their children Jihad to 'prove' their credentials as loyal fighters against the Jews."

    If the state were to offer them an alternative, however, Misinai says many would find the courage to break out of their old patterns and embrace their true heritage. It's not at all about conversion, he says, more about developing a cultural affinity and a single national group. But, he says, it's likely that a large number would want to convert anyway. Even if many Palestinians prefer not to join the Jewish people, the fact that many would be willing would set the tone.

    For similar reasons Israeli Jews, since the days of Ben-Zvi and Ben-Gurion, have shunted aside the clear evidence of the Jewish background of the Palestinians. "After the Holocaust, the issue was set aside, as the Yishuv had more pressing matters, besides the obvious issues of language and lifestyle that separated Jews and Palestinians, not to mention the suffering inflicted by the various uprisings and pogroms conducted against the Yishuv. And the arrival of Jews from Eastern countries who had just been booted out of their homes by Muslims, whom they didn't trust, only exacerbated the divisions."

    But now, 60 years later, with the seemingly intractable issue of two nations laying the same ancestral claim to the same piece of land, it is time to revisit the past to build the future. In the end, Misinai says, the reintegration of the Palestinians with the Jewish people is the best - and only - solution. "We've been down the path of partition, defensive war and what the world calls occupation. Nothing has worked. The world is getting very tired of our bickering, and is pushing to implement a solution - any solution. So far, the only solutions are the ones that have failed, but here is some new, fresh thinking, that many Jews and Palestinians would accept. And if we accept it, so will the nations of the world."

    Misinai's Engagement would unite the "two kingdoms of Israel" described by the prophet Ezekiel. "The Jews who went into exile held onto their culture, beliefs and religion, while those that remained behind held as long as they could to the Land of Israel. Both loves - love of Torah and love of land - come from the same wellsprings. It's time to repair the historic damage done by our enemies, the Romans, and reunite our people."

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Feisal-Frankfurter-Correspondence

March 3- March, 5 3, 1919

Feisal-Frankfurter-Correspondence

Introduction

During the peace conference following World War I, the Emir Feisal exchanged letters with Justice Felix Frankfurter, professing his support for Zionist aims.  In the light of later history and the current characterization of the Zionist movement, it is significant that Feisal wrote:

    We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not imperialist. Our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria for us both. Indeed I think that neither can be a real success without the other.

Ami Isseroff

Copyright

The introduction above is copyright 2007 by Ami Isseroff. The document below is in the public domain.

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A letter from his His Royal Highness Prince Feisal Husseini, king of Syria and Iraq to Felix Frankfurter, associate of Dr. Chaim Weizmann:

DELEGATION HEDJAZIENNE,
Paris, March 3, 1919.

DEAR MR. FRANKFURTER: I want to take this opportunity of my first contact with American Zionists to tell you what I have often been able to say to Dr. Weizmann in Arabia and Europe.

We feel that the Arabs and Jews are cousins in having suffered similar oppressions at the hands of powers stronger than themselves, and by a happy coincidence have been able to take the first step towards the attainment of their national ideals together.

We Arabs, especially the educated among us look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organisation to Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate proper. We will do our best, in so far as we are concerned, to help them through: we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home.

With the chiefs of your movement, especially with Dr. Weizmann, we have had and continue to have the closest relations. He has been a great helper of our cause, and I hope the Arabs may soon be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness. We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not imperialist. Our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria for us both. Indeed I think that neither can be a real success without the other.

People less informed and less responsible than our leaders and yours, ignoring the need for co-operation of the Arabs and Zionists have been trying to exploit the local difficulties that must necessarily arise in Palestine in the early stages of our movements. Some of them have, I am afraid, misrepresented your aims to the Arab peasantry, and our aims to the Jewish peasantry, with the result that interested parties have been able to make capital out of what they call our differences.

I wish to give you my firm conviction that these differences are not on questions of principle, but on matters detail such as must inevitably occur in every contact of neighbouring peoples, and as are easily adjusted by mutual good will. Indeed nearly all of them will disappear with fuller knowledge.

I look forward, and my people with me look forward, to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the countries in which we are mutually interested may once again take their places in the community of civilised peoples of the world.

Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd.) Feisal. 5th MARCH, 1919.
Felix Frankfurter's reply:

 

ROYAL HIGHNESS:

Allow me, on behalf of the Zionist Organisation, to acknowledge your recent letter with deep appreciation.

Those of us who come from the United States have already been gratified by the friendly relations and the active co-operation maintained between you and the Zionist leaders, particularly Dr. Weizmann. We knew it could not be otherwise; we knew that the aspirations of the Arab and the Jewish peoples were parallel, that each aspired to re-establish its nationality in its own homeland, each making its own distinctive contribution to civilisation, each seeking its own peaceful mode of life.

The Zionist leaders and the Jewish people for whom they speak have watched with satisfaction the spiritual vigour of the Arab movement. Themselves seeking justice, they are anxious that the just national aims of the Arab people be confirmed and safeguarded by the Peace Conference.

We knew from your acts and your past utterances that the Zionist movement-in other words the national aim of the Jewish people-had your support and the support of the Arab people for whom you speak. These aims are now before the Peace Conference as definite proposals by the Zionist Organisation. We are happy indeed that you consider these proposals "moderate and proper," and that we have in you a staunch supporter for their realisation. For both the Arab and the Jewish peoples there are difficulties ahead-difficulties that challenge the united statesmanship of Arab and Jewish leaders. For it is no easy task to rebuild two great civilisations that have been suffering oppression and misrule for centuries. We each have our difficulties we shall work out as friends, friends who are animated by similar purposes, seeking a free and full development for the two neighbouring peoples. The Arabs and Jews are neighbours in territory; we cannot but live side by side as friends.

Very respectfully,

(Sgd.) Felix Frankfurter.

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Agreement Between Emir Feisal ibn Hussein and Dr. Weizmann

Introduction

During the peace conference following World War I, the Emir Feisal, son of Hussein, Sherif of Mecca, signed an agreement with Dr Chaim Weizmann supporting  the rights of the Jews in Palestine. However, in a handwritten note, the agreement was made contingent by Feisal upon fulfillment by the British of their promises to Feisal. Namely, the "Arab State" that would be formed, would include Syria. The British however, were bound by the promises they had made to France in the 1916: Sykes-Picot Agreement. Syria became a French mandate and Feisal was made king of Iraq instead. Subsequently, a spokesman for Feisal announced that "His majesty does not remember having written anything of that kind with his knowledge.

Subsequently, Weizmann averred that the Arab demands having been met, the agreement should be valid. He stated as much to the UNSCOP panel in Jerusalem: Testimony of Chaim Weizmann at UNSCOP. UNSCOP did not accept his view.

Copyright

The introduction above is copyright 2007 by Ami Isseroff. The document below is in the public domain.

Agreement Between Emir Feisal ibn Hussein and Dr. Weizmann

His Royal Highness the Emir FEISAL, representing and acting on behalf of the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Dr. CHAIM WEIZMANN, representing and acting on behalf of the Zionist Organization. mindful of the racial kinship and ancient bonds existing between the Arabs and the Jewish people, and realising that the surest means of working out the consummation of their national aspirations is through the closest possible collaboration in the development of the Arab State and Palestine, and being desirous further of confirming the good understanding which exists between them, have agreed upon the following Articles;-

ARTICLE I

The Arab State and Palestine in all their relations and undertakings shall be controlled by the most cordial goodwill and understanding and to this end Arab and Jewish duly accredited agents shall be established and maintained in the respective territories.

ARTICLE II

Immediately following the completion of the deliberations of the Peace Conference, the definite boundaries between the Arab State and Palestine shall be determined by a Commission to be agreed upon by the parties hereto.

ARTICLE III

In the establishment of the Constitution and Administration of Palestine all such measures shall be adopted as will afford the fullest guarantee for carrying into effect the British Government's Declaration of the 2nd of November, 1917.

ARTICLE IV

All necessary measures shall be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive cultivation of the soil. In taking such measures measures the Arab peasant and tenant farms shall be protected in their rights and shall be assisted in forwarding their economic development.

ARTICLE V.

No regulation nor law shall be made prohibiting or interfering in any way with the free exercise of religion; and further the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shell forever be allowed. No religious test shall ever be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.

ARTICLE VI

The Mohammedan Holy Places shall be under Mohammedan control.

ARTICLE VII

The Zionist Organization proposes to send to Palestine a Commission of experts to make a survey of the economic possibilities of the country, and to report upon the best means for its development. The Zionist Organisation will place the aforementioned Commission at the disposal of the Arab State for the purpose of a survey of the economic possibilities of the Arab State and to report upon the best means for its development. The Zionist Organization will use Its best efforts to assist the Arab State in providing the means for developing the natural resources and economic possibilities thereof.

ARTICLE VIII.

The parties hereto agree to act in complete accord and harmony on all matters embraced herein before the Peace congress.

ARTICLE IX

Any matters of dispute which my arise between the contracting parties shall be referred to the British Government for arbitration.

Given under our hand at LONDON.
ENGLAND, the THIRD day of
JANUARY, ONE THOUSAND NINE
HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN.

Chaim-Weizmann.

Feisal ibn-Hussein.

RESERVATION BY THE EMIR FEISAL

If the Arabs are established as I have asked in my manifesto of January 4th addressed to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, I will carry out what is written in this agreement. If changes are made, I cannot be answerable for failing to carry out this agreement.

Feisal ibn-Hussein

(Below is a facsimile of the signature page of the original document, showing the reservation of Feisal added in Arabic and in English)
 

This document is at Zionism and Israel Information Center - Historical Documents and References

General History of Zionism - Zionism and the Creation of Israel

http://www.zionism-israel.com/hdoc/Feis ... eement.htm

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

This Jewish researcher strangely harmonizes with what a lot of Christian Identity and what Eustace Mullins have said about the Palestinians/Edomites/Moabites and the ancient Hebrews...  :think:  --CSR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsvi_Misinai
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Tsvi Jekhorin Misinai

Tsvi Jekhorin Misinai (Hebrew: צבי מסיני‎; born 15 April 1946) is an Israeli researcher, author, historian, computer scientist and entrepreneur. A former pioneer of the Israeli software industry,[1] he now spends most of his time researching and documenting the common Hebrew roots shared by world Jewry and the Palestinians (including Arab citizens of Israel).[2]

Biography

Misinai (second left from the top row) with friends, during his last year as a B.Sc student at the Haifa Technion in 1968

Tsvi Misinai was born in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine, in 1946 to Ashkenazi Jewish parents who immigrated from Ternopil in Galicia in 1939.[3] He graduated in Physics from the Haifa Technion in 1968. He was the first Israeli to receive the Rothschild Award for industrial development in the field of software in 1992.[1]

Misinai is the founder of Sapiens International Corporation and served as its president until 1994. He embedded the principal of Positive Thinking in computers and invented the Rule Based Object Oriented technology for developing data processing applications, the development of which he started in the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1972.[4] He self-identifies as a secular Jew and currently resides in Rehovot.

Misinai first heard about the "Hebrew origins of Palestinians" theory from his father, Kha'yim Avraham, who served in the Royal Artillery in the Second World War. His interest was rekindled after the 1991 Gulf War, when there was talk about a new order in the Middle East. After the failure of the Oslo Accords that led to the commencement of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, he abandoned his career as a Computer scientist and devoted his entire life to investigating the Jewish roots of Palestinians. He now spends his entire time tracking down Palestinians who acknowledge their Jewish heritage, and lobbying ministers, ambassadors, religious leaders and activists in both communities.[5] Misinai, and his team of Arabs and Jews, have embarked on a mission of trying to bring peace to Israel through a unique and controversial project called "The Engagement".

Hebrew origin

Background

Tsvi Misinai claims that the majority of the Palestinian people—including those with Israeli citizenship or residency, known variously as Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis, Israeli Arabs, including the Bedouin Arabs of Israel—are descendants of the ancient Hebrews, as most of the world's Jewish ethnic divisions are.[6] Furthermore, he claims that at least half of them are quietly aware of this fact.[7]

According to Misinai, unlike the ancestors of the modern day Jews who were city dwellers to a large extent, the Hebrew ancestors of the Palestinians were rural dwellers, and were allowed to remain in the land of Israel to work the land and supply Rome with grain and olive oil.[5]

Misinai states the topic of Hebrew origin was spoken of openly by Palestinians until relatively recent history, much as the Egyptians or Lebanese are aware of their origin in the ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians respectively, even if the topic arouses the passions of those wishing to stress or de-emphasise it.[8] As with other "Arabs", the origin of Palestinians also became a relegated issue over time, but for them, the additional emergence of Zionism in the early 19th century presented a competing national interest not similarly encountered by other "Arabs" (although Arab nationalism would serve as a counter-force vis-à-vis Zionism). Thus, the topic of origin became admonished. Then, the establishment of modern Israel by world Jewry (having transpired to the detriment of the Palestinians) transformed the topic of Hebrew origin into a blemish of liability, ultimately becoming the object of outright hostility.[8]

Conversions and Arabization

See also: Arabization, Musta'arabi Jews, and Crypto-Judaism

As a result of remaining in the Land of Israel, the Palestinians partially converted to Christianity during the Byzantine era. Later, with the coming of Islam, they were Islamized through a combination of mainly forced conversions, but also nominal conversions (that is, conversions for forms sake to derive benefits as Muslims, and avoid tributes owed by non-Muslims, in Muslim ruled lands) and others yet out of genuine theological conviction.[5]

Conversion to Islam occurred progressively throughout the successive periods of foreign elite minority rule over Palestine, both on an individual basis and en masse, starting with the conversions during the various dynasties of Arabian Muslim rulers from the initial Muslim conquest of Palestine. Following these came rule by Muslim non-Arab dynasties such as the Ayyubids (Kurdish Muslim), Mameluks (Turkic Muslim) and finally the Ottomans (Turkish Muslim).[6] This continuous phase of elite minority foreign Islamic rule over a local indigenous (now largely Muslim) mass was only briefly interrupted by the elite minority foreign Christian rule by the European Crusaders, which lasted from 1096 until their expulsion by the Mameluks in 1291.[9]
Standing before the Sapiens building in Rehovot, Misinai and Ovadia Yerushalmi, a Bedouin Jew and key Engagement Movement activist from the Banu Sawarka tribe

Misinai states that of this gradual process of conversions (often accompanied by Arabization), the majority were forcibly converted during the Fatimid era under the reign of Caliph al-Hakim who was crowned at the age of 11, and reigned from the years 996 to 1021. Due to his young age, in practice, it was his ministers who wielded the actual power behind the throne for some time. They gave the young Caliph power to influence religious matters only, and appointed him as Imam. In 1009, the extremists among his ministers gained the upper hand and brought upon a series of decrees against Christians and Jews.[10]

In 1012, the al-Hakem Edict was issued, under which all Jews and Christians in Palestine were ordered to either convert to Islam or leave. This led to the majority of non-Hebrew origin Christians (i.e., foreign Christians) to leave Palestine, while over 90 per cent of Jews, Samaritans (also of Hebrew origin) and Hebrew-origin Christians converted and became Muslims. They would also become Musta'arabim (Arabized), acculturated into Arab language, custom and culture.[10]

Later, when the edict was finally repealed in 1044 during the reign of Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo, only 27 percent of the Jewish converts to Islam returned to Judaism openly, although they too would remain Musta'arabi (culturally and linguistically Arab). The remainder continued to live as Muslim crypto-Jews in order to continue enjoying the economic advantages of Muslims, such as exemption from paying jizya and kharaj, the ability to sell their agricultural products to the foreign authorities, or gain employment in the government machinery. Many younger persons of Hebrew-origin (Jewish, Christian or Samaritan) saw it simultaneously possible to lead dual lives, incorporating their prior faith while being outwardly Muslim, and accruing material benefits.[11] Later, with the advent of Mameluk rule, Judaism had reached a breaking point in Palestine.[9]

Backing

In his 1928 anthropological work, Arabs in Eretz Israel, Israel Belkind, a pioneer of the First Aliyah, advanced the claim that the Palestinian Arabs were descended from the ancient Hebrews.[12]

Tsvi Misinai validates his theory of the Hebrew origin of Palestinians on the basis of various findings in terms of historic-demographic, historic-geographic, national-territorial, genetic, behavioural-religious, nomenclature and linguistics, and Palestinian cultural and oral traditions.[13] In his book Brother shall not lift sword against brother, he details numerous testimonies of their Jewish ancestry by Palestinians and Bedouins, and cites the anthropological studies conducted by Israel Belkind, one of the organizers of the Bilu movement, David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (both the first Prime Minister and the second President of Israel, respectively).[6]

Misinai also cites the following three genetic studies as lending credence to his theory.[6] Among the genetic studies referred to by him include recent genetic studies conducted by Professor Ariella Oppenheim of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem on the male Y chromosome which revealed that the present day Jews and Palestinians represent modern descendants of a core population that lived in the area now constituting the state of Israel and the Palestinian territories, since prehistoric times.[14][15] In 2001, the Human Immunology magazine published a genetic study conducted by Prof. Antonio Arnez-Vilna, a Spanish researcher from the University of Complutense in Madrid, who discovered that the immune systems of the Jews and the Palestinians are extremely close to one another in a way that almost absolutely demonstrates a similar genetic identity.[16] Furthermore, a 2002 test by Tel Aviv University researchers, determined that only two groups in the world—Ashkenazi Jews and Palestinians were genetically susceptible to an inherited deafness syndrome.[17]
[edit] Classification of the Palestinians

Tsvi Misinai separates the Palestinian people into three main groups; the "Descendants of Israel", "Brethren of Israel" and "Palestinians of miscellaneous origins". He states that until recently, there had been very few inter-marriages between these groups, as Palestinians usually tended to marry within their own clans or related clans.[18]

Descendants of Israel

The "Descendants of Israel", he claims, comprise descendants of the ancient biblical Hebrews which are native to the land west of the Jordan River (the West Bank, Gaza strip and Israel proper).[19] They are more specifically descended from the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Judah, as opposed to the Samaritans who are mainly descended from the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel.[20]

Misinai claims that the Descendants of Israel had ceased to call themselves Musta'arbim, when the Brethren of Israel returned to their homeland during the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite this, stories about the Jewish origins of the family were passed on among the Descendants of Israel, and a few Jewish customs were preserved. Both groups began seeing themselves as one people, although endogamous marriages with their own clans ensured the purity of their blood lines until very recently.[21]

Samaritans

Samaritan High Priest with the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet Samaritan Torah, Nablus, c. 1920.

The Samaritans are distinguished among Descendants of Israel, given that their ancient history serves as an analogous precursor to the present situation that Tsvi Misinai argues exists between world Jewry and the Palestinians—that upon their returns from exile and re-establishments of Israel, world Jewry misidentified as foreigners the descendants of those Israelites who had stayed behind, first in antiquity misidentifying the Samaritans as foreigners, and today in modern times misidentifying the Palestinians (Arabized Hebrews of the Muslim and Christian faiths) as foreigners.

The Samaritans are Descendants of Israel, being descended from farmers among the Israelite Tribes, part of whom were never exiled by the Assyrians or the Babylonians during the period of the destruction of the First Jewish Commonwealth. Their maternal lineages, however, derive from the Small Nations (those who came from Cuthah and others) who were exiled to Samaria by the Assyrians and intermixed with their paternal Israelite ancestors. The alien minority who remained in the land, adopted the Israelite religion (Samaritanism, the sister Israelite religion to Judaism) in the course of time, after the destruction of the First Temple. A portion of the Samaritans exiled by the Assyrians, were later repatriated by the prophet Jeremiah in the days of the Judean king Josiah.[20]

The Babylonians, who followed the Assyrians as the dominant entity in the Fertile Crescent, exiled many Samaritans but skipped over a significant part of the Samaritan population. By the time they arrived in Samaria, the Babylonians found many alien elements in the land of Israel. Consequently, they did not undertake a thorough ethnic cleansing expulsion from Samaria, since the Assyrians had led many areas to be viewed as places whose indigenous population had already been replaced by aliens and needed no further expulsion.[20]

Later, when the exiled Israelites (now known as Jews) returned from the Babylonian exile under prophets Ezra and Nehemiah, they misidentified the Israelites who had stayed behind (now known as Samaritans) as foreigners. The reason for the misidentification was because the deportations had led the exiled Israelites and the Israelites who remained behind to develop in different ways. The Babylonian captivity had a number of serious effects on the exiled Israelites (Jews), their religion (Judaism) and their culture. Included among the most obvious of these changes was replacing the original Paleo-Hebrew alphabet (see also Samaritan script) with what is in fact a stylised form of the Aramaic alphabet (now commonly called the "Hebrew alphabet" because it is the normative form in which Hebrew is written due to Jewish numeric superiority), changes in the fundamental practices and customs of the Jewish religion, the culmination of Biblical prophecy (in the Jewish prophet Ezekiel), the compilation of not only of the Talmud and Halakha (Jewish religious law, absent in Samaritanism) but also the incorporation of Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) as a part of the cannon together with the Torah (in Samaritanism, only the Torah is canonical, see Samaritan Torah), and the emergence of scribes and sages as Jewish leaders (see Ezra and the Pharisees). These resulting differences in religious practices between returnees and those who remained in Israel led to a schism in the Israelites, and whenceforth the creation of separate Samaritan and Jewish entities.[20] Over the centuries, Judaism and world Jewry have come to the acceptance that the Samaritans are indeed descendants of Israelites.

The Islamic conquest of Palestine in the first half of the 7th century, and the subsequent Arab rule, marked the beginning of the phase of decline and erosion of Samaritan identity, even more detrimentally than the extreme toll on Jewish identity. The passing of the aforementioned al-Hakem Edict in 1021, along with another notable forced conversion to Islam imposed at the hands of the rebel Ibn Firasa, decreased their numbers significantly, such that they decreased from more than a million in Roman times to just 712 people today.[20]

For those who maintained a Samaritan identity and religious association into modern times, they too, like their Palestinian counterparts who had additionally adopted Christianity and later Islam, were nevertheless thoroughly Arabized in language and culture. After the establishment of modern Israel, Samaritans living in what became the State of Israel replaced Palestinian Arabic with modern Hebrew as their day to day language (although Samaritan Hebrew had always been maintained as the liturgical language, along with liturgical Samaritan Aramaic and liturgical Samaritan Arabic).

Brethren of Israel

The "Brethren of Israel", which is originally native to the land east of the Jordan River (the East Bank, that is, modern-day Jordan) comprise the descendants of the brother nations of the Hebrews, i.e., the ancient Edomites, Ammonites and Moabites who variously converted to Judaism and moved to Israel before the Roman invasion, and were later forcibly converted together with the "Descendants of Israel" first to Christianity and then Islam.[19]

Misinai states that the history of the Brethren of Israel are mostly intertwined with those of the Descendants of Israel. The Moabites, the Ammonites and the Edomites were forcibly converted to Judaism and made an extension of the Israelite nation during the course of King David's conquests. Despite this, their kings were allowed to continue to directly hold the reins of power, and they were not incorporated into any of the Israelite tribes.[22] In the case of the Edomites, their fierce opposition to Israelite occupation led King David to order the killing of all male Edomites. Thus, the women in Edom had no alternative but to marry members of the Israelite garrison and other Israelites. As a result, the bloodlines of Edomites from that point onwards were partially Hebrew.[22]

After the destruction of the First Jewish Commonwealth by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, a considerable part of the Edomites and Moabites were exiled together with the Israelites. The majority of the Ammonites were exiled and those who remained were assimilated into the Moabite communities. The kinship between the Brethren of Israel, and the Israelites continued throughout the period of the Second Commonwealth and henceforth.[22]

However, after the destruction of the First Commonwealth and the absence of the hegemony of an Israelite regime, the Moabites and Edomites discarded their affiliation to the people of Israel and left Judaism en masse. To bring them back into the fold, the Hasmonean leaders decided to re-convert them a second time. The mass Judaization campaign was started by John Hyrcanus with the conversion of the Moabites and was ended by Alexander Jannaeus who completed the conversion of the Moabites and also the Edomites after he added their territory to his Kingdom. For the next 1,600 years, these Brethren of Israel continued to be an inseparable part of the People of Israel. The Edomites and Moabites (along with the Samaritans) participated in the First Jewish–Roman War and inflicted more damage on their enemies, relative to their small numbers, than the Jews.[22]

Since the Edomites and Moabites ancestral lands were located east of the Jordan River, this made them more close to Arabia and more removed from the Jewish people. As a result, they were more susceptible to conversions to Islam, and hence, subsequently became Musta'arbim. When devastating famines broke out at the beginning of the 16th century, many among these Brethren of Israel emigrated to Persia. As a result of juggling different religious identities to avoid persecution, they eventually forgot their Jewish and Musta'arbi origins and became radicalised, and started considering themselves to be Arabs.[23]

Later, as things improved in the 18th and 19th century, many of those who left returned from Persia, Yemen and Sudan, shifting residences between present day Jordan and Israel, with the former mountain dwellers returning to their ancient homes, and the Edomites, Moabites, etc., settling in the plains. It is these "Brethren of Israel", Misinai contends, who constitute most of the Palestinian population east of the Jordan river and the Palestinian refugees (both within the Palestinian territories and outside), while the majority of Palestinians who did not flee and remain in Israel proper, West Bank and Gaza area, are "Descendants of Israel".[24]

Misinai traces the beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict and a Palestinian "Arab" identity to the simultaneous immigration of the Jews from various places and Brethren of Israel (from the east), to the land west of the Jordan river from 1840 to 1947. He states that by 1914 the Brethren of Israel became a very large group among Palestinians there and would remain so, until they were mostly expelled during the Palestinian exodus in 1948.[25] He argues that these people have now returned to their ancestral homeland east of the Jordan river, and possess no right to the land of Israel.[26]

Misinai states it is this group that are the most anti-semitic and most active in terrorist activities in the intifada, with their objectives being to return to the lands they abandoned in 1948.[6] He claims that the leadership of the Palestinian militant organisations such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah al-Islam, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, etc., are primarily internally supported by over 1,300,000 Brethren of Israel, who all reside west of the Jordan river. The victims of such terrorist acts tend to be the People of Israel, the Descendants of Israel and a small number of others.[26]

According to Misinai, the Brethren of Israel are the smartest group among the Palestinian people and make up the majority of the Palestinian leadership. He states that the early leadership of the various Palestinian nationalist organisations such as Fatah, PLO, PFLP, etc., came primarily from among the Brethren of Israel refugees in the 1948 exodus.[27] While he acknowledges that the Brethren of Israel have suffered more than any other Palestinian, he blames the Brethren of Israel leadership of perpetuating the problem for more than 50 years in order to gain camp followers both among those of their brethren who continue to suffer and among the Arabs and others who feel sorry for them.[27]

Others

A Druze man in Peki'in, Israel. Misinai claims that the Druze are of mostly Jewish descent.

In addition to these two main components, there also include a significantly small percentage of Arabs, descendants of the soldiers who served in the occupying Roman army after the destruction of the Second Temple and even some survivors of the ancient Canaanite and Philistine who are idol worshipers that live in Gaza and in the village of Jisr az-Zarka, near Haifa.[6] A minuscule percentage of Palestinians are also descendants of 500 European Crusaders who stayed behind in Palestine and converted to Islam. These Crusaders, he indicates, are the source of the smatterings of blond haired and blue-eyed Palestinians one witnesses today.[9]

The various entities among the neighbouring small nations of gentiles, such as the Philistines, Canaanites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hivites and Perizzites inhabited the remainder of the historical region of Canaan, from which the Hebrews under Joshua had driven them off and carved out a nation for themselves called Israel. These nations were all eventually vanquished by King David and made a part of the Kingdom of Israel. A large number were later exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar in the course of the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and the Babylonian exile. A mass Judaization process in Israel in the course of the Hasmonean Period left only a handful of Philistines, Canaanites and other members of the Small Nations. Since conversion was not imposed on remnants of these Small Nations who had been Hellenized, they continued to worship Greek deities. They were forced to nominally accept Christianity during the Byzantine period, and later finally expelled by Caliph Al-Hakim during the Fatimid rule, together with the majority of the Christian descendants of the Roman Army and almost all the Christian Arabs.[10][28]

A few hundred, however, remained and their descendants constitute the small numbers of idol worshippers who live in Israel in modern times. These include a few Canaanites that reside in the village of Jisr az-Zarqa near Caesarea, a few thousand Philistines and Canaanites in Gaza, and descendants of the Phoenicians in the form of Maronite Catholics (primarily the refugees from Ikrit and Kafr Bir'im).[28]

Misinai also claims that the Druze of Israel, Syria and Lebanon are partially of Jewish descent, along with Arab, Midianite, Assyrian and Egyptian origins.[29] He further states that there were Jewish villages that became part of the Druze community, mostly to avoid being forcibly converted to Islam, such as the residents of the Western Galilee villages of Abu Snein and Yarka.[30]

Proportion of Hebrew-descended Palestinians

A thinly disguised star of David on a doortop in Yatta, Southern Mount Hebron

Tsvi Misinai claims that nearly 90 per cent of the Palestinian people living in Israel proper and the occupied territories are of Hebrew descent (with the percentage among the population of the Gaza Strip being higher than 90 per cent),[6] but a greatly reduced percentage among Palestinian refugees living outside those areas.[31]

In his book Brother shall not lift his sword against Brother, Misinai puts forward the following statistics pertaining to the proportion of the "Descendants of Israel" and the "Brethren of Israel" populations among the Palestinians and Arab Israelis, as of December 2007. It is detailed as four main areas (Judea and Samaria, Gaza strip, East Jerusalem and Israel proper) and are as follows:

    In Judea and Samaria—not counting East Jerusalem, the number of permanent residents was 956,000, of which over 580,000 (61 per cent) were Descendants of Israel. Another 27 per cent were 259,000 Brethren of Israel (of whom were 158,000 descendants of the Edomites and 101,000 descendants of the Moabites). The remainder included 43,000 Arabs (4.5 per cent), 44,000 descendants of the Roman Army, 24,000 Christians from Distant Places and 6,000 Kurds.[32]

    In the Gaza strip, there were 891,000 permanent residents, including Bedouin. Out of the non-Bedouin, 275,000 were Descendants of Israel, 520,000 were Brethren of Israel (approximately 270,000 descendants of the Moabites and approximately 250,000 descendants of the Edomites), 43,000 descendants of the Roman Army, 4,000 Arabs who live in the Jabali'ya refugee camp; 3,400 Canaanites and 2,700 Philistines all living in Gaza city, and 3,000 Druze that live in the Dir al-Balakh refugee camp. Among the Descendants of Israel in the Gaza Strip, 30,000 are descendants of the Samaritans and 245,000 (27.5 per cent) are descendants of authentic Jews. The population of the Gaza Strip also includes 40,000 Bedouin. The internal distribution of the Gaza Bedouin is 18,000 descendents of Moabites, 14,000 descendants of Edomites and 8,000 Descendents of Israel. In addition to the Bedouin, the total number of the Descendants of Israel is 283,000 (32 per cent), of the Brethren of Israel is 552,000 (62 per cent, 288,000 or 32 per cent descendants of Moabites and 264,000 or 30 per cent descendants of Edomites).[32]

    Of the 200,000 non-Jewish residents of East Jerusalem, 82,000 are Descendants of the People of Israel, out of which 2,000 are descendants of Samaritans living in the Samaritan neighbourhood, A-Sumera or Al-Abid. Out of this group, 7,000 are Christians. Some 48,000 are descendants of Kurds who came during the reign of Saladin. Over 32,000 are Brethren of Israel (24,000 descendants of the Moabites and 8,000 descendants of the Edomites). Some 27,000 are of Arab origin, and constitute the main concentration of population of Arab origin among Israeli citizens today. This includes 9,000 members of the veteran Arab settlers, and 14,000 descendants of the Arab Army living in the Mount of Olives neighbourhood. There are also another 11,000 inhabitants who are recognised as non-Arab citizens: 5,000 Armenians and 6,000 non-Arab Christians from various distant locations.[32]

    Within Israel proper, 642,000 (45.5 per cent) out of 1,413,000 non-Jewish residents within the Green Line (not counting East Jerusalem) are Descendants of the People of Israel. Some 457,000 are Brethren of Israel in the State of Israel (and another 32,000 in Jerusalem), or 36 per cent of all the Palestinians there (489,000 or 34.5 per cent, including Jerusalem). A further breakdown of this figure shows that the descendants of the Edomites number 166,000, and constitute 13 per cent (of the Palestinians in the State of Israel, or 174,000 or 12.5 per cent, with Jerusalem). The descendants of the Moabites number 291,000, and constitute 23 per cent (315,000 or 22 per cent with Jerusalem). The sum total of veteran inhabitants who are neither Palestinian nor Jewish is 140,000 and includes 121,000 Druze and 19,000 foreigners from Distant Places. The descendants of the Roman Army number 150,000, or 12 per cent (10.5 percent with Jerusalem). The rest, some 16,000, or 1.25 per cent, are Arabs, (43,000 or 3 per cent with Jerusalem). The number of Palestinians within the Green Line is 1,273,000. Among the Palestinians (i.e., those without Israeli citizenship) within the Green Line (not including East Jerusalem) the percentage who are Descendants of the People of Israel is close to 50.5 per cent.[32]

Views on Palestinian identity and the Arab Israeli conflict

Tsvi Misinai denies the existence of a separate Palestinian people as a historical identity and dismisses it as an utter fabrication. He views the Palestinian nationality as a modern socio-political construct propped up by imperialist Arab Baathist regimes, as a means of claiming rights to the land of Israel and fight the Jews. He also blames them for accentuating hostilities between the Jews and Palestinians. In his book, Misinai asserts that the Palestinian people are a part and parcel of the people of Israel, and that no other party, including an Arab one, possesses the right to compete with the rights of the People of Israel over western Eretz Yisrael and their historical kinship with most Palestinians.[33]

Misinai claims that the Palestinian national identity is not developed, for most Palestinians think of it in religious terms, not territorial. He states that their identity today is only Islamic and that there is a need for them to obtain a modern identity, which is Israeli. He asserts that this modern identity can never be Palestinian, as the country never had such an historical identity and as most Palestinians are themselves the progeny of the ancient Hebrews.[34] Misinai labels the name "Palestine" as two huge bluffs, both a semantic bluff of the name Palestine and a genetic bluff as Palestine indicates that the modern day Palestinians are scions of the Philistines.[34]

Misinai puts forward widespread ignorance about the true Jewish identity of the Palestinians or attempts to hide it, coupled with terrorism, as the root causes in escalating the conflict. He asserts that this is what prevents their liberation and preserves their enslavement within an occupation by a false Arab identity.[33]

Misinai claims that even though, many Palestinians are aware of their Jewish origins, they rarely speak about this, and their vast majority does nothing to change their status. Those living under a Palestinian terror regime are deterred from speaking on this subject openly, for fear of being harmed. Many Palestinian parents who aware of their Jewish origins usually don't tell their children. Furthermore, families suspected of Jewish origins are forced to prove their loyalty as Arabs by aiding terrorists and giving their children patriotic names such as Jihad. Such behaviour deters Jews from establishing ties with such families. Even among Israeli Arabs there is a fear of discussion, primarily due to conventions on both sides and particularly the disbelief they would encounter among Jews. They fear that if they try and promote their claim, the Jews will think they are trying to improve their inferior status under false pretenses.[35]

He believes that both his findings and the genetic evidence gathered by Ariella Oppenheim and others render the Israeli-Palestinian conflict redundant, as it proves that the whole of Israel and the occupied territories belong to both the so-called "recognised Jews" and "unrecognised Jews".[36]

Misinai also believes that given the option, most Palestinians would support a one-state solution.[34] He also claims that most Palestinians do not hate Jews and are interested in peace with Israel. He claims that many are opposed to the Jewish presence in the Palestinian territories, because the issue has been hijacked by groups — the leadership of the Arab world, and Palestinians (both the Brethren of Israel and the Descendants of Israel) who have forgotten their Jewish origins.[6]

The primary sin of Zionism, according to Misinai, is the suppression of the historic truth about the Jewish origins of the majority of Palestinians, and ignoring his findings and its ramifications.[37] He asserts that most of the Palestinians who together with the Jews possess historical rights to Israel have become hostages of descendants of foreigners in their own homeland who control their lives, force terrorism upon them and control the cash designated for Palestinians.[33]

Misinai also states that the number of refugees has been deliberately blown out of proportions and that there are far fewer refugees than is widely believed. To this, he attributes the Palestinians' taking advantage of UNRWA's largesse, which gives out free food and aid without asking questions and deliberate gross inflation in the number of refugees by Palestinians themselves.[38]

 "The Engagement": A solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Some more details on the Jews-Palestinian genetics with that of the ancient Phoenicians-Canaanites as well.

Here's European Haplotypes:



Here's Middle Eastern:



--------

The shared genetic heritage of Jews and Palestinians   :shock:  

By Tomas Rees on Tuesday, January 20, 2009



The Times recently carried this unusual report on an Israeli Jew (Tsvi Misinai, a retired computer expert) who's hoping to prove that Palestinians are descended from Jews. Apparently, he thinks that proving this will help to stop the bloodshed. His idea is that modern Jews are descended from emigration in the first few centuries of the Christian era. The Jews who stayed put in Palestine converted to Islam, and became Palestinian Arabs. There's hope that genetic tests might be able to prove this.

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.

ResearchBlogging.org

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

http://epiphenom.fieldofscience.com/200 ... s-and.html


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The Quest For The Phoenicians

[youtube:2beixjnv]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjEvF17Tvdw[/youtube]2beixjnv]


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A study of haplotypes of the Y chromosome, published in 2000, addressed the paternal origins of Ashkenazi Jews. Hammer et al.[14] confirmed that the Y chromosome of some Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews contained mutations that are also common among Middle Eastern peoples, but uncommon in the general European population. This suggested that the male ancestors of the Ashkenazi Jews could be traced mostly to the Middle East. The proportion of male genetic admixture in Ashkenazi Jews amounts to less than 0.5% per generation over an estimated 80 generations, with "relatively minor contribution of European Y chromosomes to the Ashkenazim," and a total admixture estimate "very similar to Motulsky's average estimate of 12.5%." However, when all haplotypes were included in the analysis, the admixture percentage increased to 23% ± 7%.[Note 3] Hammer et al. add that "Diaspora Jews from Europe, Northwest Africa, and the Near East resemble each other more closely than they resemble their non-Jewish neighbors." In addition, of the Jewish populations, the Ashkenazim were closest to South European populations, specifically the Greeks.

Moreover, the frequency of haplogroup R1b in the Ashkenazim population is similar to the frequency of R1b in Middle Eastern populations, but given that haplogroup R1b is particularly abundant in populations of Western Europe, studies of Nebel et al. (2001) and Behar et al. (2004)[15] suggest some Western European contribution to those ~10% of R1b found among Ashkenazim. The largest study made on Ashkenazi Jews, Behar et al. (2004) gives a percentage of 5% - 8% European contribution to the R1b and R1a pool among Ashkenazim.[Note 4] In the words of Behar:

    Because haplogroups R-M17 (R1a) and R-P25 (R1b) are present in non-Ashkenazi Jewish populations (e.g., at 4% and 10%, respectively) and in non-Jewish Near Eastern populations (e.g., at 7% and 11%, respectively; Hammer et al. 2000; Nebel et al. 2001), it is likely that they were also present at low frequency in the AJ founding population. The admixture analysis shown in Table 6 suggests that 5%–8% of the Ashkenazi gene pool is, indeed, comprised of Y chromosomes that may have introgressed from non-Jewish European populations.

For G. Lucotte et al.,[16] the R1b frequency is about 11%.[Note 5] In 2004, When the calculation is made excluding Jews from Netherlands the R1b rate is 5% ± 11.6%.[15]

Two studies by Nebel et al. in 2001 and 2005, based on Y chromosome polymorphic markers, showed that Ashkenazi Jews are more closely related to other Jewish and Middle Eastern groups than to their host populations in Europe (defined in the using Eastern European, German, and French Rhine Valley populations). However, 11.5% of male Ashkenazim were found to belong to R1a1a (R-M17), the dominant Y chromosome haplogroup in Eastern European populations. They hypothesized that these chromosomes could reflect low-level gene flow from surrounding Eastern European populations, or, alternatively, that both the Ashkenazi Jews with R1a1a (R-M17), and to a much greater extent Eastern European populations in general, might partly be descendants of Khazars. They concluded "However, if the R1a1a (R-M17) chromosomes in Ashkenazi Jews do indeed represent the vestiges of the mysterious Khazars then, according to our data, this contribution was limited to either a single founder or a few closely related men, and does not exceed ~12% of the present-day Ashkenazim.".[17][18] This hypothesis is also supported by the D. Goldstein in his book Jacob's legacy: A genetic view of Jewish history.[19] However, Faerman (2008) states that "External low-level gene flow of possible Eastern European origin has been shown in Ashkenazim but no evidence of a hypothetical Khazars' contribution to the Ashkenazi gene pool has ever been found.".[20]

Furthermore, 7%[15][21] of Ashkenazi have the haplogroup G2c, which is extremely rare in the rest of the human population. It seems to be present in a small percentage in the Pashtuns in Afghanistan but the origin of this haplogroup is unknown. The haplogroup Q1b (Q-M378) is also rare in the rest of the human population. It is found in Hazara and Sindhi[22] which are two nomadic tribes in Pakistan. It is also found in the Uyghurs of North-Western China.[23] Behar et al. suggest that those haplogroups are minor Ashkenazi Jews founding lineages.[15]

(The Lost Tribe...?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews


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Levant

Further information: Phoenicia, Phoenicianism, Canaanites, and Samaritans

Zalloua and Wells (2004), under the auspices of a grant from National Geographic Magazine examined the origins of the Phoenicians. The debate between Wells and Zalloua was whether haplogroup J2 (M172) should be identified as that of the Phoenicians or that of its "parent" haplogroup M89 on the YDNA phylogenetic tree.[1] Initial consensus suggested that J2 be identified with the Canaanite-Phoenician (Northwest Semitic) population, with avenues open for future research.[2] As Wells commented, "The Phoenicians were the Canaanites"[3] It was reported in the PBS description of the National Geographic TV Special on this study entitled "Quest for the Phoenicians" that ancient DNA was included in this study as extracted from the tooth of a 2500 year-old Phoenician mummy.[4]

Wells identified the haplogroup of the Canaanites as haplogroup J2.[5] The National Geographic Genographic Project linked haplogroup J2 to the site of Jericho, Tel el-Sultan, ca. 8500 BCE and indicated that in modern populations, haplogroup J2 is found in the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe, with especially high distribution among present-day Jewish populations (30%), Southern Italians (20%), and lower frequencies in Southern Spain (10%).[6]

In a 2005 study of ASPM gene variants, Mekel-Bobrov et al. found that the Israeli Druze people of the Carmel region have among the highest rate of the newly evolved ASPM haplogroup D, at 52.2% occurrence of the approximately 6,000-year-old allele.[7] While it is not yet known exactly what selective advantage is provided by this gene variant, the haplogroup D allele is thought to be positively selected in populations and to confer some substantial advantage that has caused its frequency to rapidly increase. According to DNA testing, Druze are remarkable for the high frequency (35%) of males who carry the Y-chromosomal haplogroup L, which is otherwise uncommon in the Mideast (Shen et al. 2004).[8] This haplogroup originates from prehistoric South Asia and has spread from Pakistan into southern Iran.

Cruciani in 2007 found E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) [one from Sub Clades of E1b1b1a1 (E-V12)] in high levels (>10% of the male population) in Turkish Cypriot and Druze Arab lineages. Recent genetic clustering analyses of ethnic groups are consistent with the close ancestral relationship between the Druze and Cypriots, and also identified similarity to the general Syrian and Lebanese populations, as well as a variety of Jewish lineages (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Iraqi, and Moroccan) (Behar et al 2010).[9]

In 2004, a team of geneticists from Stanford University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tartu University (Estonia), Barzilai Medical Center (Ashkelon, Israel), and the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center (Zerifin, Israel), studied the modern Samaritan ethnic community living in Israel in comparison with modern Israeli populations to explore the ancient genetic history of these people groups. The Samaritans or Shomronim (singular: Shomroni; Hebrew: שומרוני) trace their origins to the Assyrian province of Shomron (Samaria) in ancient Israel in the period after the Assyrian conquest circa 722 BCE. Shomron was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel when it was conquered by the Assyrians and gave the name to the ancient province of Samaria and the Samaritan people group. Tradition holds that the Samaritans were a mixed group of Israelites who were not exiled or were sent back or returned from exile and non-Israelites relocated to the region by the Assyrians. The modern-day Samaritans are believed to be the direct descendants of the ancient Samaritans.

Their findings reported on four family lineages among the Samaritans: the Tsdaka family (tradition: tribe of Menasseh), the Joshua-Marhiv and Danfi families (tradition: tribe of Ephraim), and the Cohen family (tradition: tribe of Levi). All Samaritan families were found in haplogroups J1 and J2, except the Cohen family which was found in haplogroup E3b1a-M78.[10] This article predated the E3b1a subclades based on the research of Cruciani, et al.[11] The Samaritan Cohen family were Levites until the previous Cohen family died out around 1700, so the fact that they don't share CMH is expected. These findings may offer more proof that E1b1 was one of the founding lineages of the Levites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeogen ... _Near_East