Clearly we are all filthy anti-semites

[pete376403]

Mmmm The purity has been maintained since the Diaspora which, if we are to be accurate, began about 800BC, but really got underway when the Romans suppressed the Jewish people after 66AD. They were kicked out of Palestine and that's where today's Polish and Russian Jewish populations originated from.

Its kinda remarkable after all that time that this ethnic group has kept marrying and having children within the group. Maori by comparison are highly diluted.

Ain't life interesting!!

I find it a bit remarkable that a discussion about Jews should be bringing up "ethnic purity" given that the nazis also used the same thing (but *aryan* ethnic purity) as one reason for the holocaust (TM).
And you're suggesting the Falasha Jews from Ethiopia are ethnically the same as a EuroJew from Russia or Poland? Or maybe there are different kinds of Jew? Then it must be a religion, not a race, just as there are different kinds of catholic, prod, etc.

[Sanx]

I find it a bit remarkable that a discussion about Jews should be bringing up "ethnic purity" given that the nazis also used the same thing (but *aryan* ethnic purity) as one reason for the holocaust (TM).
And you're suggesting the Falasha Jews from Ethiopia are ethnically the same as a EuroJew from Russia or Poland? Or maybe there are different kinds of Jew? Then it must be a religion, not a race, just as there are different kinds of catholic, prod, etc.

The Polish / Russian / Lithuanian Jews are known as Ashkenazi Jews do have a remarkable degree of genetic similarity. Ethiopian Jews, the Falasha, and those Jews that originated from North Africa and the Iberian Peninsular - Sephardi Jews - do not share this same genetic prevalence.

Of course, this genetic purity is often a sign of chronic inbreeding, which can lead to all sorts of interesting hereditary diseases. Tay-Sachs disease is almost always limited to someone of Ashkenazi descent, and there are other hereditary diseases which are markedly more prevalent in Ashkenazis. Canavan Disease, which causes a build-up of a toxic substance in the brain, and Gaucher Disease, which causes an enzyme to be missing resulting in lipid build-up within the body, are two such examples.

[Street Gerbil]

I find it a bit remarkable that a discussion about Jews should be bringing up "ethnic purity" given that the nazis also used the same thing (but *aryan* ethnic purity) as one reason for the holocaust (TM).
And you're suggesting the Falasha Jews from Ethiopia are ethnically the same as a EuroJew from Russia or Poland? Or maybe there are different kinds of Jew? Then it must be a religion, not a race, just as there are different kinds of catholic, prod, etc.

As Winston mentioned earlier, it is both, mainly, I think, because one can be Jewish, being born to a Jewish mother, or become Jewish by conversion.
You are right, by the way, stating that Falashmurah i.e. Ethiopian Jews are mainly Jewish by conversion, as explained in this article, and yes, they are genetically different from the rest of otherwise fairly uniform Jewish population. I didn't know that. Live and learn.

Research into genetics is not an issue of ethnic "purity" per see but rather whether the Diaspora Jews have the same common ancestors and share the same roots or whether it is just a collection of "nutcases, sharing the same imaginary friend", as some of our forum members would express it.
This article offers a good insight into the matter.
Unfortunately, apart from historical and ethnological value, this research also has an important practical application, because having a unique genetic makeup means having unique genetic diseases, including such pretties, as Tay-Sachs.

EDIT----
Sepharadim i.e. Jews booted from Spain in 15th century, may look very different from Asquenazim, but they do share many traits suggesting common ancestry, such as (enjoy!) a nasty habit of answering questions with questions, two Jews having 3 opinions, and as the joke goes, "this temple where I will pray, that, where I won't pray, and another one won't even look at and it may burn for all I care".

[fridayflash]

It isn't racist at all. Jewism (or whatever they want to fucking call it) is a religion, not a race.

Remember.. It's shite being Scottish. (Scotch is something you do an egg )

too troo! 20 million russian christians 20MILLION!!!!!!
died at the hands of stalin,yet ive never taken it personaly

[fridayflash]

I wasn't aware there was a swastika ascii character - the tag kinda suggests it though.



'Only' 9-11 million according to Wikipedia.

That is of course - if holocaust indeed ever happened

9-11??? it used to be 6million?

[Street Gerbil]

too troo! 20 million russian christians 20MILLION!!!!!!
died at the hands of stalin,yet ive never taken it personaly

Actually, for the most part, Stalin was an equal opportunity murderer. He did plan his personal "solution to the Jewish problem", but luckily, kicked the bucket hours before signing the order.