Freethought & Rationalism Archive

stephan huller · 07-16-2013, 04:27 PM

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonentin...-sympathizers/

Quote:

Elhaik, who is now a post-doctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins, is recirculating the debunked “Khazarian hypothesis” promoted by journalist Arthur Koestler in his 1976 book, The Thirteenth Tribe, written before scientists had the tools to compare genomes and challenge his conclusion.

Khazarian myth

The Khazarian theory–which historians and scientists now believe should more accurately be called a myth—was more recently recycled (to great applause by anti-Israeli activists and some pro-Palestinian groups) in no less convincing form by Israeli French historian Shlomo Sand in The Invention of the Jewish People, published in 2008—a book panned by both historians and geneticists.

Elhaik reengaged the controversy late last year when the Oxford journal Genome Biology and Evolution published his study, “The Missing Link of Jewish European Ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian Hypotheses.” The young Jewish researcher challenged the so-called “Rhineland hypothesis”—the broadly accepted genetic and historic evidence that about 80 percent of Jewish Ashkenazi males trace their ancestry to a core population of approximately 20,000 Eastern European Jews who originated in the Middle East. Elhaik wrote that the Khazars converted to Judaism in the eighth century, although historians believe and genetic evidence confirms that only a fraction of the population converted, including almost certainly royalty and some members of the aristocracy

Just to make it clear. What isn't said in the article is that German Jews - such as those of my mother's lineage - have been identifying Russian and Eastern European Jews as 'khazarim' (pronounced for some reason 'khazerim') for centuries. As long as I have been alive, Eastern European Jewry are identified as essentially 'bad' by my family members and in a word 'khazarim' - though none of my family members knowing exactly why they call them that. So it is very old ...

When the author of the article implies that there is an 'anti-Semitic' element within Judaism who adhere to this belief, they ignore the fact that German Jews have always despised their Eastern cousins. Very much akin to the north-south rivalry in Italy, the English and the Irish etc. Most of the German Jews were wiped out by 1945 so they have been reduced to a minority within contemporary Israel. Nevertheless it wasn't that long ago that German Jews successfully lobbied to have Wagner played for the first time in the state of Israel.

Quote:

Because of Wagner's anti-Semitic ideas and the association of his works with Nazism, Wagner's music was not performed publicly in the modern state of Israel until 2000. Although his works are broadcast on Israeli government-owned radio and television stations, attempts to stage public performances in Israel have raised protests in the past, including protests from holocaust survivors. In 1981 Zubin Mehta, as an encore at an orchestral concert on Tel-Aviv, proposed to play extracts from Tristan und Isolde, offering those who wished (including two members of the orchestra who had asked to be excused) the opportunity to leave. Despite a few vocal protests, most of the audience stayed to the end of the piece.[39] In 1992, Daniel Barenboim programmed works by Wagner at a concert of the Israel Philharmonic, but this was cancelled after protests, although a rehearsal was opened to the public.[40] The first documented public Israeli Wagner concerts were in 2000, when the holocaust survivor Mendi Rodan conducted the Siegfried Idyll in Rishon LeZion, and in August 2001 when a concert conducted by Daniel Barenboim in Tel Aviv included as an encore an extract from Tristan und Isolde, which divided the audience between applause and protest.[41] A concert with works by Wagner was announced for 18 June 2012 in Tel Aviv;[42] however these plans were abandoned after protests.[43] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_controversies

German Jews tend to be irreligious, and thus more prone to intermarry thus depleting their numbers even further. My great grandmother, a Holocaust survivor nevertheless considered herself a German until the day she died, living out her days there until her death in 1972.

mountainman · 07-16-2013, 09:12 PM

Concluding paragraph of article (Page 2):

Quote:

To many people—including and especially Jews sensitive to the Nazi branding of Jews as a race, which led to the near extinction of the religion—acknowledging the genetic cohesiveness of Judaism is uncomfortable. Anything that marks Jews as essentially different runs the risk of stirring either anti- or philo-Semitism. But that doesn’t mean we can ignore the factual reality of what Ostrer calls the “biological basis of Jewishness” and “Jewish genetics.” Acknowledging the genetic distinctiveness of Jews is “fraught with peril,” but we must grapple with the hard evidence of “human differences” if we seek to understand their implications of the age of genetics.

εὐδαιμονία | eudaimonia

stephan huller · 07-16-2013, 09:35 PM

I am not sure that the claim that the Jews were a 'race' per se could have had widespread traction later in the Common Era. Yes to be certain there is the family of Abraham concept. But at the time by the second century at least I think proselytes likely out numbered actual Jews.

Brendan Rizzo · 07-19-2013, 09:13 AM

So Western European Jews are racist towards Eastern European Jews? The perfidy of nationalism knows no bounds.

tupac chopra · 07-27-2013, 02:54 AM

How does this relate to ancient religious texts? :huh:

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07-16-2013, 09:35 PM	#3
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	I am not sure that the claim that the Jews were a 'race' per se could have had widespread traction later in the Common Era. Yes to be certain there is the family of Abraham concept. But at the time by the second century at least I think proselytes likely out numbered actual Jews.

07-19-2013, 09:13 AM	#4
Brendan Rizzo Regular Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: New Jersey Posts: 111	So Western European Jews are racist towards Eastern European Jews? The perfidy of nationalism knows no bounds.

07-27-2013, 02:54 AM	#5
tupac chopra Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: blacktown Posts: 243	How does this relate to ancient religious texts? :huh:

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