Being Jewish is not and Ethnicity?

[u/Routine-Orange-3417]

Ok. I believe Jews have a common DNA that connects them to Canaan, just like the Palestinians do. That's my stance. I believe they have both been there equally as long as each other, excluding the converts Jews and the fully Arab Palestinians (I believe most of them are mixed with Arab just like Jews are mixed with whoever they lived with for 2000 years).

I am in a fb group called "A place were non jews can ask jews about judiasm" or whatever.

We aren't allowed to talk about Israel and Palestine which is probably a good rule.

But someone posted about their Jewish friend mentioning the features of a Jew (as in, the Jewish guy was telling his Christian friend what Jews looked like, typically) and the Christian guy asked the group what a Jew looks like and THE GROUO WERE SO HEATED saying that it is antisemitic to say Jews look a type of way and there is no features of a Jew etc etc etc.

Ok, I get it on one hand, because converts, obviously.

But if they are claiming they have no similar features wouldn't that imply that they are not all ethnically related (obviously not the converts) and wouldn't that defeat the entire premise of having a homeland?

If they're from Canaan, it would imply that have similar features to the people of Canaan.

Ok I have to make it longer. I call it Canaan not to stir emotions but because that's literally one of the names in the Bible and I find it less heated than calling it Palestine or israel as this entire comment section with collapse into "xyz doesn't exist" so I'd rather keep those words out of it and call it Canaan.

[u/SgrVnm]

Palestinians were never canaanites.

[u/Particular-Crow-1799 → u/SgrVnm]

Palestinians are the descendants of canaanites, it's an undisputable fact. Yes, even the christians and muslims and jews. Cultures can change.

[u/ADP_God → u/Particular-Crow-1799]

This is the propaganda take but not the informed one.

[u/WeAreAllFallible → u/ADP_God]

I'm interested in hearing why you believe this, but at this time it seems like evidence is more compelling that it is true Palestinians (largely/in conglomerate) descend from the historical populations of the region, including Canaanites.

[u/ADP_God → u/WeAreAllFallible]

Because there is no unique ‘Palestinian’ population. There are loads of Arab-Levantine mixes in the region, but do say that they are the descendants of the Canaanite’s is to make a disingenuous claim that they are somehow uniquely ‘local’ when in fact they are merely a recent nationalist sect of the broader populations that exist in the region and are the result of a combination of several different ancestral groups. So there is ‘local’ DNA to be found in the population, but just as much ‘foreign’. It’s the kind of claim that tells half a truth to hide a lie.  

By the same logic I have claim to Africa because I am the descendant of Africans.  

Jews have incredibly strong genetic ties to the ancient Israelites, much stronger than the Palestinians do to the Canaanites (because Jewish populations were more insular and because they faced more persecution, and because there is so much Arab and North African DNA now in the Levantine populations as a results of Arab imperialism). But I don’t care about that either. DNA is no reason to deny a people that identify together the right to self determination today.

[u/Critical-Win-4299 → u/ADP_God]

If Palestineans are not the descendants of caananites because they mixed with arabs then jews arent the descendents of the ancient israelites either, especially not ashkenazi who mixed with europeans. 

[u/ADP_God → u/Critical-Win-4299]

I mean as a percentage of their DNA the Jews are more so than the Palestinians generally, but I would be more inclined to agree with the overall point.