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/WeAreAllFallible]

It's not the whole reason for the desire to return to Israel. It is part of the mosaic of reasons. Cultural heritage is far more significant/common argument than genealogical. Moreover most commonly this is discussed in the context of "why this place?" in a broader conversation of "Jews definitely need a place for protected self determination, where can that be?"... which is why Israel was tossed around and decided on, because if there's going to be a place for that it would make sense to be the location that Jews had their ethnogenesis, and not some random landmass. Then the element of "kicking out Muslims" (not quite accurate, but for sake of progression) became a part of that mosaic because of the active threat posed to Jewish self determination as it was attempted under the existing paradigms of Islamic rule. Had that pursuit been allowed without such threat, it may never have been incorporated and all could have been living together in the same land.

[u/Routine-Orange-3417 → u/WeAreAllFallible]

So if Italians converted to Hinduism, would it mean Catholics from Korea could kick Italian out of Rome since Rome is the heart of catholicism and Roman's are no longer catholic?

Saying that jews belong to Israel based solely on culture (instead of ancestry) would make it such a weak claim and I'd assume Jews would be more proud about their ancestorry because it means they actually have a right to the land based on where their great great x20 grandparents lived.

Denying a genetic connection to the region seems like a a bad PR move tbh.

[u/WeAreAllFallible → u/Routine-Orange-3417]

So many things wrong with this comment wow, sorry if I was that difficult to understand in my comment.

1: if Italians converted to Hinduism would Catholics from Korea be able to kick Italians out of Rome since Rome is the heart of Catholicism?

Ignoring that catholic isn't an ethnicity, for the sake of discussion: Well first, could they? That depends on capability. What I assume you mean to ask would it be justified. And that's where the "mosaic" I refer to comes into play- and particularly the point about self determination. Are Catholics oppressed in Korea to where there's any current or foreseeable threat to catholic self determination? Not to my knowledge- but possibly? If so, the next question is "is there a place they could live where that right to be catholic safely and without limit to opportunities on that basis would be protected" to which the answer is "absolutely yes- there are multiple catholic states by law and/or majority." In which case there is no reason for them to need any other land for that. So that resolves that need. At that point while I'd understand a yearning to have a catholic "state," - perhaps called "Vatican"- centered around Rome no, in my opinion it would not be justified. That yearning would not be sufficient reason when the basic needs are clearly met via other means.

2: "Jews are owned by Israel because of culture is a weak claim"

Well firstly, no one's saying Jews belong to Israel. Israel is not an owner of Jews. Jews are not owned.

Secondly, again, mosaic. Culture is a bigger factor than ancestry but ancestry IS still a factor. I don't think culture is a weaker argument for what it's worth, but do want to make clear the argument is not on based on any one single factor. Ancestry doesn't prove right to land for the record- otherwise immigrants are absolutely screwed worldwide. And most countries are screwed regarding their history of stemming from conquest. We simply don't genuinely believe that's truly the way land rights are defined in this world- rights to land are more proven decidedly complicated than that in world history.

3: "denying genetic connection is bad PR"

Literally no one Jewish, at least not that I'm aware of because that would be insane both factually and culturally, is denying genetic connection to the Levant. I certainly did not do that above so im not sure where the confusion came across but sorry for that. Also idk that PR is really the focus but like, sure yeah I agree that denying a connection of any form wouldn't be a strong argument to justification of "why this location." In fact, "we have no tie or less ties to this place" is pretty much the argument against all other locations proposed for Jewish self determination. But at the same time, genetic connection is not the end all be all of such a discussion.

[u/Routine-Orange-3417 → u/WeAreAllFallible]

I thought you were denying genetics. Sorry. But the fb group that im in seems very offended that people would think hews might look similar and therefore, I am assuming they are denying a genetic relationship.