November 1, 2002
This is another new series we will begin
to develop.
The point of the posting below and
other postings that will follow is to
clarify
certain points:
a. It has been claimed that Genetic
studies for the Jewish people show that
they
are connected to Middle East populations
and not to western ones.
The studies in question were done by
the same team as the one discussed in
the article below,
and used the same methods which are
shown to have reached doubtful conclusions.
b. We are not convinced of the reliability
of DNA studies in general but in
so far as they
prove anything they tend to confirm
the general drift of our researches, as
we will show.
c. Brit-Am is the truth or at least
Brit-Am is closer to the truth than any
other proffered explanation.
d. People have accused us of racism
and then turned around and attempted to
use genetic evidence against us.
We do not expect our opponents to be
consistent or even logical.
There will always be those who oppose
Brit-Am and Biblical Truth.
Help us keep going, Support Brit-Am.
Recently certain findings claiming to
have noticed a common genetic denominator
amongst Jewish Priestly Families (Cohens)
were published and received much
publicity.
The article below throws these claims
into doubt. The article may be unjust
but it is
worth keeping in mind not only
concerning the specific claims made but
also in regard
to all similar DNA announcements.
NEWS RELEASE - For Immediate Release
Doctor finds fault in the contentions
that the "Cohen modal haplotype"
designates Israelites and that most
Jewish priests have a common ancestor
A study by Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin,
Ph.D., "Are today's Jewish priests
descended from the old ones?", has
recently been published in the German
journal "HOMO: Journal of Comparative
Human Biology - Zeitschrift fuer
vergleichende Biologie des Menschen"
(volume 51, no. 2-3, 2000, pp.
156-162). Zoossmann's study casts
doubt on the hypothesis expounded by
Michael F. Hammer, Karl Skorecki, and
their colleagues in their January 2,
1997 paper in Nature volume 385 entitled
"Y Chromosomes of Jewish Priests"
and that of Karl Skorecki, David Goldstein,
et al. in Nature volume 394
entitled "Origins of Old Testament
Priests" as well as the related study
with the Lemba tribe of South Africa
(American Journal of Human Genetics
volume 66). These studies asserted
that Ashkenazic Cohens are strongly
related to Sephardic Cohens and that
today's Cohens are descended from
common paternal ancestry. Zoossmann
concludes that the existing studies
of Jewish priests are problematic and
arrive at conclusions that are not
supported by all available data.
In Zoossmann-Diskin's summary, he writes
that "Careful examination of
their [Skorecki's and Thomas's] works
reveals many faults that lead to the
inevitable conclusion that their claim
[that most Cohenim share a common
origin] has not been proven. The faults
are: the definition of the studied
communities, significant differences
between three samples of Jewish
priests, failure to use enough suitable
markers to construct the
Unique-Event-polymorphisms haplotypes,
problematic method of calculating
coalescence time and underestimating
the mutation rate of Y chromosome
microsatellites. The suggestion that
the 'Cohen modal haplotype' is a
signature haplotype for the ancient
Hebrew population is also not
supported by data from other populations."
(p. 156)
Specifically, Zoossmann explains that:
* The studies of the Cohens
merge together the Sephardic populations
even though
they are too diverse to be considered one unit.
Even the North
African Jewish communities have genetic differences,
as Batsheva
Bonne-Tamir et al. noted in a study in 1978 that is cited
in Zoossmann's
paper.
* The SRY4064, SRY 465,
Tat, and sY81 polymorphisms were
useless for
the purposes of the studies.
* Some useful markers were
not used in the studies that should have
been included.
* The Cohen modal haplotype
is the most common haplotype among
Southern and
Central Italians*1, Hungarians*2, and Iraqi Kurds*3,
and is also
found among many Armenians*4 and South African Lembas*5.
This calls
into question the notion that the haplotype was a marker
for the ancient
Hebrew population.
Zoossmann's study contains detailed
statistical information, charts, and
19 references.
Full citation:
Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin,
"Are today's Jewish priests descended
from the old ones?"
HOMO: Journal of Comparative Human
Biology - Zeitschrift fuer
vergleichende Biologie des Menschen
51:2-3 (Urban & Fischer Verlag,
2000): 156-162.
News release footnotes:
*1: A. Cagli et al., "Increased forensic
efficiency of a STR-based
Y-specific haplotype by addition of
the highly polymorphic DYS385 locus."
Int J Leg Med 111 (1998): 142-146.
*2: S. Fredi et al., "Y-STR haplotyping
in two Hungarian populations." Int
J Leg Med 113 (1999): 38-42.
*3: C. Brinkmann et al., "Human Y-chromosomal
STR haplotypes in a Kurdish
population sample." Int J Leg Med 112
(1999): 181-183.
*4: Levon Yepiskoposyan, Dr.Sc., Head
of the Institute of Man,
President of the Armenian Anthropological
Society.
*5: M. G. Thomas et al., "Y chromosomes
travelling south: the Cohen modal
haplotype and the origins of the Lemba
- the 'Black Jews of Southern
Africa'." Am J Hum Genet 66 (2000):
674-686.
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