[ladyL]

What you say is very interesting. May I ask your qualifications to speak to this issue?

[ChicagoHebrew]

What do you mean by qualifications. You don't need a degree in debunking garbage pseudo-science like British Israelism. You just need common sense. Do some research -- you'll see that: (1) DNA evidence conclusively shows no connection between present day Jews and Brits/Scots/Irish/Welsh; (2) No serious scholar believes that English/Gaelic/Welsh etc. has any connection with Hebrew or Aramaic; (3) Any supposed cultural connections are pretty broad and inconsequential.

It's telling that Brit-Israelism proponents cite scripture (out of context), which can of course be read 100 different ways. It's because all modern, objective science suggests that Brit-Israelism is nonsense.

On the other hand, the Samaritans claim descent from the Lost Tribes. Genetically, they are identical to Jews. They live in Eretz Yisrael. They still speak biblical Hebrew. They still practice a form of ancient Hebrew religion. That's a credible claim. Likewise, genetically Kurds and Jews are one population group (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1626606/posts). That suggests a very close relationship between the two groups, such as partial descent from the Lost Tribes (who were exiled precisely to the area that is now Kurdistan).

[ChicagoHebrew]

Note that even Davidy is forced to try to explain away (which he does poorly) the conclusive DNA evidence --

http://www.britam.org/Questions/QuesDNA.html