Palestinian Genes Show Arab, Jewish, European and Black-African Ancestry

A study by the University of Chicago found that Arab populations, including Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Iraqis, and Bedouin, have at least some sub-Saharan African genes. Non-Arabs from the region, including Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Azeris, Georgians, and Jews did not have any African roots. [1] A possible explanation is the proximity of the Arabian peninsula to the Black African nations. This conclusion is favored by the fact that Yemenite Arabs have 35% Black African genes in their mtDNA (which passes through the mother), while others have less. Yemen, of course, is very close geographically to several Black African nations. Other Arabs, especially those far away from the Arabian peninsula, have as little as 10% African blood in their mtDNA. As such, it is possible that the African gene was merely diluted by the introduction of non-Arab (and non-African) genes to the pool when Arabs began to conquer other Middle East people after the rise of Islam. The "real" Arabs -- those who have Arab ancestors stretching beyond the last 1,400 years – are actually 35% Black in their mtDNA. These Arabs are from the Arabian peninsula.[2]

Other populations that are now called ‘Arabs’ became Arabized through intermarriage and adoption of the Arabic language and culture. These people are partially Arab and partially descendants of the nations that lived in their region prior to the rise of the Muslim faith. Just as their "Arab gene" was diluted by mixing with local genes, so too the 35% of the mtDNA that is Black African was diluted and reduced to around 10%.

You are probably right with respect to Ireland but it is hard to say to what extent this was the case. I was just yelping about assumptions as people in science are prone to do.

I am convinced my mother is part Pict as with her family, they are from the highlands in Scotland originally. They are very white skinned and have dark hair, plus they have interesting dispositions to say the least. It is not politically correct to say but the highlanders were certainly used for centuries by the English and probably are somewhat unique in character. Even in Iraq the US asks for a battalion for support in the triangle and who do the English send?

Anyway, the Picts were an odd bunch, they were very different from other Europeans, including the supposed original Celts. This makes it hard to place them in the scheme of things. They can be identified by round houses. Rome built 2 walls, one of the walls Hadrian's wall was manned by 3 legions and was about 20 feet high. Then, if I remember correctly there was another three legions in fortifications behind it.

The Romans went up to what is now Scotland and 'won' battles, then left the area immediately. They also admitted to loosing 50,000 men in a battle (this is disputed by Romanophiles but why would they lie about their losses?) they lost to the Picts. When the Romans left England in 408(If I remember correctly), the Picts were sacking London as they did so.

Most historians have a serious 'excited disposition' when it comes to the Romans and they dismiss the Picts as just raiders but there were many raiders on the empires borders, and not many walls as heavily defended as Hadrian's. The historians do this to the Germanic tribes too, saying they just fought in forests but dismiss battles like Adrianople which were open and massive.

The Picts were probably pretty crazy and very different. So the question is, who the heck were they? Earlier settlers that were preserved in Scotland or Celts that were changed by the land? They are no longer any pure Picts so its a bit of a problem. They were bred out of existence and their culture destroyed upon their conversion. The Picts were not appreciably settled by the Vikings or Romans (despite the fact that Historians say they lost many battles to them) so they did not go out with a bang but a whimper. This does not seem fair to a people with their history of defiance.

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