Jews are clearly not a race.
Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared ancestry and shared genetic traits. You can't change your race; it's in your DNA. I could never become black or Asian no matter how much I might want to.
Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew. Many Jews worldwide share common ancestry, as shown by genetic research; however, you can be a Jew without sharing this common ancestry, for example, by
converting. Thus, although I could never become black or Asian, blacks and Asians have become Jews (Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie Chung).
Judaism 101 What Is Judaism
There has always been a small percentage of converts since the early bible stories. As jews were forced from one place to the other there was some mixing of races but the majority of jews still carry distinctive genes. Genes that have helped them advance as traders, teachers, scientists, doctors, etc. Genes that have allowed the jews to survive against all odds against them.
Arabs are often considered a race when they share only a language across many races and cultures throughout the region. They have far less proof than the jews of being a race. Arabs scattered across NA to Mongolia but they mixed widely with local populations or import of slaves.
Jews for the most part have married within their own faith not matter where they have lived or set up businesses. Even Ashkenazi have jewish genes despite the initial conversion and later intermixing. They are jews also. Jews have been found through out the world from China to Africa to the new world.
Arabs and muslims were converts to the language and the faith. They are far from a pure race, but most people speak about the as if they were. They were conquers of the 7th C AD. Arabs outside of arabia did not exist as a race before that time. Arab kings were also for a time jewish as was a large percentage of their population.
Jews as a people have struggled to remain unique in both faith, culture and race. They have remained distinctive and like some smaller groups married within their own culture, race or faith. Conversion is an educational process but one conversion is accepted there is no longer distinction or prejudice. From that point on their children are raised as jews. For men/boys there is also the act of circumcision as part of the convenient to god.
Apart from isolated tribes in inhospitable areas of the world, almost every race will have intermixing, but some religious/cultural groups have tried to avoid proselytizing and married without their own faith.
Muslim men can take foreign women but muslims women are expected to marry within the faith. Man can take several wives and mixed children are raised in the faith. They also divorce at a higher rate than jews, further diluting their genes. Both muslims and jews consider the purity of the race passing through women.
Muslims are all converts since the 6th C AD. Jews have as a race and religion existed since Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and Joseph. Even Joseph was allowed to take a foreign wife after her conversion and purification.
Palestinians as defined by the mandate are a racial and religious mix from throughout the whole western, north african and middle eastern world.
Former New York Times Science Editor Race Is Real
