Debunking the Khazarian Theory

 I've seen this brought up a lot in my internet travels: that the Jews are not really the Jews, so that makes it okay to hate them. So, let's get into it. The Khazarian Theory postulates that a significant portion of European Jews, particularly Ashkenazi Jews, are descended from the Khazars. The Khazars were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who originated from the Central Asian region and migrated to the area north of the Caucasus Mountains, in present-day southern Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, and parts of the Caucasus.

As the story goes, the Khazars converted to Judaism in the 8th or 9th century, possibly for political reasons. The ruling class may have wanted to maintain neutrality between the Muslim Caliphate to the south and the Byzantine Empire to the west. However, other religions were also practiced. including Islam, Christianity, and Tengrism. This continued until the Khazar state declined and then collapsed in the 10th century. No one knows for sure what became of them, but they likely assimilated into neighboring populations.

The Khazarian theory suggested they migrated westward and became the Jews we know today. The theory originated in the 19th and 20th centuries by some scholars and historians. However, it was popularized by writer Arthur Koestler, himself a Hungarian Jew, in his 1976 book "The Thirteenth Tribe." Koestler was critical of nationalist ideologies and some aspects of Zionism. By providing an alternate explanation that removed the biological connection with Biblical Jews, he thought it might remove the anti-Semitism that was so prevalent in Europe. Ironically, his ideas have fueled it.

And what might have compelled Koestler to write such a book? Koestler was raised Jewish but became disillusioned with religion in general and Judaism specifically. He later rejected all religious beliefs, becoming an atheist and a communist. As an atheist, he would have rejected the biblical origins of the Jewish people. As a communist, he would have been opposed to Jewish nationalism. As both an atheist and a communist, he would have viewed the Jewish people strictly through a secular lens, seeking to divest them from their religious and cultural identity.

Koestler was neither a historian nor a geneticist. DNA research was still in its infancy at the time. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that comprehensive DNA mapping of the human genome began. And it wasn’t until the 1990s that systematic research on Jewish DNA was conducted. The study of Jewish DNA is perhaps the greatest blow against the Khazarian theory. I've actually looked at some of those studies. Ashkenazi Jews definitely have some European admixture, but they also have Middle Eastern DNA as well. Here are a few studies:

*Researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology compared DNA sequences from nearly 2000 Jews with those of 11,500 non–Jewish people in 67 different populations around the world. They found both Ashkenazi and non–Ashkenazi Jews are descended from four founding mothers of middle-eastern descent. Source

*Geneticists from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard Medical School studied the DNA of 33 German Ashkenazi Jews excavated from a 14th century cemetery. Analysis revealed these German Jews were descended from two distinct subgroups, one with greater Middle Eastern ancestry, and another with greater Eastern and Central European ancestry. Further evidence found they were all descended from a single ancestral woman. Source

*Several studies were analyzed to understand the genetic relationships, origins, and historical migrations of Jewish populations. Patterns are consistent with a shared Near East ancestry along with variable degrees of admixture (blending) and introgression (genetic mixing) from local populations. A high degree of European admixture (30–60 %) was observed among Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Italian and Syrian Jews. The North African Jewish groups demonstrated North African and Middle Eastern admixture with varying European admixture. Source

Marrying women from the local populations was not uncommon even in Biblical times. Moses married an Ethiopian (Cushite, Num 12:1) and a Midianite woman (Exo 2:21). Joseph married an Egyptian (Gen 41:45). Judah and Simeon married Canaanite women. Boaz married Ruth (a Moabite). Salmon likely married Rahab, a Canaanite woman (Jos 6:25). Solomon had many foreign wives, and so on. Regardless of the addition of local admixture, that still makes them descendants of Abraham. I would add, not all the Jews left after the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 CE). There has always been a continuous Jewish presence in that region.

There is one study that supported the Khazarian theory, but even those whose data set they used later refuted them. Quote:

"One recent study (Elhaik, 2013), making use of part of our data set (Behar and others, 2010), focused specifically on the Khazar hypothesis, arguing that it has strong genetic support. This claim was built on a series of analyses similar to those performed in our original study that initially reported the data. However, the reanalysis relied on the provocative assumption that the Armenians and Georgians of the South Caucasus region could serve as appropriate proxies for Khazar descendants (Elhaik, 2013).

This assumption is problematic for a number of reasons. First, because of the great variety of populations in the Caucasus region and the fact that no specific population in the region is known to represent Khazar descendants, evidence for ancestry among Caucasus populations need not reflect Khazar ancestry. Second, even if it were allowed that Caucasus affinities could represent Khazar ancestry, the use of the Armenians and Georgians as Khazar proxies is particularly poor, as they represent the southern part of the Caucasus region, while the Khazar Khaganate was centered in the North Caucasus and further to the north. Furthermore, among populations of the Caucasus, Armenians and Georgians are geographically the closest to the Middle East, and are therefore expected a priori to show the greatest genetic similarity to Middle Eastern populations.

Indeed, a rather high similarity of South Caucasus populations to Middle Eastern groups was observed at the level of the whole genome in a recent study (Yunusbayev and others, 2012). Thus, any genetic similarity between Ashkenazi Jews and Armenians and Georgians might merely reflect a common shared Middle Eastern ancestry component, actually providing further support to a Middle Eastern origin of Ashkenazi Jews, rather than a hint for a Khazar origin." Source

The Israeli-Gaza War, is it really genocide?

You know, there are a lot of voices out there that will say Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. You hear it on the news, you hear it on social media, and you hear it from celebrities. Israel is constantly maligned and attacked. But is it true? The short answer is no. The reality is, Israel is the underdog in all this. They are held to a double standard that no other country is held to. They are the only country that is vilified for defending itself and called genocidal when they do. You won’t hear that accusation in the Russian-Ukraine war or any other conflict. Of all the countries in the world, Israel is the only one that gets that ignominious label.

So, let’s get into it. In any discussion or debate, it’s important to ask questions. My first question is, what makes it a genocide? It has never been the policy of Israel to intentionally target civilians. In fact, they have gone out of their way to avoid civilian casualties. I’ll give an example from Israel’s previous conflicts. During Operation Cast Lead in 2008, Israel used guided bombs filled not with explosives but with cement. This was done because it still did damage to the target, but it minimized damage to the surrounding civilian populace. Another thing Israel does is warn civilians prior to an attack by making phone calls, sending texts, and even dropping pamphlets and leaflets. This is often to their own detriment because it also tips off their hand to their enemies.

If Israel’s true goal was genocide, they could have done so a long time ago and without much difficulty. In any war, civilians are going to get killed. That’s just the reality of the situation. But for anyone who thinks Israel's response is somehow disproportionate, they are being unrealistic. I can’t think of a single country that would be okay if terrorists came into their country, killed their civilians, and took hostages. Any country on the planet would respond with overwhelming force if that happened to them.

Now, let’s talk about the Palestinians and HAMAS, as they are both culpable in what is happening now. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip, even forcibly removing Israeli settlers in the process. At that point, Gaza was “free” and semi-autonomous (I say semi because they were and still are heavily dependent on Israel to function). So, what is the first thing the Palestinians do? They elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, to govern the Palestinian Authority. And what is the first thing that Hamas did? They fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Thus began a repeated cycle of attacks on Israel followed by military operations to end hostilities. Since 2005, Israel has been in seven major conflicts in the Gaza Strip. This, of course, culminated in the October 7th massacre in 2023.

You see, unlike Israel, Hamas actually does target civilians, and they’re not above using their own civilians as meat shields. It is well documented that Hamas routinely uses places like schools and hospitals to either launch their attacks or as a base of operations. They do this for two reasons. For one, they hope to deter or minimize any sort of Israeli counterattack. And two, when civilians die, it actually helps them, and that is what this is really about. Hamas knows they can never beat Israel militarily. They also know the West is sensitive to civilian casualties. The more civilians that die, the better it is for them. It’s the only way they can win. So, they use civilian deaths as part of their propaganda war against Israel. It’s a military strategy and one that many have unwittingly adopted.

The Palestinians themselves are also not guilt-free. Remember, it is they who elected Hamas in the first place. Let’s talk about some other things the Palestinians have done. Palestinians cheered in the streets when America was attacked on 9/11. Many hostages from the October 7th attack were held in Palestinian homes. According to the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) survey*, 75% of Palestinians supported the October 7 massacre, and 85.9% reject coexistence with Israel. 74.7% support the creation of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” which is itself a genocidal statement and one that has been adopted by useful idiots in the West. Everyone who uses that slogan decries one “genocide” by instigating another.

These are the type of people that those in the West are supporting. Palestinians are among the most radicalized people in that region, which is why no other country wants to take them in. Gaza and the Palestinians are in the state that they are in because of their continual refusal to live in peace with Israel. All their resources are put into fighting Israel. And guess what? Hamas and their Arab and Iranian allies want it that way. They don’t want conditions in Gaza to improve, because then they couldn’t use the Palestinians as a thorn in Israel’s side. They would rather have Palestinians used as political pawns. As a result, continual conflict is guaranteed, as well as deteriorating conditions in Gaza and an ever-increasing radicalization of Palestinian youths to perpetuate the endless cycle. There is a saying, “If the Palestinians put down their weapons, there would be peace; if Israel put down its weapons, there would be no more Israel.”

Let’s also get another thing clear: Palestinians are largely an invented people. They have no unique ethnic identity or language of their own. They are a hodgepodge of mostly Arab ethnicities. Incidentally, they share quite a bit of DNA with Jews. Palestine referred to a province of the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t a people; it was a geographical region. For a time, prior to World War 1, even Jews referred to themselves as Palestinians the same way someone would refer to where they lived, regardless of their ethnicity. It really wasn’t until the 1960s when Yasser Arafat created the Palestinian identity and turned the issue into a human rights struggle.

Since I’m on the topic, let’s talk about whose land it belongs to. That little piece of contested land has changed hands many, many times during the past three millennia. At the turn of the 20th century, it was under the control of the Ottoman Turks. They sided with the Central Powers during World War I and lost. As a result, they lost control of their land. It then came under the control of the British in 1920. The Mandate for Palestine ended in 1948, at which point the land was essentially up for grabs. The Jews and Arabs immediately went to war over it, and the Jews won. It now belongs to Israel for that very reason. Land, any land, belongs to those who can occupy it and defend it, period. Every nation on earth exists because they fought someone else for it and won. I would add that after World War I, several empires collapsed, and many nation-states were created, including Iraq, Transjordan (now Jordan), Syria, and Lebanon. So, Israel was not unique in that regard.

*Source: https://jcpa.org/a-new-poll-of-palestinians-supporting-terror-and-rejecting-peace/