The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
> Re article below: "they were surprised to find a closer genetic connection between the Jews and the populations of the fertile crescent ..." This is pure nonsense. Of the total individual DNA, maybe about 3 percent is a variable, the other 97% is more or less the same for everyone, and of the 3% you find variables among people of the same (socially designated) "race" or ethnic group. These researchers are pushing the idea of the biological construction of ethnic and racialised groups-- it is highly divisive and scientifically unsustainable. For one thing, migration and inter-marriage change the DNA picture constantly, Philippa Winkler ===== Original Message From as-ilas <as-ilas@gmx.de> ===== >Dear Nels, > >Yep. > >Here a little and easily extendable synopsis of additional material >(including items I posted earlier on CASI). > >Best > >Andreas >--------------------- > >1) Study: close genetic connection between Jews, Kurds > >2a) BREAK UP IRAQ NOW! >2b) Letters: DIVIDE AND CONQUER - A WISE RECIPE FOR IRAQ > >3) Turkey responds to activities of Jewish backed Kurdish Credit Bank with >Ziraat Bank > >4) Three Iraqs, not one > >--------------------------------------- > >1) >http://www.kerkuk-kurdistan.com/nuceyek.asp?ser=4&cep=1&nnimre=2857 > > >Study: close genetic "con"nection between Jews, Kurds > > Published: 2003-09-20 14:36 > > Study finds close genetic connection between Jews, Kurds > By Tamara Traubman > > Source: www.haaretz.com > ----------------------- > > [ISRAEL, 20/9 2003] - The people closest to the Jews from a genetic >point of view may be the Kurds, according to results of a new study at the >Hebrew University. > > Scientists who participated in the research said the findings seem to >indicate both peoples had common ancestors who lived in the northern half of >the fertile crescent, where northern Iraq and Turkey are today. Some of >them, it is assumed, wandered south in pre-historic times and settled on the >eastern shores of the Mediterranean. > > Professor Ariella Oppenheim and Dr. Marina Feirman, who carried out >the research at the Hebrew University, said they were surprised to find a >closer genetic connection between the Jews and the populations of the >fertile crescent than between the Jews and their Arab neighbors. Oppenheim >pointed out that previous research of DNA of Jews, including her own work, >had revealed great genetic similarity between Jews and Arabs, particularly >Palestinians from Israel and the territories. > > The present study, however, involved more detailed and thorough >examinations than previous research. In addition, this was the first >comparison of the DNA of Jews and Kurds. > > Genetic similarity between peoples is measured by comparing the >frequency of genetic mutations among them. This information makes it >possible to reconstruct their paths of migration and to discover their >unwritten history. The present study, however, reveals only part of the >story, since it is based on mutations of the Y chromosome. Since this >chromosome, which determines male gender, is passed only from father to son, >it does not contain information about the mothers' contributions to the >genetic reservoir under study. > > The study's findings are published in the current issue of The >American Journal of Human Genetics. > > The researchers used the DNA of 1,847 Jewish men of Ashkenazi, >Sephardi and Kurdish descent; Muslims and Christians of Kurdish, Turkish and >Armenian descent; various Arab populations; and Russians, Poles and >residents of Belarus. > >----------------- > >2a) > >http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/169.htm > > >BREAK UP IRAQ NOW! > >By RALPH PETERS > >July 10, 2003 -- PRESIDENT Bush consistently has done the right thing by >ignoring the nay- sayers before, during and after Operation Iraqi Freedom. >Yet he's in danger of making the same mistake his father did at the end of >Desert Storm - doing only half the job. >Just as the failure to press on to Baghdad in 1991 left Iraq and the entire >region with cancerous problems, today's failure to recognize the artificial, >unjust nature of the Iraqi state promises enduring discontent. > >Will American troops need to return to Iraq a third time, in another decade? > >Speaking of Iraq as a single, integrated country is a form of lying. Its >borders were drawn by grasping European diplomats almost a century ago, with >no regard for the wishes - or rivalries - of the local populations. > >Today, the Iraq we're trying to herd back together consists of three >distinct nations caged under a single, bloodstained flag. Our problems are >with only one of those nations, the Sunni Arab minority west and north of >Baghdad. > >Favored by the British, the Sunni Arabs took power at Iraq's formation and >maintained it through massacre, torture and imprisonment. Saddam Hussein was >the ultimate expression of Sunni Arab tyranny over Iraq's Kurds and >Shi'ites. > >By holding Iraq together with U.S. troops, we merely encourage the Sunni >Arabs - who remain hostile to our presence, whose extremists attack our >soldiers and who still intend to recapture control of the entire country. > > > >We are punishing our friends, rewarding our enemies and alienating the >neutral. President Bush needs to perform radical surgery on Iraq now, while >the world remains in a funk over our success. We still have a window through >which we can thrust major reforms. But the window is closing. Defending the >status quo is deadly folly. > >The break-up of Iraq should proceed in two stages. > >First, we should provisionally divide the country into a federation of three >states, giving the Sunni Arabs one last chance to embrace reform. > >* One state would encompass the Shi'ite region in the south, encompassing >all of the southern oil fields. > >* The second would be an expanded Kurdistan, including historically Kurdish >Kirkuk and Mosul, as well as Iraq's northern oil fields. > >* The third would be a rump Sunni Arab state sandwiched between the other >two. > >* Baghdad would become an autonomous district. > >Stop worrying about Shi'ite extremism. If we mean what we say about >democracy, the Shi'ites should be free to choose whomever they want as their >leaders - even fundamentalists. Although the odds of theocratic rule >emerging or enduring in southern Iraq are lower than the media imply, the >Shi'ites, who long have been oppressed and persecuted, should be free to >determine their own future. > >Democracy means letting people make their own mistakes. We've made a few >ourselves. The only thing upon which we should insist is strict supervision >to ensure an honest vote. > >We must, however, make it clear to Iran that meddling will not be tolerated. > >As this column consistently points out, the Kurds deserve freedom and a >state of their own. After the Jews and Armenians, they have been the most >persecuted ethnic group of the last hundred years, always denied an >independent homeland, shot, gassed, driven from their homes - and even >victimized for the use of their native dialects. The world's willingness to >look away from the long tragedy of the Kurdish people is inexcusable. > >And consider how strategically helpful a Kurdish state, reliant on U.S. >military guarantees, might be. If the Kurdish people agreed to host our >forces, we could abandon our bases in Turkey, the use of which has been >restricted almost to worthlessness. New airbases amid a welcoming population >would be quite a change in the region. Even the Saudis and the Gulf Arabs >would be on notice. > >And what about Turkey? Our "long-time ally"? > >I have no personal grudge against Turkey. On the contrary, I've visited the >country many times and even took my wife there on our honeymoon. Istanbul >remains one of my favorite cities. I've argued for years that Turkey was a >vital ally. > >But times change. Turkish treachery on the eve of our recent war cannot be >overlooked. > >Startled by the swiftness of our victory, the Turks immediately assured us >that it was all a minor misunderstanding, that Turkey wished to remain the >best of friends. Yet Turkey is again becoming the "sick man of Europe," >plagued by ineradicable corruption, growing Islamic radicalism and a >self-destructive military. > >The result of our renewed friendship? Last week, U.S. forces had to break up >a secret Turkish military operation in northern Iraq, arresting a dozen of >Ankara's special operations troops. The Turkish mission? To assassinate the >senior Kurdish leader in Kirkuk. His crime? Cooperating with the Americans. > >The Turkish chief of staff, Gen. Ozkok, threw a public tantrum, insisting >that we had created a grave crisis by busting his assassins. Sorry, pal. You >created the crisis. And you just blew any chance you and your government had >of rebuilding bridges to Washington that will bear any real weight. > >The Turkish military's scheme to undercut our occupation underscores the >need for the Bush administration to stop thinking small when it comes to >nation-building. Instead of just changing the oil in the old jalopy, it's >time for a fleet of new cars. An independent Kurdistan should roll off the >assembly line first. > >The second stage of the division of Iraq would kick in if the Sunni Arabs >still refuse to cooperate: We would declare the interim Iraqi Federation >dissolved, creating three fully independent states in its place, with the >Kurdish and Shi'ite states meeting along the Iranian border to guarantee the >Kurds a corridor to the sea for their oil, gas and trade. > >Then leave the Sunni Arabs to rot. > >Oh, and there just might be a third step down the road, too. We should not >miss any opportunity to support the longing for freedom of the tens of >millions of Kurds held hostage behind European-imposed borders in Turkey, >Syria and Iran. For Americans serious about human rights and freedom, >Greater Kurdistan must be a long-range goal. > >Military operations alone cannot change the Middle East. The European legacy >of phony borders must be demolished, starting in Iraq. Don't betray our >troops again by leaving the job unfinished to please our enemies. > >Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer and the author of "Beyond Terror: >Strategy in a Changing World." > >----------------- > >2b) > >http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/37752.htm > >DIVIDE AND CONQUER - A WISE RECIPE FOR IRAQ > >July 12, 2003 -- Full marks to Ralph Peters ("Break up Iraq now!" Opinion, >July 10) for his honesty, courage and objectivity - and boldly upholding >true American values. His recognition of Kurdistan's strategic geopolitical >importance and the Kurds' time-honored loyalty to friends is no less >commendable. > >It would be sad if President Bush's place in history were to be tarnished by >his neglect of the Kurds due to irrational reverence for the errors of the >past and his undeserved loyalty to tyrannical and phony "friends" like the >Turkish generals. > >Eziz Bawermend >Sydney, Australia > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Trying to hold together coalitions of feuding people who hate each other is >not a recipe for success. > >Democratic values must be fostered before they can trump religious and >ethnic allegiances. > >Turkey should be justly rewarded for its treachery. What it feared most - an >independent Kurdistan - is what it deserves. > >John Erickson >Henderson, Nev. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Finally, someone has said what I've been waiting to hear since the fall of >Baghdad. The problems of the Middle East are in no small part the result of >the breakup of the colonial empires of Europe after World War I and can only >be resolved by recognizing the mistakes made at that time. > >President Bush has an historic opportunity and, I hope, the resolve to act. > >Jeffery Kempf >Auburn, Alaska > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Ralph Peters' column about the breakup of Iraq is scary. The same argument >could be made for America. > >We could partition Texas, New Mexico and California for the Hispanic >population. The freed slaves could take over the Deep South. Indian >reservations could be a new independent nation. > >America does have the same problems as Turkey and Iraq. We always seem to be >able to work them out. > >David Bebb >Palm Springs, Calif. > >----------------------- > >3) >http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f7 > >Turkey responds to activities of Jewish backed Kurdish Credit Bank with >Ziraat Bank > >Turkey responds to activities of Jewish backed Kurdish Credit Bank with >Ziraat Bank > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >ISTANBUL - The Turkish government will take precautions against an increase >in banking activities and the purchase of land in northern Iraq. The Turkish >government plans to respond to activities of "Kurdish Credit Bank" which >grants loans to Kurdish people to purchase land belonging to the Arab and >Turkmen people in northern Iraq, by opening a branch of the Turkish >state-owned Ziraat Bank in the region. > >The Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC) Ankara Representative Ahmet Muratli said that >they have discovered that Israel was behind these banking activities in the >region. He said he immediately informed the Turkish government about these >activities several months ago and as a result they persuaded state-owned >Ziraat Bank to become active in the region. > >Muratli said that northern Iraq has great importance in terms of both >potential commercial and strategic importance and they applied to the >Turkish Foreign Ministry and Turkish Treasury to establish a branch of the >Turkish owned bank. > >Muratli said, "Everyone wants Ziraat Bank or another Turkish bank in the >region. Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen businessmen personally conveyed their >demands to Turkish officials in Ankara." > >'Purchasing land in Mosul is encouraged' >Iraq is an oil rich region and has the second largest oil reserves in the >world. Northern Iraq produces approximately 70 percent of all Iraqi's oil >reserves. The Kurdish Credit Bank has subsequently caused worries among the >Turkmen and Arab people. > >Muratli said the Kurdish Credit Bank is centered in the city of Suleymaniya >in northern Iraq and the Bank was established through the assistance of >Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Jalal Talabani, >head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party. Muratli said they discovered >after exhaustive research that Israel was behind the creation of the Kurdish >Credit Bank. > >Muratli said, "Kurdish groups at first wanted to seize the homes and >property of Turkmen and Arab people, who form a majority in the Mosul and >Kerkuk regions, by force. When the Kurdish groups were not successful in >their efforts, they wanted to purchase these homes and property by paying >for it. When we talked with Arab tribes, they said that Jewish Kurds and >Israelis began to purchase property. The Jewish Kurds and Jewish Arabs, who >have obtained long term and interest-free loans from the Kurdish Credit >Bank, began to purchase property, which was allegedly their property in the >past. We are following the developments very closely." > >Investment-Development Banking needs specialization and Kurds are not >specialized in this area > >Experts on the Kurds in northern Iraq and the Middle East said that Kurdish >groups, who do not have experience in banking, are certainly assisted by >some unidentified groups. > >A former Department Head at the Turkish National Intelligence Organization >(MIT), Mahir Kaynak said, "It is certainly necessary for Kurds in northern >Iraq to receive asistance from foreign countries. It is necessary to >establish a bank in the region in order to carry out daily banking >transactions and Turkey must act urgently in this field." > >Kaynak said that investment-development banks have a wide experience in this >field and Kurdish groups can establish such a bank with the help of Jewish >businessmen, who are very powerful in world financial markets. > >The General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Ziraat Bank, Can Akin >Caglar said they were researching the new banking laws of the Iraqi Interim >Governing Council very closely. He said Ziraat Bank has been continuing >discussions with Iraqi officials to open a branch in Iraq as a private bank. >Caglar said, "We will determine in time which path we will follow. We >continue to be interested in this country and I hope that we have positive >results." > >Cihan News Agency > >------------------- >4) >http://www.kurdmedia.com/reports.asp?id=1706 > >Three Iraqs, not one > >23 October 2003 > >Daily Times [Pakistan] >By Shlomo Avineri > >Saddam's regime was merely the most extreme manifestation of the >harshunderlying fact that Iraq's geography and demography condemned it to >rule bythe iron fist. Nor has Saddam's fall changed this fact > >America's mounting difficulties in setting up a coherent form ofgovernment >in Iraq, let alone a democratic one, inspire a question that moststatesmen >consider unthinkable: is it possible that there is no way tore-constitute >Iraq as one state, and that alternative options must beconsidered, >unpalatable as they may appear? > >Like so many problems in the re-birth of states wounded bydictatorship - >Eastern Europe is a good example - Iraq's difficulties havedeep historical >roots. To blame everything on the heavy-handedness of theAmericans is too >simplistic and shallow, even if their mistakes have,indeed, been legion. > >Iraq was established in the 1920s by the British, who occupied theregion >after the Ottoman Empire disintegrated at the end of WWI. Theirpolicies were >dictated by British imperial interests, and gave noconsideration to the >wishes, interests, or characteristics of the localpopulation. > >What British imperial planners did was to stitch together threedisparate >provinces of the old Ottoman Empire and put at their head a princefrom Hijaz >(now a part of Saudi Arabia). The three provinces - Mosul,Baghdad, and >Basra - each had very distinct characters and very differentpopulation >structures. > >Mosul had a Kurdish majority, with significant Assyrian-Christian >andTurkoman minorities; Baghdad was mainly Sunni; and Basra was >predominantlyShi'ite. Throwing such disparate groups into one body politic >doomed thenewly invented country to decades of strife and repression. > >The old Ottoman Empire ruled these three provinces - as it ruled allof its >imperial possessions - through its historically autocratic means. >Thechallenge facing the new Iraqi state was to try to create a >non-despotic,relatively representative form of government in which all >sectors of thepopulation would find an expression of their political will. >This turned outto be an impossible mission. For this reason Iraq - even >before SaddamHussein - always suffered the most repressive regime of any >Arab state. > >In a country where Shi'ites form the majority, the Sunnis -traditionally the >hegemonic group in all Arab countries - were totallyunwilling to allow any >democratic process to jeopardize their rule. A Shi'ite insurrection was >brutally put down in the 1920s (with the help of theBritish Royal Air >Force). > >Similarly, Kurdish attempts at autonomy before WWII were drowned inbloody >massacres of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, and even theAssyrian >Christian minority - a relatively small group, with no politicalambitions - >was exposed to murderous assaults in the 1930s. > >Under these conditions, with the Sunni ruling minority constantlyfeeling >threatened, it was no accident that the only attempt in any Arabcountry to >establish something like a pro-Nazi fascist regime occurred inIraq in the >early 1940's under Rashid Ali al-Khailani. The Britishsuppressed this >misadventure, but not before hundreds of Jews in Baghdadwere murdered in a >wild farhood (pogrom) instigated by the short-livedpro-Nazi government. > >Saddam's regime was merely the most extreme manifestation of the >harshunderlying fact that Iraq's geography and demography condemned it to >rule bythe iron fist. Nor has Saddam's fall changed this fact: anti-US >violence isnot only an expression of anger at foreign occupation; it is also >a Sunniattempt to abort the establishment of a democratic order that would >putthem - the historical masters - in a subordinate position. > >Similarly, one cannot see the Kurds in the north submitting willinglyto a >Baghdad-dominated Arab regime, let alone a Shi'ite one (most Kurds >areSunnis). There is little understanding in the West of how deep the >Sunni/Shi'ite divide runs. Put yourself in pre-1648 Europe, a time when >Protestantsand Catholics slaughtered each other with abandon, and you'll >understand theenmity immediately. > >So what can be done? Yugoslavia's example shows that in multi-ethnicand >multi-religious countries deeply riven by conflict, partition andseparation >may be the only way to ensure stability and democratisation.There is no >doubt today that Croatia and Serbia - despite theirdifficulties - stand a >better chance of becoming more or less stabledemocracies than if they were >still fighting for mastery among themselveswithin the Procrustean bed of the >former Yugoslavia. > >Nor is federation an alternative - as the terms of the federationitself >become the bones of contention (see Bosnia or Cyprus). Even thepacific >Czechs and Slovaks found it easier to develop their respectivedemocratic >structures through a velvet divorce rather than be joined in anunworkable >marriage. > >The time has come to think the unthinkable, about creating a Kurdishstate in >the north, an Arab Sunni one in the centre around Baghdad, and anArab >Shi'ite state in the south around Basra. Repeating mantras aboutterritorial >integrity - the conventional wisdom of international relations -is >productive only as long as it ensures stability and averts chaos. Again,as >Yugoslavia - and the Soviet Union - showed, once strife replacesstability, >territorial integrity loses its strategic meaning and legitimacy. > >This is not a universal prescription for ethnically homogenous states.The >point is simply that there are moments in history when democratisationand >nation building coincide, and that in deeply divided societies theminimum >consensus needed for both to succeed simultaneously is difficult toachieve. >All this may run contrary to conventional wisdom, but who thoughtthat the >USSR would disintegrate? Creative and innovative thinking is neededabout >Iraq; otherwise today's mayhem will continue - and worsen. - >Shlomo Avineri is Professor of Political Science at the HebrewUniversity of >Jerusalem. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "nels bacon" <nelsbacon@earthlink.net> >To: "as-ilas" <as-ilas@gmx.de>; "casi" <casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk> >Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 10:11 AM >Subject: Re: [casi] The New York Times: a proposal for ethnic cleansing in >Iraq > > >Partitioning Iraq - as proposed by Gelb in the NY Times article >posted below- was described in Israel's Hebrew press over a decade >ago asa primary goal of the Israeli government. I wondered >at the time how long it would take for an influential American Israel >Supporter to "propose" it in the US national media. The partitioning plan >was partially implemented by the US immediately after their first Gulf >War when they established the illegal "No Fly Zones" over Iraq on the >pretense that they were to protect the Kurds in the North and the Sunnis >in the South from Saddam Hussein. >nels > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. >To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss >To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk >All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk