Latest Jewish ethnic groups Stories

A new genetic analysis focusing on Jews from North Africa has provided an overall genetic map of the Jewish Diasporas. The findings support the historical record of Middle Eastern Jews settling in North Africa during Classical Antiquity, proselytizing and marrying local populations, and, in the process, forming distinct populations that stayed largely intact for more than 2,000 years. The study, led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was published...

BRONX, N.Y., Aug. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new genetic analysis focusing on Jews from North Africa has provided an overall genetic map of the Jewish Diasporas. The findings support the historical record of Middle Eastern Jews settling in North Africa during Classical Antiquity, proselytizing and marrying local populations, and, in the process, forming distinct populations that stayed largely intact for more than 2,000 years. The study, led by researchers at Albert Einstein...

Geneticists say DNA evidence suggests 20 percent of the population of the Iberian Peninsula has Sephardic Jewish ancestry. Another 11 percent have Moorish ancestors, the New York Times said Friday. The findings suggest there were mass conversions to Catholicism in the 15th and 16th centuries after Christian armies defeated Muslim control of Spain, the newspaper said. The study, led by Mark A. Jobling of the University of Leicester in Britain and Francesc Calafell of the Pompeu Fabra...

By Maria Cortes Gonzalez, El Paso Times, Texas Aug. 1--EL PASO -- Sonya Loya was raised Catholic, but in practicing her faith, she often felt that "things weren't quite right." Five years ago, the New Mexico resident went to her parents to ask for their blessing in researching her heritage. "My father surprised me by saying, 'I knew I was Jewish since I was 6 years old,' " she said. Loya's family is representative of the phenomenon of Beni Anousim, people of Spanish descent who return to...