Steven,

While your genetics links are very interesting indeed, I don’t see what you think you see. An important point to consider when talking about relatedness and inheritance is that many people think that they are at the ‘base’ of a family pyramid, when looking at their genealogy, when in fact you are a point in an hourglass. Also, many people think that various 'ethnic' population groups tend to stay put in regional areas, whereas that is also not the case when looking at history.
I think this may help to clear up some misconceptions:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200205/olson
The introgression and mixing of genes throughout populations would limit the feasibility of an ‘ethno-bomb’. But as you say, anything is possible. But possible does not mean probable.

I am confused about some of your statements. From your arguments, you think that Reverend Wright and Ali Baghdadi are NOT merely being paranoid? Interesting.
You also are fairly confident that noone knows the answer as to the feasibility of such a weapon, and yet you want to ask the internet if it’s possible? Also very interesting.

I can’t figure out what you hoped to achieve by such a thread (pro/con Wright? Opinion on ethno-bombs? Pro/con Arabs/Israel?), but whatever it is, I don’t think we are getting very far.

This is not the first time you’ve ended an argument with ‘neither you nor I can know the answer’. It gets irritating after a while.

"The Death Angel Goes High BioTech—Are Ethnically-Targeted Weapons for Real?"

http://www.vdare.com/misc/080428_miele.htm

Steven,

I didn’t see a single thread or comment where you promote harmony between your fellow Israelis and Arabs. All you write about is creative ethnic cleansing one way or the other (by relocating Palestinians to neighboring countries, ethnic bombs, etc..).

Interested to know your comment on the US concerns regarding Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. Can you comment on the article below?

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23646230-5001028,00.html

FELLOW_HUMAN:

I am NOT (repeat, NOT) advocating the development of an ethnic bomb. I am pondering whether it is feasible or whether rumours that Israel is developing such a weapon may be dismissed as paranoia.

Of one thing I am certain. If it is perceived to be feasible then many countries and organisations will be working to acquire it. Neither Iran's Ahmadinejad nor the leadership of Hamas would hesitate for an instant to deploy a "Jew bomb" if they could.

I am not an Israeli so it is senseless to talk about my "fellow Israelis." If you are talking about my fellow Jews I note the following:

--Muslims make up about a quarter of humanity.

--Sufism excepted, the contemporary* Ummah is rife with Jew hatred. Some of the stuff that comes out of Mosques right here in Australia could be taken from the pages of Der Sturmer.

Frankly I find this a terrifying state of affairs.

Under current circumstances trying to promote "harmony" between Muslims and Jews would be like trying to promote harmony between Jews and the Third Reich.

What concerns me is averting Holocaust II!

On the other hand here is a fellow who is doing his bit to calm down the Ummah. I wish him well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/asia/04islam.html?_r=1&em&ex=1209960000&en=5c99a19d997ac925&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

I have no comment on the Telegraph story. I have stated many times that Israel should never have kept the territories it occupied in 1967. Not that I am under any illusion that a retreat to the 1967 borders would satisfy the Muslim world.

*I know the PC version of history that has Jews and Muslims living in harmony once upon a time. In some places at some times that was true. However that was then. The CONTEMPORARY Ummah is not exactly "Jew-friendly."

Steven,

You may want to look at what Australia is doing for the aborigines (investment in health, jobs, housing and recently a formal apology by the PM) and compare it to Israel's policies towards Gaza where people are impoverished, mostly unemployed and living under a $1 a day you would see the answer to your question.

Since its formation, Israel pursued a philosophy of forcing new realities using military power and oppression of a weaker opponent. Maybe if they copied Australia and other human practices towards Palestinians they would have found more 'jewish friendly' voices in the rest of the world whether Muslims or non-Muslims. Don't you think?

Not sure why the holocaust got into this but happy to share a personal view: There is a difference between the holocaust as an atrocity against humanity and the use of it as a marketing tool to justify oppressing others. Most Muslims or Arabs would agree with the following views expressed by Naom Chomsky and the Zionist leader "Nachem Goldman" : http://www.chomsky.info/books/dissent01.htm

Peace,

FELLOW_HUMAN,

Thank you for not contesting the Jew hatred that pervades the Ummah. I find this sort of denial of the obvious tiresome.

As stated in my previous post, and as have stated repeatedly, Israel should NEVER have kept the territory it occupied in 1967.

For what it's worth I think Israel should vacate those territories IMMEDIATELY.

Of course it would have helped if the Palestinians had refrained from rocketing Israel the moment The Israelis withdrew. As a practical matter it makes it hard to sell further withdrawals to the Israeli public.

It would also help if Hamas were to refrain from situating its rocket making and launching facilities among the civilian population. The Hamas leadership seem to regard the death of every Palestinian child as a propaganda victory.

You ask whether Israelis could influence Muslim and non-Muslim opinion in a positive way by adopting a more conciliatory stance towards the Palestinians.

It sounds so reasonable doesn't it?

Based on 45 years of interacting with and observing Muslims my answer is "No." For whatever causes hatred for Jews is now part of the warp and weft of contemporary Muslim culture. It is as ingrained and beyond the reach of reason as was the Jew hatred of the Third Reich.

So far as I can see the only way in which the Ummah's Jew hatred could be assuaged is for Jews to either convert to Islam or to die and I think most Muslims would prefer the latter.

As I said in my previous post, I think a rapprochement between Jews and Muslims is as impossible as a reconciliation between Jews and Nazi Germany would have been.

Could we Jews have done anything to avert this state of affairs?

I doubt it but I cannot rule out the possibility.

However I cannot deal in "might have beens." I can only deal with the Ummah as I find it today and that is an Ummah with genocidal intent towards Jews.

The short answer, F_H, is that, given the opportunity, the Ummah will try to exterminate us no matter what.