Lard
03-07-2025, 10:32 PM
Today, I sent an open letter to Dr. Harry Ostrer, challenging the biased methodologies in Ashkenazi Jewish genetic studies.
The email addresses key issues, including:
• The deliberate omission of Southern Italians, Sicilians, and Cretans as reference populations—despite their clear genetic overlap with Ashkenazi Jews.
• The flawed 50% Northern Italian / 50% Levantine model, which inflates Levantine ancestry while ignoring Mediterranean European contributions.
• The selective use of J1, J2, and E haplogroups to reinforce a Levantine narrative, even though these haplogroups are widespread in Greeks and Southern Italians.
• The buried findings of researchers like Zoossmann-Diskin (2010) and Drineas (2019), both of whom showed significant Southern European ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews.
• The genetic drift in Ashkenazi populations, which is similar to the Arbëreshë case, proving that haplogroups can become overrepresented without requiring a Levantine origin.
This letter directly asks Ostrer why Ashkenazi Jewish genetic studies are designed to maximize Middle Eastern ties while downplaying European ancestry.
I will update this thread if I receive a response. Thoughts?
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Subject: Concerns Regarding Bias in Ashkenazi Jewish Genetic Studies
Dear Dr. Ostrer,
I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out to discuss concerns regarding methodological biases in genetic studies of Ashkenazi Jews, a field in which you have played a pioneering role.
Over time, a pattern has emerged in many studies that seems to favor an exaggerated Levantine connection while systematically downplaying or omitting Southern European genetic overlap, despite strong evidence to the contrary. Some key issues include:
________________________________________
1. Cherry-Picked Italian Reference Populations
Your studies, and many that followed, consistently use Sardinians, Tuscans, and Northern Italians as reference populations to represent Italian ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews. However, these populations:
• Are the furthest genetically from Ashkenazi Jews within Italy.
• Have the least historical interaction with early Jewish settlements in Italy.
• Do not reflect the regions where Jews historically lived, such as Southern Italy (Calabria, Sicily, Campania, Apulia), which share the highest genetic affinity with Ashkenazi Jews.
This selection inflates the perceived Middle Eastern ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews by using genetically distant Italian populations as the European control. Why were Sicilians, Southern Italians, and Cretans omitted, despite clear genetic evidence that they are the closest European populations to Ashkenazi Jews?
The 2019 Cretan study by Drineas et al. explicitly found that Ashkenazi Jews cluster more closely with Cretans, Sicilians, and Peloponnesians than with Levantine Semitic populations:
“In the PCA of Crete vs. Europe, the Cretans overlap with three populations: the Peloponnesians, the Sicilians and the Ashkenazi Jews. Southern European and Mediterranean ancestry of the Ashkenazi Jews has also been demonstrated before. Furthermore, we find in both PCA and ADMIXTURE analysis that the Ashkenazi are more similar to the Cretans than to the two Levantine Semitic populations.”
This is direct, unambiguous genetic evidence contradicting the standard "50% Levantine" model, yet it remains largely ignored in mainstream research.
________________________________________
2. Flawed Admixture Modeling to Inflate Levantine Ancestry
The commonly used "50% Northern Italian + 50% Levantine" model is problematic because:
• It does not match actual PCA and G25 data, which place Ashkenazi Jews much closer to Southern Italians and Greek Islanders than to Levantines.
• If Southern Italians were used instead of Tuscans/Northern Italians, the Levantine component would shrink dramatically, possibly below 15%.
• The model forces a higher Levantine estimate by using distant European groups, rather than Southern Italians, who already carry minor Levantine ancestry.
If a one-way model were applied exclusively using Southern Italians, Ashkenazi Jews could model as 80% or more Southern Italian, with only a minor Levantine input. Why has this never been properly tested in mainstream research?
________________________________________
3. Misuse of Haplogroups to Reinforce a Levantine Identity
Haplogroups J1, J2, and E-M123 are often framed as evidence of a Middle Eastern origin in Ashkenazi Jews, yet:
• These haplogroups are widely found in Southern Italians, Greeks, and Albanians at similar or even higher rates.
• E-M123 in particular is actually higher in the Arbëreshë (20-30%) than in Ashkenazi Jews, yet no one claims the Arbëreshë are Levantine.
• Notably, E-M123 frequencies in Arbëreshë (~20-30%) are far higher than in their original source population, Tosk Albanians (~2-5%), showing how extreme genetic drift can disproportionately increase certain haplogroups within a bottlenecked community.
The same genetic drift applies to Ashkenazi Jews, yet instead of recognizing this, the presence of J2 and E haplogroups is selectively framed as proof of Middle Eastern continuity. Why is the European overlap in these haplogroups ignored?
________________________________________
4. The Suppression of Alternative Findings (Zoossmann-Diskin, 2010)
In 2010, Dr. Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin published a study that:
• Directly challenged the dominant narrative by showing Ashkenazi Jews are overwhelmingly Southern European in autosomal DNA.
• Found that maternal (mtDNA) lineages in Ashkenazi Jews were overwhelmingly European with only minor Near Eastern influence.
• Demonstrated that paternal (Y-DNA) lineages had substantial European overlap, particularly with Southern Europeans.
His study was completely buried and rarely cited in mainstream literature, despite its robust data. Why is an alternative, data-supported perspective on Ashkenazi origins ignored in favor of a politically convenient Levantine framework?
________________________________________
5. The Broader Pattern: A Politicized Approach to Ashkenazi Genetics
The methodology used in Ashkenazi Jewish genetic studies seems designed to reinforce a Levantine connection while minimizing European ancestry, especially Southern Italian and Greek ties.
• The omission of Southern Italians and Cretans from datasets skews results toward a more Middle Eastern genetic profile.
• The deliberate use of distant European proxies (Tuscans, Sardinians, and Northern Italians) inflates Levantine ancestry.
• The misinterpretation of haplogroups like J2 and E-M123 as "Middle Eastern" ignores their clear Mediterranean European presence.
• Alternative findings, such as Zoossmann-Diskin’s 2010 study and the Cretan genetic study (Drineas 2019), have been ignored.
Given your foundational work in this field, I would like to hear your thoughts on whether these methodological choices are scientifically justified, or whether they reflect a broader bias in genetic research on Ashkenazi Jews.
I appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to any insights you may have.
Best regards,
Lard.
________________________________________
The email addresses key issues, including:
• The deliberate omission of Southern Italians, Sicilians, and Cretans as reference populations—despite their clear genetic overlap with Ashkenazi Jews.
• The flawed 50% Northern Italian / 50% Levantine model, which inflates Levantine ancestry while ignoring Mediterranean European contributions.
• The selective use of J1, J2, and E haplogroups to reinforce a Levantine narrative, even though these haplogroups are widespread in Greeks and Southern Italians.
• The buried findings of researchers like Zoossmann-Diskin (2010) and Drineas (2019), both of whom showed significant Southern European ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews.
• The genetic drift in Ashkenazi populations, which is similar to the Arbëreshë case, proving that haplogroups can become overrepresented without requiring a Levantine origin.
This letter directly asks Ostrer why Ashkenazi Jewish genetic studies are designed to maximize Middle Eastern ties while downplaying European ancestry.
I will update this thread if I receive a response. Thoughts?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Concerns Regarding Bias in Ashkenazi Jewish Genetic Studies
Dear Dr. Ostrer,
I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out to discuss concerns regarding methodological biases in genetic studies of Ashkenazi Jews, a field in which you have played a pioneering role.
Over time, a pattern has emerged in many studies that seems to favor an exaggerated Levantine connection while systematically downplaying or omitting Southern European genetic overlap, despite strong evidence to the contrary. Some key issues include:
________________________________________
1. Cherry-Picked Italian Reference Populations
Your studies, and many that followed, consistently use Sardinians, Tuscans, and Northern Italians as reference populations to represent Italian ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews. However, these populations:
• Are the furthest genetically from Ashkenazi Jews within Italy.
• Have the least historical interaction with early Jewish settlements in Italy.
• Do not reflect the regions where Jews historically lived, such as Southern Italy (Calabria, Sicily, Campania, Apulia), which share the highest genetic affinity with Ashkenazi Jews.
This selection inflates the perceived Middle Eastern ancestry in Ashkenazi Jews by using genetically distant Italian populations as the European control. Why were Sicilians, Southern Italians, and Cretans omitted, despite clear genetic evidence that they are the closest European populations to Ashkenazi Jews?
The 2019 Cretan study by Drineas et al. explicitly found that Ashkenazi Jews cluster more closely with Cretans, Sicilians, and Peloponnesians than with Levantine Semitic populations:
“In the PCA of Crete vs. Europe, the Cretans overlap with three populations: the Peloponnesians, the Sicilians and the Ashkenazi Jews. Southern European and Mediterranean ancestry of the Ashkenazi Jews has also been demonstrated before. Furthermore, we find in both PCA and ADMIXTURE analysis that the Ashkenazi are more similar to the Cretans than to the two Levantine Semitic populations.”
This is direct, unambiguous genetic evidence contradicting the standard "50% Levantine" model, yet it remains largely ignored in mainstream research.
________________________________________
2. Flawed Admixture Modeling to Inflate Levantine Ancestry
The commonly used "50% Northern Italian + 50% Levantine" model is problematic because:
• It does not match actual PCA and G25 data, which place Ashkenazi Jews much closer to Southern Italians and Greek Islanders than to Levantines.
• If Southern Italians were used instead of Tuscans/Northern Italians, the Levantine component would shrink dramatically, possibly below 15%.
• The model forces a higher Levantine estimate by using distant European groups, rather than Southern Italians, who already carry minor Levantine ancestry.
If a one-way model were applied exclusively using Southern Italians, Ashkenazi Jews could model as 80% or more Southern Italian, with only a minor Levantine input. Why has this never been properly tested in mainstream research?
________________________________________
3. Misuse of Haplogroups to Reinforce a Levantine Identity
Haplogroups J1, J2, and E-M123 are often framed as evidence of a Middle Eastern origin in Ashkenazi Jews, yet:
• These haplogroups are widely found in Southern Italians, Greeks, and Albanians at similar or even higher rates.
• E-M123 in particular is actually higher in the Arbëreshë (20-30%) than in Ashkenazi Jews, yet no one claims the Arbëreshë are Levantine.
• Notably, E-M123 frequencies in Arbëreshë (~20-30%) are far higher than in their original source population, Tosk Albanians (~2-5%), showing how extreme genetic drift can disproportionately increase certain haplogroups within a bottlenecked community.
The same genetic drift applies to Ashkenazi Jews, yet instead of recognizing this, the presence of J2 and E haplogroups is selectively framed as proof of Middle Eastern continuity. Why is the European overlap in these haplogroups ignored?
________________________________________
4. The Suppression of Alternative Findings (Zoossmann-Diskin, 2010)
In 2010, Dr. Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin published a study that:
• Directly challenged the dominant narrative by showing Ashkenazi Jews are overwhelmingly Southern European in autosomal DNA.
• Found that maternal (mtDNA) lineages in Ashkenazi Jews were overwhelmingly European with only minor Near Eastern influence.
• Demonstrated that paternal (Y-DNA) lineages had substantial European overlap, particularly with Southern Europeans.
His study was completely buried and rarely cited in mainstream literature, despite its robust data. Why is an alternative, data-supported perspective on Ashkenazi origins ignored in favor of a politically convenient Levantine framework?
________________________________________
5. The Broader Pattern: A Politicized Approach to Ashkenazi Genetics
The methodology used in Ashkenazi Jewish genetic studies seems designed to reinforce a Levantine connection while minimizing European ancestry, especially Southern Italian and Greek ties.
• The omission of Southern Italians and Cretans from datasets skews results toward a more Middle Eastern genetic profile.
• The deliberate use of distant European proxies (Tuscans, Sardinians, and Northern Italians) inflates Levantine ancestry.
• The misinterpretation of haplogroups like J2 and E-M123 as "Middle Eastern" ignores their clear Mediterranean European presence.
• Alternative findings, such as Zoossmann-Diskin’s 2010 study and the Cretan genetic study (Drineas 2019), have been ignored.
Given your foundational work in this field, I would like to hear your thoughts on whether these methodological choices are scientifically justified, or whether they reflect a broader bias in genetic research on Ashkenazi Jews.
I appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to any insights you may have.
Best regards,
Lard.
________________________________________