Addressing the (Ashkenazi) Jews are not really the Jews accusation

I hear this accusation quite often, and it's usually directed towards Ashkenazi Jews. 

Ashkenazi Jews are simply Jews who migrated or were taken against their will to Europe after the Diaspora, which for the Jews began around 70 AD after the destruction of the Second Temple (the Diaspora actually began much earlier, but that was when they began migrating to Europe). Jews have always been an insular people, but they did mix with the local populace once there, likely Europeans who converted to Judaism. That explains why they have a lighter skin tone, but that doesn't make them any less Jewish. It wasn't uncommon even in Biblical days for the twelve tribes to intermix with the local populace. Moses, for example, married a Black Ethiopian/African woman. And Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, had several gentile ancestors in his ancestry.

There are many different types of Jews: Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, Ethiopian, etc. All groups share a significant Levantine (ancient Israelite/Middle Eastern) DNA component but differ due to regional admixture. Below is a breakdown of those major groups that live in Israel:

Mizrahi Jews: 70-90% Levantine/Middle Eastern, 10-20% North African/Arab, <10% Other

Sephardi Jews: 50-70% Levantine/Middle Eastern, 20-40% Southern European, 10-20% North African

Ashkenazi Jews: 30-60% Levantine/Middle Eastern, 30-60% Southern/Eastern Europe, 5% other.

Ethiopian Jews: 70-80% East African, 15-25% Levantine/Middle Eastern, <10% Other

As you can see, all groups share between 20% and 90% Levantine core DNA. Ashkenazi Jews don't have the most, but they don't have the least either. As an aside, Ashkenazi Jews are not even the majority in Israel; it's the Mizrahi Jews.

As further evidence that the Ashkenazi Jews are really Jews, those with the surname Cohen share a common DNA marker, Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH), and share a common male ancestor from the Near East around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Cohen actually means "priest," and they trace their lineage back to the priestly Kohanim tribe, who trace their lineage to Aaron. Now, let's turn our attention to some of the counter-arguments to the DNA evidence:

Objection: Jews are not really the Jews, they are fake Jews of the "synagogue of Satan" in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. 

When John wrote the Book of Revelation, he was referring to a specific group of Jewish opponents during his day. It wasn't a condemnation of Judaism or Jewish people as a whole; John himself was a Jew. And it certainly wasn't intended to be used as a blanket condemnation of every Jew living today.

Objection: The idea of a "pure" bloodline surviving millennia is a biological impossibility.

There was undoubtedly mixing during the diaspora, but it also doesn't matter. If someone is a descendant of Abraham, regardless of the inclusion of differing admixture, they are still Abraham's descendants. Even in Biblical times, they were mixing in with foreigners. Moses had a foreign wife, but their children were still considered Levites. Likewise, Joseph married an Egyptian woman, but his sons were counted as half-tribes among the Israelites. There is no reason they need to be of a "pure" bloodline, which was not even a criteria in biblical times. Let's look at this from another perspective, nearly all black Americans have some European admixture, but nobody accuses them of not being black because of it or ever questions their origins. That sort of accusation is only reserved for the Jews.

Objection: For Ashkenazi Jews, autosomal analysis consistently shows that approximately 50% of their genome is of European origin. This is not a minor admixture but a fundamental component of their genetic makeup, resulting from centuries of mixing with local populations in Southern and Eastern Europe. To claim an exclusive or primary Levantine ancestry is to ignore half of the genetic story.

I find it curious that only Ashkenazi Jews are ever singled out. Ethiopian Jews have less Semitic DNA than even Ashkenazi Jews, yet no one ever questions their Jewishness. Regardless, it is not really a question of DNA but of descent and inclusion. When the ancient Israelites took foreign wives, they became a part of their tribe and clan, as did their children. They made no distinctions between them.

Objection: The most compelling real-world evidence comes from the mass migration from the former Soviet Union. Since 1990, nearly 2 million people have repatriated to Israel under the Law of Return. A significant portion of this group consists of non-Jewish spouses, children, and grandchildren. Furthermore, even among those classified as Jewish, genetic testing would reveal a high prevalence of the Slavic Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a, which is predominant in Eastern Europe but largely absent in the Levant.

Partly true, but it ignores that most studies show Levantine roots for the relevant R1a. R1a overall accounts for only 10% or less in Ashkenazi Jews. The main R1a subclade traces to Near Eastern/Middle Eastern origins, not Slavic/Eastern European.

Objection: The genetic markers labeled as "Levantine" and used to prove Jewish ancestry are not unique to Jews. These very same markers are found at high frequencies among other modern populations in the region, including Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Druze. If the presence of this DNA signifies descent from the ancient Israelites, then we must logically conclude that these other groups are also descendants.

Well, yes, we don't have a sample of twelve patriarchs to compare it to, so this is as close as we can get. But it does show a common Near Eastern origin of the various Jewish groups. And yes, we can also expect to see similar DNA markers for Semitic people in the region. Abraham had other children (Ismael), as did his nephew Lot, and there's been a lot of intermixing over the past four thousand years. So, in essence, they're all related. The question is one of descent.

Think about this. Jews two thousand years ago spoke Hebrew, they practiced Jewish rites, they celebrated Jewish holidays, they ate Jewish foods, and they worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jews today are doing the exact same things. There were Jews two thousand years ago, there were Jews one thousand years ago, and there are Jews today. They didn't just disappear and suddenly reappear in the 20th century; they've always been here.