-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,605798,00.html
}}}>Begin
Journal axes gene research on Jews and Palestinians
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday November 25, 2001
The Observer
A keynote research paper showing that Middle Eastern Jews and
Palestinians are genetically almost identical has been pulled from a
leading journal.
Academics who have already received copies of Human Immunology have
been urged to rip out the offending pages and throw them away.
Such a drastic act of self-censorship is unprecedented in research
publishing and has created widespread disquiet, generating fears that
it may involve the suppression of scientific work that questions
Biblical dogma.
'I have authored several hundred scientific papers, some for Nature
and Science, and this has never happened to me before,' said the
article's lead author, Spanish geneticist Professor Antonio Arnaiz-
Villena, of Complutense University in Madrid. 'I am stunned.'
British geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer added: 'If the journal didn't
like the paper, they shouldn't have published it in the first place.
Why wait until it has appeared before acting like this?'
The journal's editor, Nicole Sucio-Foca, of Columbia University, New York, claims the
article provoked such a welter of complaints over its extreme political writing that
she was forced to repudiate it. The article has be
en removed from Human Immunology's website, while letters have been written to
libraries and universities throughout the world asking them to ignore or 'preferably
to physically remove the relevant pages'. Arnaiz-Villena
has been sacked from the journal's editorial board.
Dolly Tyan, president of the American Society of Histocompatibility and
Immunogenetics, which runs the journal, told subscribers that the society is 'offended
and embarrassed'.
The paper, 'The Origin of Palestinians and their Genetic Relatedness with other
Mediterranean Populations', involved studying genetic variations in immune system
genes among people in the Middle East.
In common with earlier studies, the team found no data to support the idea that Jewish
people were genetically distinct from other people in the region. In doing so, the
team's research challenges claims that Jews are a s
pecial, chosen people and that Judaism can only be inherited.
Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East share a very similar gene pool and must be
considered closely related and not genetically separate, the authors state. Rivalry
between the two races is therefore based 'in cultural
and religious, but not in genetic differences', they conclude.
But the journal, having accepted the paper earlier this year, now claims the article
was politically biased and was written using 'inappropriate' remarks about the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its editor told the journal
Nature last week that she was threatened by mass resignations from members if she did
not retract the article.
Arnaiz-Villena says he has not seen a single one of the accusations made against him,
despite being promised the opportunity to look at the letters sent to the journal.
He accepts he used terms in the article that laid him open to criticism. There is one
reference to Jewish 'colonists' living in the Gaza strip, and another that refers to
Palestinian people living in 'concentration' camps
.
'Perhaps I should have used the words settlers instead of colonists, but really, what
is the difference?' he said.
'And clearly, I should have said refugee, not concentration, camps, but given that I
was referring to settlements outside of Israel - in Syria and Lebanon - that scarcely
makes me anti-Jewish. References to the history of
the region, the ones that are supposed to be politically offensive, were taken from
the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and other text books.'
In the wake of the journal's actions, and claims of mass protests about the article,
several scientists have now written to the society to support Arnaiz-Villena and to
protest about their heavy-handedness.
One of them said: 'If Arnaiz-Villena had found evidence that Jewish people were
genetically very special, instead of ordinary, you can be sure no one would have
objected to the phrases he used in his article. This is a ve
ry sad business.'
Special reports
Israel and the Middle East
War in Afghanistan
Interactive guide
How the Israelis and Palestinians came to war
Weblog
The best journalism on the conflict, from around the web
Useful links
Middle East Media Research Institute
Government of Israel
Jewish virtual library: biography of Rehavam Zeevi
Office of the Israeli prime minister
Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian Ministry of Information
Ha'aretz newspaper
Jerusalem Post
Palestine Times
Peacewatch
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
