Ancient Britons Came From Spain, North Africa, Middle East & Rome

In follow-up to my earlier posts When Wales was Jewish, Sephardic Jewish U5b and Berber Jews, this article suggests ancient Britons came from Spain and that "small numbers of today's Britons are *also* descended from north African, Middle Eastern and Roman clans."

All of these clans are identified and show up in my mitonchondrial and autosomal DNA test results.

Rabbinical Court Recognizes Majorcan Conversos as Jews: What It Could Mean To Me

According to this article, a Rabbinical Court has recognized Majorican Conversos as Jews, and moreover, this ruling applies to all their Ancestors and Descendants.

Majorcan Jews, called Chueta (also spelled Mallorcan and Xueta, respectively) are Chuetan (Jewish). On the genetics of the Xueta, Wiki tells us

A variety of genetic studies conducted, principally, by the Departament of Human Genetics of the University of the Balearic Islands have indicated that the Xuetes constitute a genetically homogeneous group with the populations of Oriental Jews, and are also related to the Ashkenazi Jews and those of North Africa [*both of these populations* as well as Spain figuring significantly on my own mtDNA motherline test], based on analyzing both the Y chromosome, which traces patrilineal descent, and the mitochondrial DNA, which traces matrilineal descent.

Now, I'm more anxious than ever to see what additional genetic details might fall out to me through my Full Sequence mtDNA test.

This article suggests that many Xueta fall into mtDNA haplogroup pre-HV1 (not mine) at a frequency of 23%. Well, 40% of Ashkenazi Jews fall into mtDNA haplogroup K (not mine) too, but I'm matched exactly to several Ashkenazi Jews nevertheless even in haplogroup U5b, so we'll see. Twenty-three percent does not even account fully for 1/4 of the Xueta. More than 75% of the Xueta remain unaccounted for by the pre-HV1 haplogroup.

Rabbi Karelitz [leader of the Israeli Chareidi Religious court who gave the ruling] issued a statement that said because of the intermarriage patterns of the chuetas, “all those who are related to the former generations are Jews.”

 
original NY Times Article

Sephardic Jewish U5b

In follow-up to my previous post on Berber Jews, in relationship to the the 5 Ashkenazi Jews and 1 North African individual who share my U5b haplogroup and whose mtDNA genetic markers exactly match my own, I also note that I have an individual in Spain on my list of exact genetic matches. That fact made me wonder about a possible Sephardic Jewish connection.

Well, in a U5 online group I belong to (for both U5a and U5b clades), there is a Sephardic Jew who is in the U5b haplogroup.

I was also informed that in 1492 (and before that as well, due to a sharp increase in the severity of anti-semitism), when the Jews were expelled from Spain (where one of my own genetic matches is located, a Converso family perhaps), many moved into North Africa (hence, my North African Berber match is illuminated).

Clearly, my motherline has a long history of Jewishness. I've illuminated a possible route now during this period of the Middle Ages.