“Jew, Go Back to Europe”: Debunking the Israeli ‘European Settler’ Myth

“Jew, go back to Europe.”

It’s a phrase hurled at Jews and Israelis on college campuses, in comment sections, and at protests. Behind it lies one of the most dangerous and enduring lies: that Jews are foreign to the Middle East — that we are European settlers with no ancestral claim to the land of Israel.

Let’s break down this myth once and for all — with science, history, and lived experience.

1. The Science Is Clear: Jewish Roots Are in the Middle East

Despite dispersion across continents, Jews are genetically linked to a common origin — the Levant.

Multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm this:

Autosomal DNA (general genetic makeup) shows that Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews all cluster closer to Levantine populations than to the European or North African populations they lived among for centuries.¹
Y-Chromosome (paternal) studies reveal that Jewish men share common Middle Eastern male ancestors going back thousands of years.²
Mitochondrial DNA (maternal) is more diverse due to intermarriage, but still shows strong links to the Near East.³

A landmark 2010 study by Doron Behar found that Jews from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East were more closely related to each other than to their non-Jewish neighbors.¹ In fact, Ashkenazi Jews retain 50–80% Middle Eastern ancestry despite centuries in Europe.⁵

Another study comparing Jewish genomes to ancient Bronze Age Levantine remains confirmed continuity between modern Jews and the populations of ancient Canaan, Israel, and Judah.⁶

2. A History of Displacement, Not Colonialism

The idea that Jews are “settlers” in the land of Israel ignores 2,000 years of forced exile and migration.

In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and expelled hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Following the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 CE), Jewish presence in Judea was violently suppressed.
During the 7th-century Arab conquest, Jews were displaced again and subjected to dhimmi status under Islamic rule.
Throughout history, Jews remained in small numbers in the land of Israel — especially in cities like Jerusalem, Tzfat, Hebron, and Tiberias — but the majority were scattered across Europe, North Africa, Persia, and the Levant.

Yet through it all, Jews never relinquished the dream of return. From daily prayers to centuries-old songs, Jewish identity remained tied to Zion.

3. Approximately 800,000 Middle Eastern Jews Were Expelled Too

If the Jewish people are “European colonizers,” what about the 800,000 Jews expelled from Arab countries in the 20th century?

Jews lived in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, and Syria long before Islam existed.
In the wake of Israel’s founding, pogroms, confiscation, and forced expulsions wiped out ancient communities.
These Jews—Mizrahi Jews—fled to Israel as refugees. They weren’t colonizers. They were returning home.

In Iraq alone, over 100,000 Jews were forced to flee — many with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Today, over half of Israeli Jews descend from Middle Eastern and North African roots.

4. Israel Is Not a European Colony

Critics love to frame Israel as a Western implant in the Middle East. But look at the facts:

20% of Israeli citizens are Arab, with full voting rights and political representation.
Israeli Jews hail from over 100 countries — including Ethiopia, India, Yemen, and Iran.
The re-establishment of Israel was not a colonization project. It was a homecoming after 2,000 years in exile.

Jews didn’t arrive with foreign armies. They arrived on ships of refugees — Holocaust survivors, pogrom escapees, and Middle Eastern Jews fleeing persecution.

5. We’re Not “Going Back” — We Came Back

The next time someone says, “Go back to Europe,” remember this:

Jews are an indigenous people of the Levant.
We were displaced, enslaved, and persecuted — not colonizers.
Our DNA, our traditions, our holidays, and our history all trace back to the land of Israel.
Our return is not conquest. It is restoration.

Sources

Genetic Studies:

Behar, D. M., et al. (2010). “The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people.” Nature, 466(7303), 238–242
Skorecki, K., et al. (1997). “Y chromosomes of Jewish priests.” Nature, 385(6611), 32.
Ostrer, H., & Skorecki, K. (2013). “The population genetics of the Jewish people.” Human Genetics, 132(2), 119–131.
Haber, M., et al. (2013). “Genome-wide diversity in the Levant reveals recent structuring by culture.” PLoS Genetics, 9(2).
Carmi, S., et al. (2014). “Sequencing an Ashkenazi reference panel…” Nature Communications, 5, Article number: 4835.
Lazaridis, I., et al. (2016). “Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East.” Nature, 536(7617), 419–424.

Historical Context:

Safrai, S. (1994). The Jewish People in the First Century. Van Gorcum.
Gilbert, M. (1976). Jewish History Atlas. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands:

Shulewitz, M. (1998). The Forgotten Millions: The Modern Jewish Exodus from Arab Lands. Continuum.
Bensoussan, G. (2012). Jews in Arab Countries: The Great Uprooting. Indiana University Press.
Laskier, M. M. (1992). “The Jews of the Maghreb on the Eve of World War II.” Middle Eastern Studies, 28(3), 510–537.

Modern Demographics:

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics

Final Thoughts

Israel is not a settler state. It is the rebirth of an ancient people on their ancestral soil.

To call Jews “Europeans” is to erase Middle Eastern Jews.
To call Zionism “colonialism” is to distort Jewish history.
To tell Jews to “go back to Europe” is not just historically wrong—it’s antisemitic.

We’re not going back. We’re already home.