I like you, we would disagree on more than we agree, but it would be a lively conversation and your family roots and history are fascinating. But the gas thing is just not a reliable theory.

The old joke was Moses wandered the desert for 40 years to find the only place in the Middle East that had no oil. Discoveries of large gas reserves are a very recent phenomenon, and the discovery of reserves around Gaza are due to the Israelis discovering they had some first too.

Support for Israel in the US is primarily by the Christian Right who see the return of Israel as end time prophecy thing.

As for discussions about Ashkenazi and blood quantum- being Ashkenazi myself whose family fled a pogrom in 1517 in Hebron(where they had lived for thousands of years) to Beirut and finally Europe, the DNA thing just really depends on what Palestinian tribe or family is tested. I have a red haired Palestinian friend descended from Italian crusader knights. There are also Palestinians with Balkan heritage, those who are Circassian and Armenian heritage, and of course those or Egyptian heritage and from other Arab lands. There are certainly many who are indeed indigenous, being descended from Jews and Samaritans who converted to Islam or Christianity and were arabised. I'm not interested in arguments about admixture and trying to prove which Palestinian is indigenous or not, and the same should be for Jews also. I consider both, as a whole, indigenous and embracing that together is the only way a one state solution (which we both favour) will ever work.