Fish And Chip Shop Owner May Be Right

Much thinly-veiled amusement at the Brisbane Sunday Mail over a DNA test revealing:

FORMER One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, the outspoken proponent of polarising immigration policies, has discovered she is of Middle Eastern heritage... A recent DNA swab, taken with Ms Hanson's permission by The Sunday Mail, has revealed the controversial former MP's genetic makeup is drawn from a rich multicultural background, with 9 per cent originating in the Middle East, 32 per cent from Italy, Greece or Turkey and 59 per cent from northern Europe.

The sneering continues:

When told of the results, the former fish and chip shop owner appeared flustered, making references to "rape and pillage" in ancient times, adding: "All I can think of is that probably down the track it eventuated from some war.

It would probably never occur to the journalist that Hanson could be right.

In the 7th and 8th centuries, Islam spread by force from Saudi Arabia and conquered most of the Middle East and North Africa, crossing into Spain and pressing north, almost reaching Paris before the invading forces were halted at the Battle of Tours in 732. Map.

The Middle Eastern genetics of Hanson, as well as Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, may well be the result of rape and pillage by Islamic Crusaders in Southern Europe - almost 270 years before the first Christian Crusade.

Meanwhile, Islam's violent crusader ways continue today:

AT least eight people were killed and several others wounded Saturday in mortar and grenade attacks in an escalation of guerilla-style attacks in the Somali capital... Mogadishu has seen a rise in violence, blamed on a defeated Islamist movement which has vowed a prolonged insurgency.

-- Nick

Update: Here's an excellent animated map showing the spread of the world's major religions - '5000 years in 90 seconds'.