Little Hawk said, in passing:

European Jews are for the most part not semites, although they are Jews

I don't understand what is meant here. Are you saying that European Jews for the most part are converts to Judaism, or that their ancestors were?

The main stream of Judaism (as a group-membership matter) flows through descent. "For the most part" that is how you become a Jew. Yes, there are and have been converts here and there, but not to amount to any appreciable percentage of the Jewish population. That being the case, it follows that European Jews "for the most part", along with Sephardic Jews "for the most part" and Ethiopian Jews "for the most part" and American Jews too, "for the most part" are going to be descended from the ancient people described as the descendants of Shem.

Of course there are and have been converts the other way, Judaism to Christianity (in fact a whole lot more than Christianity to Judaism) many by coercion in some historical periods, some by actual conviction, and some for economic or social reasons. Such a convert, though no longer professing Judaism, is still a Semite.

Dave Oesterreich