Stop using 23andMe to fight about “Arab vs Amazigh” it doesn’t work like that
Khouti, I keep seeing TikToks: “I’m 97% North African, Arabs are invaders” OR “I got 0% Arab, see? Berbers erased us.”
Bro… that’s not how DNA works.
- “North African” in the dna test means your family’s been in the Maghreb 300+ years. That’s it.
If your Arab ancestor came in 700 AD, his DNA is now labeled “North African” too. After 40 generations of mixing, 23andMe can’t separate him from a Berber from 700 AD.
- Tests only go back ∼200-300 years.
2% Arabian = probably 1 ancestor from Saudi/Yemen in the 1800s.
0% Arabian = doesn’t mean you had zero Arabs in 1000 AD. It just means none in the last 300 years.
- Same thing in England.
Vikings invaded 1000 years ago. No English person tests “Norwegian” from that. It’s all “British & Irish” now. You only get “Scandinavian” if your great-great-grandpa was from Oslo.
DNA tests are useless for medieval identity fights. If your tribe is Banu Hilal, you’re Arab. If your family speaks Tamazight and lives in Atlas, you’re Amazigh. A pie chart from a US company won’t change that.