The topic of genetic memory was always a difficult concept for students to grasp. Essentially, this refers to information that is passed from generation to generation and it required overlapping generations. Animals who do have have overlapping generations cannot have this. So in “lower” animals ants can have genetic memory, as well as honey bees, but moths and butterflies cannot. Humans have it and it is ultimately involves understanding history and everyday life (how to do things, what is safe to eat, etc.)
But genetic memory is also a driving force in revenge and “getting even” for wrongs of the past.
This is the situation in the Middle East. In 1918 one ethnic group was promised a homeland that was taken from them 2000 years in the past. In order to accomplish this another ethnic group was deprived of their homes. Hundreds of villages were destroyed, thousands of people killed and new hatred in the form of genetic memory created.
Now, the entire world has to deal with this.
Rat has the perfect take on this.
In an article in The Washington Post yesterday it appears that the U.S. is furthering this ethnic hatred. The U.S. is already hated by most of the people in the Middle East.
Who knows how this will play out. All that I know is that it will not be decided in my lifetime.
More later…
Michael's Place 
My take on the Middle East – specifically Israel/Palestine – is that it’s like the last round of Musical Chairs: two butts but only one chair to sit in. Sigh
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“This is the situation in the Middle East. In 1918 one ethnic group was promised a homeland that was taken from them 2000 years in the past. In order to accomplish this another ethnic group was deprived of their homes. Hundreds of villages were destroyed, thousands of people killed and new hatred in the form of genetic memory created.”
I take your point, but this condensation of history leaves out a few things.
Without commenting on the scorched-earth policy Israel is pursuing after the Hamas slaughter of over 1000 Israelis, here are some factors to think about.
1. The area that is now Israel was never independent or ruled by its natives since the Jews were conquered by the Babylonians. The land was ruled from afar by many nations, including Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, Crusaders, Turks again, and the British.
2. Jews were never absent from the land. More or less like Native Americans, a minority of Jews persisted in the millenia after the Babylonian conquest. In 1918 (the Balfour Declaration), Jews made up 11% of the population of what is now Israel. (Wikipedia)
3. When the British withdrew, in 1948, they had set up a Jewish state and an Arab state, with tic-tac-toe-board indefensible borders. The day after the Jewish fragment declared its independence as the State of Israel, it was attacked by the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.
4. The bitter war that ensued often took place in urban neighborhoods, like the streets of both parts of Jerusalem. When the Jewish army (to the world’s amazement) persevered, Israel was consolidated. This caused many Palestinian refugees, who were not accepted by any Arab nations. Instead they have lived in misery in “refugee camps” on Israel’s borders for 75 years. Meanwhile, the persecuted Jewish minorities of various Muslim states like Yemen, Iraq, Iran, etc., emptied out into Israel, where they were absorbed.
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