[Tiago]

In the UK they are afforded (along with Sikhs) protection from discrimination as a separate racial/ethnic group - a privelege not afforded to Muslims, which is a great bone of contention, hence the desire of the current Government to enact a law recognising crimes of "religious hatred". It is interesting to note that in the UK, Muslims are more racially homogenous than Jews (but perhaps not Sikhs) since most Muslims in this country are from Bangladesh or Pakistan, but the Jews are from all over the place and have phenotypes to prove it. A Jew who I used to work with once explained that Jewish practice was changed during the diaspora so that they could incorporate non-Jewish blood to maintain their population. I've not read any corroborating evidence so this will have to remain foklore. But the variety of phenotypes in their "community" is so wide, it asks the question of whether they are really a racial grouping at all. At this point one starts to mention the term "ethnic" grouping, which always seems to me to be a bit of a woolly term to incorporate a bit of this or that into the mix.