There appears to be DNA evidence that Jews and Palestinians are related.
This article reviews various studies of Jewish DNA origins.
Palestinians
Further information: Palestinian people#DNA and genetic studies
Many genetic studies have demonstrated that most of the various Jewish ethnic divisions and the Palestinians and other Levantines, like the Druze[11][12][16][38] and Bedouin,[11][12] are genetically closer to each other than the Palestinians or European Jews are to non-Jewish Europeans or Africans.[11][12][87] One DNA study by Nebel and colleagues found genetic evidence in support of historical records that "part, or perhaps the majority" of Muslim Palestinians descend from "local inhabitants, mainly Christians and Jews, who had converted after the Islamic conquest in the seventh century AD".[87] They also found substantial genetic overlap between Muslim Palestinians and Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, though with some significant differences that might be explainable by the geographical isolation of the Jews and by immigration of Arab tribes in the first millennium.[87]
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Inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula
According to a 2008 study by Adams[90] the inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula have an average of 20% of Sephardi Jewish ancestry with significant geographical variations ranging from 0% on Minorca to 36.3% in southern Portugal (the term Sephardi is used here in its strict sense to mean the Jews settled in the Iberian peninsula before the expulsions in and after 1492). Part of this admixture might also, according to the authors, be of Neolithic origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews
The article provides summaries of many studies done on descendants of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. There definitely are certain DNA strains that tend to be present in people who identify themselves as Jewish (and people who do not so identify themselves).
Some of the studies suggest that the Jewish people may have originated in the area where the Kurds and Armenians are from. The studies frequently suggest similarities between Jewish DNA and that of people in the Mediterranean area and in parts of the Middle East as well, and especially with regard to the mitochondria (DNA from the mother) of European Ashkenazi Jews, of Europe.
I have very little knowledge of genetics so I hope that, if I have misunderstood the Wikipedia article, someone will correct me. I tried to summarize the article simply because it is very long, but I suspect that due to my ignorance on this topic, I may have botched up my summary. If so, I apologize and hope someone will correct any errors in my post.
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