Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas

Mary and Jesus in Gaza (courtesy Banksy/Facebook).

25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Ahmed Twaij 25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Ahmed Twaij
This time of year, Jesus’s birthplace, Bethlehem, is usually heaving with tourists and brightly decorated in Christmas lights, gleefully welcoming the celebrations of Christ’s birth with a befittingly ornate Christmas tree. But this year is different.

 

Ahmed Twaij

 

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear,” exclaimed Will Ferrell’s Buddy in the Christmas favorite, Elf. Certainly Christmas has always been a time for love, generosity and giving to — as Buddy reminds us — everyone. One nation struggling to receive this all-embracing love during this festive period is Palestine. Not just as a native of Palestine, but also as a being of love, Jesus would be heartbroken witnessing today’s events during a season supposedly celebrating his birth.

In the Bible Jesus teaches, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” An all-encompassing principle by a man famed for his compassion and mercy. There is no denying, however, that the bombs that have destroyed most of Gaza in recent weeks, killing over 20,000 Palestinians, with one family losing 100 of its own members, are anything but this love that Jesus preaches.

Many of us, both Christians and non-Christians, will be spending time with our families this holiday period, possibly sitting by elegantly decorated Christmas trees, enjoying various festive films and sugary desserts, far away from the shudders of airstrikes. It is during this time that we must also remember that had Jesus been born today, he would be considered Palestinian, and his birth — which we celebrate today — would have faced many obstacles along the way.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and unbeknownst to the majority of Americans (85% to be exact), the city itself is Palestinian and found in the West Bank. This time of year, Jesus’s birthplace is usually heaving with tourists and brightly decorated in Christmas lights, gleefully welcoming the celebrations of Christ’s birth with a befittingly ornate Christmas tree.

But this year is different.

Eerily quiet, Christian church leaders of Bethlehem and Jerusalem made the decision to forego Christmas festivities in solidarity with the atrocities being rained on their Palestinian kin in Gaza.

The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem sent a powerful message to the world by placing a baby Jesus amidst a pile of rubble to represent the thousands of Palestinian children crushed by the unforgiving Israeli bombardment of their homes. “While the world celebrates Christmas with big festivities in the homeland of Christmas,” announced Rev. Munther Isaac of the Church, “children are being killed, homes are being destroyed and families displaced.”

 

Baby Jesus in the rubble (courtesy Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem).
Baby Jesus in the rubble (courtesy Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem).


If Jesus were born today, his birth would be at risk of an Israeli raid, as Israeli crackdowns of West Bank cities,
including Bethlehem, continue to be on the rise since October 7th. But it is the Virgin Mary’s journey to Bethlehem from her hometown of Nazareth that would create the greatest barrier to the tale of Jesus’s birth as we know it, and can give us a small insight into life as Palestinians and the occupied territories.

Before 1948, Palestinian identity was given to all in the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. “I am Palestinian,” famously admitted Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel whose racist ideology led her to later deny the existence of Palestinians. “From 1921 to 1948 I carried a Palestinian passport.” During that time Jews and Arabs (Muslim and Christian) could freely move in and around Palestine, including to Bethlehem.

It was only upon the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 that this all changed. According to the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan, Nazareth was meant to remain part of a Palestinian Arab state. Ignoring this, with aspirations for a “Greater Israel,” U.S. backed Zionist militia fighters surrounded the Arab Christian city of Nazareth, and, after pockets of violence, the indigenous Palestinian mayor of Nazareth surrendered to Canadian-born Zionist commander Ben Dunkelman. Unlike his counterparts, however, Dunkelman refused orders by his seniors to expel and massacre the local Arab population, and that is why Nazareth has largely maintained its Arab demographic and escaped the atrocities of the Nakba.

The Arabs who stayed in Nazareth were thus permitted to remain in their own homes (let’s acknowledge the absurdity of the fact that being allowed to keep your own home is considered a privilege). Today, they are colloquially referred to ’48 Palestinians, as are all Arabs who incidentally ended up in Israeli territory and were eventually given Israeli citizenship following the catastrophic events of the Nakba. These Israeli passport-carrying civilians (a category the Virgin Mary would have belonged to were she alive today), grants them the highest rights possible to Palestinians within the Israeli state proper, but it’s still not enough to make them equal to their Jewish counterparts in the eyes of the law.

Despite carrying Israeli ID, Mary’s journey to Bethlehem would not be easy. Unlike Nazareth, Bethlehem didn’t fall to the Zionist offensive in 1948 but became a city of refuge for many Palestinians who fled massacres from the towns nearby, including the horrific Deir Yassin massacre of 1948, described as a Zionist act of “great savagery” by a British delegation to the UN.

The city of Bethlehem, which used to be a majority Christian Arab city, suddenly found itself housing large numbers of Muslim Arabs. Initially, Bethlehem, as well as the rest of the West Bank, fell under the control of King Abdullah of Jordan, but after the Six Day War of 1967, Israel occupied the entirety of the West Bank and continues to control it via military rule, with Israeli raids across the West Bank now a daily occurrence.

After numerous other wars, the West Bank was eventually subdivided into three main areas after the Oslo II Accords in 1995: Areas A, B and C. Area A theoretically falls entirely under Palestinian Authority rule, whereas Area C is where illegal Israeli settlements are located and therefore under strong Israeli protection. Bethlehem is one of those cities located in Area A.

As a surveillance tool and a tool of oppression, the Israeli government also set up a color-coded ID card system. To enter Jerusalem, a blue ID card (at a minimum) is required by Palestinians, and this is only provided to those who have been granted permanent residency in Jerusalem, despite East Jerusalem being technically in the West Bank. However, being born in Bethlehem, an Area A city, Jesus would have only been granted the inferior green ID card, blocking him from ever traveling to Jerusalem. He would also be blocked from traveling back with his mother to Nazareth, considered exclusively Israeli territory.

Palestinians are meant to have freedom of travel within each of their areas, but sadly, the brutality of occupation has meant that Israeli checkpoints are in force across the West Bank, with 175 permanent Israeli checkpoints and counting, often humiliatingly restricting the movement of Palestinians — sometimes fatally.

To travel the 100km journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the Virgin Mary would have to cross 15 of these checkpoints today – that is, if she were allowed through at all. For a heavily pregnant Mary, this journey would have been arduous and potentially fatal when faced by young and obnoxious IDF soldiers. Attempting to find their ways to hospitals, Palestinian women in labor are often delayed without cause at these checkpoints. According to the U.N., since 2000, 68 pregnant Palestinian women have given birth at Israeli checkpoints, 35 miscarried during the wait and five women sadly lost their lives. Mary could have been any one of them.

The first checkpoint Mary would have reached is the Jamala checkpoint. This is the main crossing from Israel into the Occupied West Bank, crossing the 1949 armistice line — the de facto border between Israel and Palestine that requires an Israeli-issued ID to cross. Without one, Palestinians remain trapped in the West Bank almost their entire lives. Along her journey south to Bethlehem, Mary would witness the daily apartheid that divides Palestinians and Israeli civilians. She would see the prosperous Israeli settlements, green and lush and ordered against the oppressed Palestinian cities. One of the illegal settlements she would pass is the Yizhar settlement, protected by the IDF; this one settlement houses some of Israel’s most right-wing colonizers, who often launch barbaric (and under reported) attacks on the Palestinian natives.

 

A silver star marks the traditional site of Jesus' birth in a cave beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine photo Cezary Wojtkowski
A silver star marks the traditional site of Jesus’ birth in a cave beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine (photo Cezary Wojtkowski).


Upon arrival to Bethlehem, as an ABC news story reports,
Mary would still have had to “pass through a massive steel door, cross Israel’s eight-meter-high Security Wall and pass two sets of armed Israeli soldiers.” Just last month, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces at this very checkpoint. But Bethlehem, being an Area A city, would actually be off-limits for an Israeli passport-carrying Mary, as Israelis are technically not allowed to visit Area A districts. Going against the Oslo Accords, the Israeli Defense Force regularly breaches these limits and invades the cities regardless, often at night.

In today’s world, it seems highly unlikely that a modern Mary would ever reach Bethlehem to give birth to mankind’s savior. The nativity as we know it could never take place. Not to mention, the Three Wise Men (Magis) who came bearing gifts for the birth of Christ would likely be turned away by Israeli border control. Melchior, one of the wise men, was a Persian scholar and would be from modern day Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy. Balthazar, a Babylonian scholar, would be from modern day Iraq and also likely to be turned away by Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, as the majority of those turned away have ties to Arab countries.

One variable that I have overlooked is the fact that Jesus and Mary were both Jewish. This means that regardless of where Jesus would be born, be it Tel Aviv, Bethlehem or even Sydney, Australia, Jesus would be given the birth right of Israeli citizenship. Palestinians native to the land, some of whom converted from Judaism to Islam (confirmed by genetic similarities between Jews and Arabs), continue to suffer from systematic oppression. In Islam, it can also be argued that Jesus would be Muslim if born today.

Although Jesus’s birthplace continues to suffer under a violent occupation, including the oppression of Palestine’s own Christians, it is surprising to discover that Israel’s largest fundraisers — larger than the infamous AIPAC lobby group — is the Christian right that drives the GOP’s pro-Israel stance. American Christians continue to turn a blind eye to their brethren under attack in the Holy Land, clinging instead to the apocalyptic belief that in order to set the stage for Christ’s second coming, Jews must preside over the Biblical Greater Israel. Thus, millions of dollars flow from America’s Bible Belt to Zionist groups in Israel. This philanthropy is not out of love for Judaism. What remains unsaid in their support of Jewish hegemony over Israel is the second part of the prophecy, which describes that the Armageddon war upon Jesus’s return will see the Jews of the region killed as collateral damage to build the supposed Christian utopia.

In today’s Palestine, however, it is innocent Palestinian lives that are the collateral damage of these messianic visions. It is satirical to see, how despite ardent support by Western governments of this decades-long persistent Israeli aggression against Palestinians, every Christmas, thousands of Western parents dress their children in Arab-style clothing as they recreate the nativity scene in schools, often without realizing that these long, flowing robes are native to Arab culture.

The Church of England has even set out some recommendations on how to dress children up to represent Jesus’s homeland, calling for a “tea towel” to be “used for the head-dress” which represents the Palestinian keffiyeh (gutra or shmaagh in other Arab dialects) that has today become synonymous with Arab resistance (or a symbol of terrorism according to Google). This headband is to be “secured with a piece of ribbon,” known as an agaal in Arab culture. To mimic a Palestinian thobe, children are asked to dress in a “pillow case” with holes cut for the head and arms. The irony of unknowingly dressing children up as Palestinians for Christmas whilst ignoring the massacre of actual Palestinian children is bitter.

And just as these thobes are Palestinian art forms passed down from generation to generation, tatreez (Palestinian embroidery) is also a skill that has been handed down through multiple generations of Palestinian women. And it is lost on so many of us that the Christmas jumpers and sweaters worn by many around the world as cheery holiday attire have the roots of their designs in Palestinian culture. The 8-pointed star found on many Christmas sweaters is actually a nod to Jesus’s birthplace and is known as the Star of Bethlehem, originating in Palestinian tatreez designs well before Christmas jumpers became popular.

Christmas does find a lot of its roots within Palestinian culture, but it is this culture that has suffered from attempted systematic erasure over decades. Thus, during this year’s Christmas, let us remember the sufferings of the Holy Land and how different Mary’s journey would be if Jesus were born today, because as for Palestinians, it remains a daily struggle.

And if you ever sided with Kevin Mcallister in the Christmas classic Home Alone, then remember those whose homes have been raided from 1948 until today. When Kevin’s house is invaded by the Wet Bandits in the film, no one watching along supports the thieves in their unjust ambitions. Instead, Kevin is the hero for protecting his home, but in the warped dystopia that is Palestine, Palestinians are stereotyped as the terrorists while the oppressors who have ransacked and destroyed homes for decades paint themselves the victims. In response, maybe Kevin’s famous line is apt here, “I’m gonna give you to the count of 10 to get your, ugly, yella, no good keister off my property.”

 

Ahmed Twaij

Ahmed Twaij Ahmed Twaij is a multimedia journalist and film director based in London. His documentary directorial debut, Mighty Penguins, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and he is currently developing a number of documentaries. He has worked in written, audio and visual journalism,... Read more

Join Our Community

TMR exists thanks to its readers and supporters. By sharing our stories and celebrating cultural pluralism, we aim to counter racism, xenophobia, and exclusion with knowledge, empathy, and artistic expression.

Learn more

RELATED

Essays

Lament For My Dear Cousin and Friend in Tulkarm

3 OCTOBER 2025 • By Thoth
Lament For My Dear Cousin and Friend in Tulkarm
Columns

Longing for Love in a Time of Genocide

26 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Souseh
Longing for Love in a Time of Genocide
Fiction

Diba’s House

26 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Sara Masry
Diba’s House
Featured article

Together for Palestine — Truly Historic

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By TMR
Together for Palestine — Truly Historic
Book Reviews

How the Media Fails Armenia and Palestine

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Gabriel Polley
How the Media Fails Armenia and Palestine
Film Reviews

New Documentaries from Palestine, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iran

12 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Yassin El-Moudden
New Documentaries from Palestine, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iran
Film

Once Upon a Time in Gaza Wants to Be an Indie Western

29 AUGUST 2025 • By Karim Goury
<em>Once Upon a Time in Gaza</em> Wants to Be an Indie Western
Book Reviews

Palestinian Cartographies—a review of Mapping My Return

29 AUGUST 2025 • By Mai Al-Nakib
Palestinian Cartographies—a review of <em>Mapping My Return</em>
Essays

From Stitch to Symbol: The Power of Palestinian Tatreez

22 AUGUST 2025 • By Joanna Barakat
From Stitch to Symbol: The Power of Palestinian Tatreez
Uncategorized

Amal Doesn’t Even Know What a Banana Is: Child Malnutrition in Gaza

1 AUGUST 2025 • By Asem Al Jerjawi
Amal Doesn’t Even Know What a Banana Is: Child Malnutrition in Gaza
Essays

“A Love That Endures”: How Tamer and Sabreen Defied War and Death

25 JULY 2025 • By Husam Maarouf
“A Love That Endures”: How Tamer and Sabreen Defied War and Death
Art & Photography

August World Picks from the Editors

25 JULY 2025 • By TMR
August World Picks from the Editors
Featured article

“Silence is Not the Way”—Arab Writers Against Israel’s Genocide

18 JULY 2025 • By Jordan Elgrably
“Silence is Not the Way”—Arab Writers Against Israel’s Genocide
Art

Taqi Spateen Paints Palestine Museum Mural of Aaron Bushnell

11 JULY 2025 • By Hadani Ditmars
Taqi Spateen Paints Palestine Museum Mural of Aaron Bushnell
Book Reviews

Palestine’s Places and Memorials Are Not Forgotten

4 JULY 2025 • By Gabriel Polley
Palestine’s Places and Memorials Are Not <em>Forgotten</em>
Essays

Unwritten Stories from Palestine

4 JULY 2025 • By Thoth
Unwritten Stories from Palestine
Essays

A Voice That Defied Silence: The Legacy of Dr. Refaat Al-Areer

4 JULY 2025 • By Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi
A Voice That Defied Silence: The Legacy of Dr. Refaat Al-Areer
Book Reviews

Memoricide Voided by Four Palestinian Women Diarists

4 JULY 2025 • By Francesca Vawdrey
Memoricide Voided by Four Palestinian Women Diarists
Essays

Doaa: From a Dreamworld to the Ashes of Displacement

30 MAY 2025 • By Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi
Doaa: From a Dreamworld to the Ashes of Displacement
Books

Editors’ 2025 Palestinian Lit List

15 MAY 2025 • By TMR
Editors’ 2025 Palestinian Lit List
Books

Poet Mosab Abu Toha Wins Pulitzer Prize for Essays on Gaza

9 MAY 2025 • By Jordan Elgrably
Poet Mosab Abu Toha Wins Pulitzer Prize for Essays on Gaza
Editorial

For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home

2 MAY 2025 • By TMR
For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home
Art

Neither Here Nor There

2 MAY 2025 • By Myriam Cohenca
Neither Here Nor There
Film

Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki

28 MARCH 2025 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Gaza, Sudan, Israel/Palestine Documentaries Show in Thessaloniki
Essays

A Conversation Among My Homeland’s Trees

7 MARCH 2025 • By Alia Yunis
A Conversation Among My Homeland’s Trees
Cities

Heartbreak and Commemoration in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

7 MARCH 2025 • By Sabah Haider
Heartbreak and Commemoration in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs
Art

Finding Emptiness: Gaza Artist Taysir Batniji in Beirut

21 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Jim Quilty
Finding Emptiness: Gaza Artist Taysir Batniji in Beirut
Book Reviews

Omar El Akkad & Mohammed El-Kurd: Liberalism in a Time of Genocide

14 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Rebecca Ruth Gould
Omar El Akkad & Mohammed El-Kurd: Liberalism in a Time of Genocide
Centerpiece

Ravaged by Fire

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Francisco Letelier
Ravaged by Fire
Book Reviews

Memories of Palestine through Contemporary Media

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Malu Halasa
Memories of Palestine through Contemporary Media
Essays

Flight Plans: From Gaza to Singapore

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Chin-chin Yap
Flight Plans: From Gaza to Singapore
Cuisine

“Culinary Palestine”—Fadi Kattan in an excerpt from Sumud

31 JANUARY 2025 • By Fadi Kattan
“Culinary Palestine”—Fadi Kattan in an excerpt from <em>Sumud</em>
Book Reviews

No Place to Be: On Wadih Saadeh’s A Horse at the Door

24 JANUARY 2025 • By Alex Tan
No Place to Be: On Wadih Saadeh’s <em>A Horse at the Door</em>
Arabic

Huda Fakhreddine & Yasmeen Hanoosh: Translating Arabic & Gaza

17 JANUARY 2025 • By Yasmeen Hanoosh, Huda Fakhreddine
Huda Fakhreddine & Yasmeen Hanoosh: Translating Arabic & Gaza
Book Reviews

Radwa Ashour’s Classic Granada Now in a New English Edition

17 JANUARY 2025 • By Guy Mannes-Abbott
Radwa Ashour’s Classic <em>Granada</em> Now in a New English Edition
Book Reviews

Maya Abu Al-Hayyat’s Defiant Exploration of Palestinian Life

20 DECEMBER 2024 • By Zahra Hankir
Maya Abu Al-Hayyat’s Defiant Exploration of Palestinian Life
Art & Photography

Palestine Features in Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Future

6 DECEMBER 2024 • By Larissa Sansour
Palestine Features in Larissa Sansour’s Sci-Fi Future
Books

Susan Abulhawa at Oxford Union on Palestine/Israel

6 DECEMBER 2024 • By Susan Abulhawa
Susan Abulhawa at Oxford Union on Palestine/Israel
Essays

Beirut War Diary: 8 Days in October

22 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Rima Rantisi
Beirut War Diary: 8 Days in October
Art

Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian artists at Copenhagen’s Glyptotek

22 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian artists at Copenhagen’s Glyptotek
Art & Photography

The Palestinian Gazelle

1 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Manal Mahamid
The Palestinian Gazelle
Book Reviews

The Hybrid—The Case of Michael Vatikiotis

18 OCTOBER 2024 • By Rana Haddad
The Hybrid—The Case of Michael Vatikiotis
Essays

Palestine, the Land of Grapes and Wine

11 OCTOBER 2024 • By Fadi Kattan, Anna Patrowicz
Palestine, the Land of Grapes and Wine
Art

Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Ziad Suidan
Witnessing Catastrophe: a Painter in Lebanon
Art

Visuals and Voices: Palestine Will Not Be a Palimpsest

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Malu Halasa
Visuals and Voices: Palestine Will Not Be a Palimpsest
Essays

Shamrocks & Watermelons: Palestine Politics in Belfast

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Stuart Bailie
Shamrocks & Watermelons: Palestine Politics in Belfast
Opinion

Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Amal Ghandour
Everything Has Changed, Nothing Has Changed
Art

Activism in the Landscape: Environmental Arts & Resistance in Palestine

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Katie Logan
Activism in the Landscape: Environmental Arts & Resistance in Palestine
Poetry

Poems by Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq and Mai Al-Nakib

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq, Mai Al-Nakib, Wiam El-Tamami
Poems by Nasser Rabah, Amanee Izhaq and Mai Al-Nakib
Fiction

“Dear Sniper” —a short story by Ali Ramthan Hussein

6 SEPTEMBER 2024 • By Ali Ramthan Hussein, Essam M. Al-Jassim
“Dear Sniper” —a short story by Ali Ramthan Hussein
Books

“Kill the Music”—an excerpt from a new novel by Badar Salem

16 AUGUST 2024 • By Badar Salem
“Kill the Music”—an excerpt from a new novel by Badar Salem
Film

World Picks from the Editors: AUGUST

2 AUGUST 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: AUGUST
Art & Photography

World Picks from the Editors: July 15 — August 2

12 JULY 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: July 15 — August 2
Fiction

“The Cockroaches”—flash fiction

5 JULY 2024 • By Stanko Uyi Srsen
“The Cockroaches”—flash fiction
Fiction

“Deferred Sorrow”—fiction from Haidar Al Ghazali

5 JULY 2024 • By Haidar Al Ghazali, Rana Asfour
“Deferred Sorrow”—fiction from Haidar Al Ghazali
Centerpiece

Dare Not Speak—a One-Act Play

7 JUNE 2024 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
<em>Dare Not Speak</em>—a One-Act Play
Books

Palestine, Political Theatre & the Performance of Queer Solidarity in Jean Genet’s Prisoner of Love

7 JUNE 2024 • By Saleem Haddad
Palestine, Political Theatre & the Performance of Queer Solidarity in Jean Genet’s <em>Prisoner of Love</em>
Essays

A Small Kernel of Human Kindness: Some Notes on Solidarity and Resistance

24 MAY 2024 • By Nancy Kricorian
A Small Kernel of Human Kindness: Some Notes on Solidarity and Resistance
Art

Demarcations of Identity: Rushdi Anwar

10 MAY 2024 • By Malu Halasa
Demarcations of Identity: Rushdi Anwar
Editorial

Why FORGETTING?

3 MAY 2024 • By Malu Halasa, Jordan Elgrably
Why FORGETTING?
Centerpiece

Memory Archive: Between Remembering and Forgetting

3 MAY 2024 • By Mai Al-Nakib
Memory Archive: Between Remembering and Forgetting
Art

Featured Artist Hazem Harb: “Back to Zero”

3 MAY 2024 • By Malu Halasa
Featured Artist Hazem Harb: “Back to Zero”
Essays

Bloodied Dispatches—Ahmed Isselmou on the Gaza Carnage

3 MAY 2024 • By Ahmed Isselmou, Rana Asfour
Bloodied Dispatches—Ahmed Isselmou on the Gaza Carnage
Art & Photography

Not Forgotten, Not (All) Erased: Palestine’s Sacred Shrines

3 MAY 2024 • By Gabriel Polley
Not Forgotten, Not (All) Erased: Palestine’s Sacred Shrines
Book Reviews

Palestinian Culture, Under Assault, Celebrated in New Cookbook

3 MAY 2024 • By Mischa Geracoulis
Palestinian Culture, Under Assault, Celebrated in New Cookbook
Art

Malak Mattar: No Words, Only Scenes of Ruin

26 APRIL 2024 • By Nadine Nour el Din
Malak Mattar: No Words, Only Scenes of Ruin
Opinion

Censorship over Gaza and Palestine Roils the Arts Community

12 APRIL 2024 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
Censorship over Gaza and Palestine Roils the Arts Community
Art

Past Disquiet at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris

1 APRIL 2024 • By Kristine Khouri, Rasha Salti
<em>Past Disquiet</em> at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
Essays

Undoing Colonial Geographies from Paris with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay

1 APRIL 2024 • By Sasha Moujaes, Jordan Elgrably
Undoing Colonial Geographies from Paris with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay
Book Reviews

Fady Joudah’s […] Dares Us to Listen to Palestinian Words—and Silences

25 MARCH 2024 • By Eman Quotah
Fady Joudah’s <em>[…]</em> Dares Us to Listen to Palestinian Words—and Silences
Art & Photography

Will Artists Against Genocide Boycott the Venice Biennale?

18 MARCH 2024 • By Hadani Ditmars
Will Artists Against Genocide Boycott the Venice Biennale?
Centerpiece

Al-Thakla—Arabic as the Original Mourner

3 MARCH 2024 • By Abdelrahman ElGendy
Al-Thakla—Arabic as the Original Mourner
Essays

The Time of Monsters

3 MARCH 2024 • By Layla AlAmmar
The Time of Monsters
Books

Four Books to Revolutionize Your Thinking

3 MARCH 2024 • By Rana Asfour
Four Books to Revolutionize Your Thinking
Fiction

“The Map of a Genocide Victim”—fiction from Faris Lounis

3 MARCH 2024 • By Faris Lounis, Jordan Elgrably
“The Map of a Genocide Victim”—fiction from Faris Lounis
Essays

The Story of the Keffiyeh

3 MARCH 2024 • By Rajrupa Das
The Story of the Keffiyeh
Essays

Messages from Gaza Now / 5

26 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now / 5
Weekly

World Picks from the Editors: Feb 23 — Mar 7

23 FEBRUARY 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: Feb 23 — Mar 7
Art & Photography

The Body, Intimacy and Technology in the Middle East

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Naima Morelli
The Body, Intimacy and Technology in the Middle East
Essays

A Treatise on Love

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Maryam Haidari, Salar Abdoh
A Treatise on Love
Columns

Driving in Palestine Now is More Dangerous Than Ever

29 JANUARY 2024 • By TMR
Driving in Palestine Now is More Dangerous Than Ever
Featured article

Israel-Palestine: Peace Under Occupation?

29 JANUARY 2024 • By Laëtitia Soula
Israel-Palestine: Peace Under Occupation?
Essays

Messages from Gaza Now /4

22 JANUARY 2024 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now /4
Essays

Nothing out of the Ordinary: A Journalist’s West Bank Memories

22 JANUARY 2024 • By Chloé Benoist
Nothing out of the Ordinary: A Journalist’s West Bank Memories
Books

Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles

22 JANUARY 2024 • By TMR
Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles
Fiction

“New Reasons”—a short story by Samira Azzam

15 JANUARY 2024 • By Samira Azzam, Ranya Abdelrahman
“New Reasons”—a short story by Samira Azzam
Essays

Messages from Gaza Now / 3

8 JANUARY 2024 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now / 3
Essays

Gaza Sunbirds: the Palestinian Para-Cyclists Who Won’t Quit

25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Malu Halasa
Gaza Sunbirds: the Palestinian Para-Cyclists Who Won’t Quit
Essays

Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas

25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Ahmed Twaij
Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas
Essays

Meditations on Occupation, Architecture, Urbicide

25 DECEMBER 2023 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Meditations on Occupation, Architecture, Urbicide
Columns

A Student’s Tribute to Refaat Alareer, Gaza’s Beloved Storyteller

18 DECEMBER 2023 • By Yousef M. Aljamal
A Student’s Tribute to Refaat Alareer, Gaza’s Beloved Storyteller
Columns

Messages from Gaza Now / 2

18 DECEMBER 2023 • By Hossam Madhoun
Messages from Gaza Now / 2
Music

We Will Sing Until the Pain Goes Away—a Palestinian Playlist

18 DECEMBER 2023 • By Brianna Halasa
We Will Sing Until the Pain Goes Away—a Palestinian Playlist
Fiction

“Twelve Angels”—fiction from Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi, Rana Asfour
“Twelve Angels”—fiction from Ahmed Salah Al-Mahdi
Books

Huda Fakhreddine’s A Brief Time Under a Different Sun

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Huda Fakhreddine, Rana Asfour
Huda Fakhreddine’s <em>A Brief Time Under a Different Sun</em>
Columns

The Day My Life Ended, It Began

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Karim Shamshi-Basha
The Day My Life Ended, It Began
Book Reviews

The Fiction of Palestine’s Ghassan Zaqtan

13 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Cory Oldweiler
The Fiction of Palestine’s Ghassan Zaqtan
Arabic

Poet Ahmad Almallah

9 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Ahmad Almallah
Poet Ahmad Almallah
Opinion

Palestine’s Pen against Israel’s Swords of Injustice

6 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Mai Al-Nakib
Palestine’s Pen against Israel’s Swords of Injustice
Essays

On Fathers, Daughters and the Genocide in Gaza 

30 OCTOBER 2023 • By Deema K Shehabi
On Fathers, Daughters and the Genocide in Gaza 
Editorial

Palestine and the Unspeakable

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Lina Mounzer
Palestine and the Unspeakable
Art

Vera Tamari’s Lifetime of Palestinian Art

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Taline Voskeritchian
Vera Tamari’s Lifetime of Palestinian Art
Book Reviews

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: A Palestine Story

16 OCTOBER 2023 • By Dalia Hatuqa
<em>A Day in the Life of Abed Salama</em>: A Palestine Story
Weekly

World Picks from the Editors, Oct 13 — Oct 27, 2023

12 OCTOBER 2023 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors, Oct 13 — Oct 27, 2023
Poetry

Home: New Arabic Poems in Translation

11 OCTOBER 2023 • By Sarah Coolidge
<em>Home</em>: New Arabic Poems in Translation
Books

Edward Said: Writing in the Service of Life 

9 OCTOBER 2023 • By Layla AlAmmar
Edward Said: Writing in the Service of Life 
Theatre

Hartaqât: Heresies of a World with Policed Borders

9 OCTOBER 2023 • By Nada Ghosn
<em>Hartaqât</em>: Heresies of a World with Policed Borders
Books

Fairouz: The Peacemaker and Champion of Palestine

1 OCTOBER 2023 • By Dima Issa
Fairouz: The Peacemaker and Champion of Palestine
Book Reviews

Saqi’s Revenant: Sahar Khalifeh’s Classic Nablus Novel Wild Thorns

25 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By Noshin Bokth
Saqi’s Revenant: Sahar Khalifeh’s Classic Nablus Novel <em>Wild Thorns</em>
Essays

London Cemeteries: And Now It Is Death

3 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By Selma Dabbagh
London Cemeteries: And Now It Is Death
Book Reviews

Laila Halaby’s The Weight of Ghosts is a Haunting Memoir

28 AUGUST 2023 • By Thérèse Soukar Chehade
Laila Halaby’s <em>The Weight of Ghosts</em> is a Haunting Memoir
Book Reviews

What’s the Solution for Jews and Palestine in the Face of Apartheid Zionism?

21 AUGUST 2023 • By Jonathan Ofir
What’s the Solution for Jews and Palestine in the Face of Apartheid Zionism?
Book Reviews

Ilan Pappé on Tahrir Hamdi’s Imagining Palestine

7 AUGUST 2023 • By Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé on Tahrir Hamdi’s <em> Imagining Palestine</em>
Art

What Palestine Brings to the World—a Major Paris Exhibition

31 JULY 2023 • By Sasha Moujaes
<em>What Palestine Brings to the World</em>—a Major Paris Exhibition
Fiction

Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam

2 JULY 2023 • By Samira Azzam, Ranya Abdelrahman
Tears from a Glass Eye—a story by Samira Azzam
Arabic

Arab Theatre Grapples With Climate Change, Borders, War & Love

4 JUNE 2023 • By Hassan Abdulrazzak
Arab Theatre Grapples With Climate Change, Borders, War & Love
Essays

Alien Entities in the Desert

4 JUNE 2023 • By Dror Shohet
Alien Entities in the Desert
Featured Artist

Nasrin Abu Baker: The Markaz Review Featured Artist, June 2023

4 JUNE 2023 • By TMR
Nasrin Abu Baker: The Markaz Review Featured Artist, June 2023
Book Reviews

How Bethlehem Evolved From Jerusalem’s Sleepy Backwater to a Global Town

15 MAY 2023 • By Karim Kattan
How Bethlehem Evolved From Jerusalem’s Sleepy Backwater to a Global Town
TMR Conversations

TMR CONVERSATIONS: Amal Ghandour Interviews Raja Shehadeh

11 MAY 2023 • By Amal Ghandour, Raja Shehadeh
TMR CONVERSATIONS: Amal Ghandour Interviews Raja Shehadeh
Book Reviews

In Search of Fathers: Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Memoir

13 MARCH 2023 • By Amal Ghandour
In Search of Fathers: Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Memoir
Centerpiece

Broken Home: Britain in the Time of Migration

5 MARCH 2023 • By Malu Halasa
Broken Home: Britain in the Time of Migration
Essays

More Photographs Taken From The Pocket of a Dead Arab

5 MARCH 2023 • By Saeed Taji Farouky
More Photographs Taken From The Pocket of a Dead Arab
Essays

Home Under Siege: a Palestine Photo Essay

5 MARCH 2023 • By Anam Raheem
Home Under Siege: a Palestine Photo Essay
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Deluge at Wadi Feynan

6 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Deluge at Wadi Feynan
TV Review

Palestinian Territories Under Siege But Season 4 of Fauda Goes to Brussels and Beirut Instead

6 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Brett Kline
Palestinian Territories Under Siege But Season 4 of <em>Fauda</em> Goes to Brussels and Beirut Instead
Art

The Creative Resistance in Palestinian Art

26 DECEMBER 2022 • By Malu Halasa
The Creative Resistance in Palestinian Art
Art

Art World Picks: Albraehe, Kerem Yavuz, Zeghidour, Amer & Tatah

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By TMR
Art

Museums in Exile—MO.CO’s show for Chile, Sarajevo & Palestine

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Museums in Exile—MO.CO’s show for Chile, Sarajevo & Palestine
Art

Where is the Palestinian National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art?

12 DECEMBER 2022 • By Nora Ounnas Leroy
Where is the Palestinian National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art?
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 3

5 DECEMBER 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 3
Book Reviews

Fida Jiryis on Palestine in Stranger in My Own Land

28 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Diana Buttu
Fida Jiryis on Palestine in <em>Stranger in My Own Land</em>
Fiction

“Eleazar”—a short story by Karim Kattan

15 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Karim Kattan
“Eleazar”—a short story by Karim Kattan
Opinion

Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By I. Rida Mahmood
Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World
Interviews

Interview with Ahed Tamimi, an Icon of the Palestinian Resistance

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Nora Lester Murad
Interview with Ahed Tamimi, an Icon of the Palestinian Resistance
Columns

Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 1

26 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: Israel’s Intimate Separations—Part 1
Columns

Phoneless in Filthy Berlin

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Maisan Hamdan, Rana Asfour
Phoneless in Filthy Berlin
Art & Photography

Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Viola Shafik
Photographer Mohamed Badarne (Palestine) and his U48 Project
Editorial

Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?

15 JULY 2022 • By TMR
Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?
Art & Photography

Featured Artist: Steve Sabella, Beyond Palestine

15 JUNE 2022 • By TMR
Featured Artist: Steve Sabella, Beyond Palestine
Essays

Sulafa Zidani: “Three Buses and the Rhythm of Remembering”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Sulafa Zidani
Sulafa Zidani: “Three Buses and the Rhythm of Remembering”
Film

Saeed Taji Farouky: “Strange Cities Are Familiar”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Saeed Taji Farouky
Saeed Taji Farouky: “Strange Cities Are Familiar”
Fiction

Selma Dabbagh: “Trash”

15 JUNE 2022 • By Selma Dabbagh
Selma Dabbagh: “Trash”
Opinion

Palestinians and Israelis Will Commemorate the Nakba Together

25 APRIL 2022 • By Rana Salman, Yonatan Gher
Palestinians and Israelis Will Commemorate the Nakba Together
Columns

Green Almonds in Ramallah

15 APRIL 2022 • By Wafa Shami
Green Almonds in Ramallah
Columns

Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian Family Dinners in London

15 APRIL 2022 • By Layla Maghribi
Libyan, Palestinian and Syrian Family Dinners in London
Film Reviews

Palestine in Pieces: Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon

21 MARCH 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Palestine in Pieces: Hany Abu-Assad’s <em>Huda’s Salon</em>
Opinion

U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine

21 MARCH 2022 • By Yossi Khen, Jeff Warner
U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine
Columns

“There’s Nothing Worse Than War”

24 FEBRUARY 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
“There’s Nothing Worse Than War”
Fiction

Three Levantine Tales

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Nouha Homad
Three Levantine Tales
Beirut

Sudden Journeys: The Villa Salameh Bequest

29 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Jenine Abboushi
Sudden Journeys: The Villa Salameh Bequest
Columns

Sacred Fire, Profane Fire: From Ritual to Barbecue

15 NOVEMBER 2021 • By Fadi Kattan
Sacred Fire, Profane Fire: From Ritual to Barbecue
Centerpiece

The Untold Story of Zakaria Zubeidi

15 OCTOBER 2021 • By Ramzy Baroud
The Untold Story of Zakaria Zubeidi
Film Reviews

Will Love Triumph in the Midst of Gaza’s 14-Year Siege?

11 OCTOBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Will Love Triumph in the Midst of Gaza’s 14-Year Siege?
Essays

Gaza, You and Me

14 JULY 2021 • By Abdallah Salha
Gaza, You and Me
Latest Reviews

Four Poems from Mosab Abu Toha

14 JULY 2021 • By Mosab Abu Toha
Four Poems from Mosab Abu Toha
Columns

Wasta Tawla, or how the Wastafarians Fared at Fawda

14 JUNE 2021 • By Fadi Kattan
Wasta Tawla, or how the Wastafarians Fared at Fawda
Book Reviews

The Triumph of Love and the Palestinian Revolution

16 MAY 2021 • By Fouad Mami
Latest Reviews

Maqloubeh Behind the Wall in Bethlehem

14 MAY 2021 • By Fadi Kattan
Maqloubeh Behind the Wall in Bethlehem
Essays

Is Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek, Too, Occupied Territory?

14 MAY 2021 • By Taylor Miller, TMR
Is Tel Aviv’s Neve Tzedek, Too, Occupied Territory?
Essays

Between Thorns and Thistles in Bil’in

14 MAY 2021 • By Francisco Letelier
Between Thorns and Thistles in Bil’in
My Favorite Things

Covid and Zaatar

18 APRIL 2021 • By Fadi Kattan
Covid and Zaatar
Weekly

“I Advance in Defeat”, the Poems of Najwan Darwish

28 MARCH 2021 • By Patrick James Dunagan
“I Advance in Defeat”, the Poems of Najwan Darwish
TMR 7 • Truth?

Poetry Against the State

14 MARCH 2021 • By Gil Anidjar
Poetry Against the State
Poetry

A visual poem from Hala Alyan: Gaza

14 MARCH 2021 • By TMR
A visual poem from Hala Alyan: Gaza
Book Reviews

The Howling of the Dog: Adania Shibli’s “Minor Detail”

30 DECEMBER 2020 • By Layla AlAmmar
The Howling of the Dog: Adania Shibli’s “Minor Detail”
TMR 4 • Small & Indie Presses

Children of the Ghetto, My Name Is Adam

14 DECEMBER 2020 • By Elias Khoury
Children of the Ghetto, My Name Is Adam
My Favorite Things

Freekeh, freekeh, freekeh!

16 NOVEMBER 2020 • By Fadi Kattan
Freekeh, freekeh, freekeh!
Centerpiece

The Road to Jerusalem, Then and Now

15 NOVEMBER 2020 • By Raja Shehadeh
The Road to Jerusalem, Then and Now
My Favorite Things

Eating in Palestine in the Time of Corona

20 OCTOBER 2020 • By Fadi Kattan
Eating in Palestine in the Time of Corona
World Picks

Interlink Proposes 4 New Arab Novels

22 SEPTEMBER 2020 • By TMR
Interlink Proposes 4 New Arab Novels

9 thoughts on “Jesus Was Palestinian, But Bethlehem Suspends Christmas”

  1. Abraham rivers

    When Jesus was born 2000 years ago Bethlehem had nothing to do with palestine, there was no West Bank or Gaza. Palestinians and Palestine didn’t even exist yet, It was all land of the Jews, Jesus was a Jewish descendant of King David and descendant of Judah, son of Jacob, later his named changed to Israel. So it’s wrong to say Jesus was Palestinian because all this predated anything that had to do with Palestine.

    1. We suspect you are not a historian, for Gaza’s history of habitation dates back 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. A cursory glance, one finds, “Inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history. The Philistines made it a part of their pentapolis after the ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Roman Empire, Gaza experienced relative peace and its Mediterranean port flourished. In 635 CE, it became the first city in the Palestine region to be conquered by the Rashidun army and quickly developed into a centre of Islamic law.” (Wikipedia.) Etc. So if you prefer not to say Yehoshua was Palestinian, you can call him an Israelite, a Canaanite or a Philistine. One thing is clear, in any case, which is that while Jews were native to the land 2,000 years ago, that would not give any land rights to Ashkenazi Jews showing up to colonize what had become Palestine after Yehoshua’s time. Shalom.

      1. Philistines were a NON-SEMITIC group. They were mainly from Greece and island of Crete. Goliath, killed by King David, was a Philistine. The name was not even rooted in Arabic language, as the name Philistine (paleshtim) comes from (palesh) which is to invade/invaders. The word palestine is rooted in Hebrew understand and language/traditions and stories, not Arabic, it has no meaning in Arabic. Additionally, Arabs come from Saudi Arabia…Just as Mohammed made it clear to his followers that Jews pray towards Jerusalem and Muslims pray towards Mecca, in the Hadiths. Zion is the name for Jerusalem also and is mentioned almost 200 times in the scriptures…not once is Jerusalem in the Quran. Gaza is mentioned in the scriptures as Azzah, and refers to the Philistines, and that is not the same people group of Arabs that choose to call themselves that now. Years ago, not that long ago, Arabs in the land called themselves by their last name, clans, tribes, and location they were from. Jews were often called by outsiders, Palestinians. And the name was a title, not ethnicity. Some others in the land also went by the name. Including Egyptians that came to work for the British during the mandate in the 1920s and 1930s…they were Egyptian…The Arabs there now are many from Egypt, Syria, and those areas, and some from Turkey, and of course Arabia…Jerusalem, etc. had no real weight in the Arab world as much as Syria. Many Muslims referred to themselves as Syrians since many of them called that area Surya al-Janubiyyah. “Palestinian” was a term coined as the name of the mandate, and before that, due to the use of the word in Hebrew of the Philistines, the extinct non-Semitic people, Greece and Rome called them that and often the region. The coins that have the word Palestine, also have two Hebrew letters in parenthesis that translates out to “land of Israel”. The Quran does not have the word “Palestine” in it, but it does have the Jews and Israel as the land that Allah gave to them. The Jews have never fully left that land, and always remained. The ones who did exile out to various diaspora countries were often treated badly, not just in Europe (since Jews are not rooted in Europe), but also throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Several massacres against them throughout those lands. Arabs are not indigenous to the levant, they are indigenous to Arabia. The culture of the Jewish people is CENTERED around Zion, the hill’s name that Jerusalem sits on. Jews pray towards Zion, Jerusalem. All the agricultural laws, practices, holidays, etc. are all centered around the land and Jerusalem. The land there is filled with history of the Jewish people and tribes. It is also found in the DNA of Jewish people all over the world, it is an ethnicity. We have prophecies of the Messiah, and the term comes from Hebrew, not Arabic, it comes from the faith of Judaism (Yehuda), the children of Israel, from the 12 sons of Israel. Islam came after Christianity. The Quran recognizes Israel, the Jews, the promises made from the Creator (that do not just disappear by the way), and even talks of the prophets of Judaism, including the Bayt al-maqdis (our beit ha mikdash). There is 100% a true tie and connection to the land with the Jews and Israel, the land, and it cannot be broken or covered over. There is historical evidence from ancient times and up till current that the Jews are historically from that land. Every year, no matter where the Jews live in the world, they say once per year “next year in Jerusalem” as a craving and prayer for the homeland. Yeshua was not Arab, and Arabs’ last names often refer to their tribe and their land they came from. Yeshua was from a very specific lineage. Prophecies maintain that the messiah must be from a specific lineage that is listed out. This is not a guessing game, and has nothing to do with the tribes of Ishmael. There are also prophecies about Ishmael and his descendants in Genesis, which seem to be accurate. It is not a good thing for Muslims to cover up the history of people of the books, especially in a way that lies about the prophets and the promises of God.

  2. What beautiful writing. Thanks for sharing this. Palestine is the holy land. Israel destroys the holy land and Palestine people. This is an illegal occupation and a geneocide of the people of Palestine. This is a crime against humanity. Free Palestine.

  3. There was no such country called Palestine, at the time Jesus Christ was born. He was a Jew, the son of two prosperous Jews.

  4. Jennifer Grinberg

    Ironically, it is Israels IDF militarily wiping out, erasing the historical birthplace of the Jewish Messiah along with its people who believe him to be the Messiah. Looks like sn act of anti-Semitism.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

1 × 1 =

Scroll to Top