One big mistake I’ve made since Hamas attacked Israel is to read Twitter. But by the second month of the war, I remembered the most excellent internet advice I’ve ever gotten, “don’t feed the trolls.” The two most maddening statements I’ve read over the past few days are: Jesus was a Palestinian, and I can’t understand why it’s an issue in the Hamas/Israel war. And why the media reports the blatant Palestinian lie that Israel destroyed the historical Palestinian state (which never existed.).
Actually, the Jesus /Palestinian thing was initially presented by terrorist Yasser Arafat’s P.R. woman Hannan Ashrawi, who, in 2001, first made the claim that Jesus Christ was a Palestinian. But it is a claim that is historically impossible and designed to erase the historical connections between the Jewish people and the holy land. Per the N.Y. Post
On Christmas morning Monday, Father Edward Beck was asked about the “pain and suffering” taking place all over the world during the holiday season and to address those who are feeling “hopeless.”
“I think the message of Christmas is that God enters into it with us and we’re not alone in it,” Beck responded. “What I’m so struck by is that the story of Christmas is about a Palestinian Jew- how often do you find those words put together? A Palestinian Jew born into a time when his country was occupied, right? They can’t find a place for her to even give birth, his mother. They’re homeless. They eventually have to flee as refugees into Egypt, no less. I mean, you can’t make up the parallels to our current world situation right now.” NY Post 12/25/2023
Note: Father Beck’s comments are not indicative of most Catholic Priests or their congregants.
Father Beck did receive criticism, but they were all based on complicated theology, not basic common sense.
Anyone who believes that Jesus was a Palestinian is lousy at arithmetic (my son, who graduated with a degree in applied mathematics, arrogantly says, “That kind of calculation isn’t math. It’s arithmetic.)
Because I’m Jewish and lived over 2,000 years after Jesus’ death, I can’t speak to Christian theology, but I can use knowledge from my Christian friends to address when he lived and when he died. Per the Christian description, Jesus was an Eastern Judean. However, he is usually portrayed as a European nobleman living in the Middle Ages. Yes, Judean. Back then, the eternal Jewish homeland was called Judea. The term Jewish is a derivative of the word Judea.
To explain the arithmetic. Per Christian theology, Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Humble) calculated the calendar to make Year 1 (not 0) the year of Jesus’ birth, but he miscalculated. Various guesses put the birth within 1-4 years BCE. No estimate counts the number zero. Using the earliest number of those estimates. If Jesus was born in the year 4 BCE and Judea (the Jewish state) wasn’t defeated until 135 CE, there was a 139-year difference.
There seems to be some consensus that the crucifixion date is April 3, 33 C.E., or 106 years before the Romans destroyed the Judean state, and according to sources, Jesus was killed. He was 33 to 40 years old. Again, the numbers do not work.
Most of the anti-Semites who claim to be only anti-Zionists don’t understand what they are marching for. Those who say the Jews have taken over a Palestinian land don’t understand history. Whether they were called Hebrews, Children of Israel, Judeans, or Jews, Jews have been living in the Holy Land ever since Joshua led them across the Jordan River after Moses turned over the leadership of the former slaves. By the way, when the haters say from the river to the sea, the river was the Jordan River, which Joshua split, and the sea was the Red Sea, which Moses split. That’s from the river to the sea. Haters should realize this just by the way God helps Jews control water. I would advise those haters to stay away from bodies of water near the holy land.
After the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE, the Romans punished the Judeans (Jews) for revolting for the second time in sixty years. To poke those rebellious Judeans in the eye, the Romans changed the Jewish State’s name from Judea to Syria Palaestina. The Romans used Palestina because it was the name of the ancient enemy of the Jews, the Philistines. The Philistines didn’t exist anymore (they had disappeared from existence around eight hundred years earlier). Its people were not called Palestinians because its residents were still primarily people who followed the Jewish State.
The Romans tried to throw out many Judeans from their own country, creating the Jewish exile that lasted till 1948. Not all the Jews were thrown out. Many Jews lived in the Holy Land through 1948, when a Jewish state was declared the eternal homeland of the Jews.
Psalm 137 is the first “Jewish never forget.” which says in part:
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill, May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you. if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem’s fall, those who said: “Tear it down!
The Byzantine Empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire formed from its eastern provinces. They took control of the holy land around the year 330 C.E. Three centuries later, in the year 638 C.E., the land was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, which was the first four caliphs that took over after Muhammad died. Eight hundred years ago, the land became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire (in the 1400s). Ottoman? I wonder how someone got away with naming the empire after a piece of furniture you put your feet on.
After WW1, the League of Nations made the entire Homeland of the Jews a British protectorate, known as the British Mandate Of Palestine. That lasted until 1948, when the modern Jewish State, Israel, was created. Throughout that period, from the year 135 through the year 1948, there was a large population of Jews living on the land. In fact, before 1948, Jews living in the holy land were called Palestinians.
Putting the timeline together, it is clear to anyone with basic math (sorry, son) arithmetic skills know that Jesus couldn’t have been a Palestinian. Based on Christian theology, the land was called Judea until a century after Jesus died. Muslims didn’t control the area until 600 years after Jesus’ death. Even then, it was part of a Califate, not an independent state. It became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1400 C.E., which is probably why Turkish Taffy is Kosher. After World War 1, Christian Great Britain was given the holy land as part of the British Mandate. Know that Great Britain was a cruel leader, including not allowing many Jews into the land even during the Holocaust. There is much more Jewish/British history, but that is a subject for a different post.
Based on facts, anyone who looks at the history above and arithmetic knows that there was never an independent state called Palestine, and there have always been Jews living in the holy land– their eternal homeland.
Additionally, by answering the day’s question and putting the timeline together, it is clear to anyone with basic arithmetic skills that Jesus couldn’t have been a Palestinian. Based on Christian theology, the land was called Judea until a century after Jesus died. And Muslims didn’t control the area until 600 years after Jesus’ death. Even then, it was part of a Califate, not an independent state. It became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 1400sAdditionally, by answering the day’s question and putting the timeline together, it is clear to anyone with basic arithmetic skills that Jesus couldn’t have been a Palestinian. Based on Christian theology, the land was called Judea until a century after Jesus died. And Muslims didn’t control the area until 600 years after Jesus’ death. Even then, it was part of a Califate, not an independent state. It became part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 1400s
Anyone claiming that Jesus was a Palestinian is trying to create a new history for the Palestinians. Those who claim that there was a Palestinian state are too thick-headed to understand history and basic math Arithmetic.
lol
