Jesus! Palestinian or Jew?

August 9, 2019

The Jewishness of Jesus is a foregone conclusion for Bible readers. Nevertheless, the debate rages. Was Jesus Palestinian or Jew?

It surfaced again last April. US politician Ihan Omar faced instant backlash when she retweeted a post by American Muslim scholar and civil rights activist Omar Suleiman.

Suleiman said in his tweet:

“I was once asked by a relative who is a Palestinian Christian why the Christian right in America largely supports their oppression,” Suleiman wrote. “Don’t they know we’re Christian too? Do they even consider us human? Don’t they know Jesus was Palestinian?’“

Said Amir Tsarfati, an Israeli Bible scholar and founder of Behold Israel Ministry:

“I suggest that she reads the Bible and see for herself that the Lion from the tribe of Judah that came from the house of David was definitely a Jew who taught in synagogues and not mosques!” (christianheadlines.com, April 25, 2019)

This all resurfaced when anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour declared Jesus was a ‘Palestinian’. She wrote Jesus and Moses were ‘Middle Eastern’. She added

“Jesus was Palestinian of Nazareth and is described in the Quran as being brown copper skinned with wooly hair.”

On her Facebook page Sarsour is described as ‘a racial justice and civil rights activist and every Islamophobia’s worst nightmare.’ She lit up Twitter! ‘Try cracking a history book, Linda. It’ll blow your mind,’ the America Jewish Committee tweeted.

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Let’s set the record straight. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, not a Palestinian Muslim.

Yair Netanyahu, son of the Israel Prime Minister was very direct. “Are you that stupid?’ He wrote “on the cross above Jesus’ head was the sign INRI which means in Latin Jesus of Nazareth king of the Jews.” Others chimed in. “Fiction! Fairytale. Lies!” declared the Jerusalem Centre of Public Affairs.

The debate has history. Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization 1969-2004 described Jesus as ‘the first Palestinian Fedayeen’ (Arabic for militant fighter).

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Christians Christmas 2013;

“In Bethlehem, 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born – a Palestinian who brought the gospel and became a guide for millions worldwide, just as we, the Palestinians, are fighting for our freedom, 2,000 years later. We try to walk in his footsteps to the extent possible.”

Saeb Erekat, the PA chief negotiator said Jesus was ‘Palestine’s first martyr after the Canaanite Palestinians.’

This belief is not restricted to the obvious sources. British analyst and commentator Melanie Phillips reported:

“The former Anglican bishop of Jerusalem Riah Abu el-Assal made an astounding claim for Palestinian Christians: ‘We are the true Israel…No one can deny me the right to inherit the promises, and after all the promises were first given to Abraham and Abraham is never spoken of in the Bible as a Jew…He is the father of the faithful.” (Jesus was a Palestinian: Return of Christian Anti-Semitism, Commentary, June 2014)

The Matthew and Luke Gospel’s confirm Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was a Galilean from Nazareth and frequently was called Jesus of Nazareth.

Today Bethlehem is part of the Palestinian Authority. When the tax burden on Jews in Bethlehem was increased Mary and Joseph moved to Nazareth with many others. Nazareth today is in Israel. As a child Jesus attended a Synagogue in Kfar Nachum (Capernaum). Later with his disciples Jesus ministered through northern Israel, in the area known today as the Galilee.

As if to create grounds for debate Jesus was born in the place the Romans called Palestine, but He lived and developed his young and eventful life in Israel.

The ethnic make up of the Nazareth region is interesting. Israel Today published ‘How Jewish was Jesus?’ by David Lazarus, July 10, this year. The article reviewed archaeological research in Zippori, a city located near Nazareth.

“Clear archaeological evidence indicates that the city of Zippori was very much Jewish, not Gentile, as was the Galilee in general,” Dr Michael Brown wrote an article “No, Jesus Was Not a Palestinian” saying “Let’s set the record straight. Jesus was a Galilean Jew, not a Palestinian Muslim. He celebrated Passover, not Ramadan, and he was called “Rabbi” not “Imam.” His followers were named Yaakov and Yochanan and Yehudah, not Muhammad and Abdullah and Khalid. And he himself had one of the most common Jewish names of the day: Yeshua.” (No, Jesus Was not a Palestinian, My Christian Daily)

Dr Mordechai Kedar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University suggested the entire debate is an attempt to ‘re-engineer history.’ Dr Kedar said;

“They can re-engineer history for any country, for any people, for any part of history that is not consistent with the Islamic narrative. Muslims who live in America believe that America is an Islamic country with an Islamic history and therefore they belong there, have a greater right to the country and ruling it, than anyone else.”

(Read more prophecynewswatch.com)

Jesus gave obvious witness to His Jewishness through the Biblical Feasts. Every year He and His family observed seven annual feasts.

First Passover… “Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us,” (1 Corinthians 5: 7)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread… “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8)

Pentecost… “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father on you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24: 49)

The Feast of Trumpets… “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16)

The Day of Atonement… “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

The Feast of Tabernacles… “Now about the middle of the feast Jesus wen up into the Temple and taught.” (John 7: 2-14)

The Eighth Day, the last great resurrection day. (Read Ezekiel 37: 12-14)

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Ron Ross

Ron Ross resigned his TV career to attend Bible College. His life has been dedicated to missions and ministry. After 9 years as pastor at Noosa Baptist Church, Ron and his wife Yvonne moved to Jerusalem. He broadcast news from Israel and the Middle East to Christian networks around the world. He continues to broadcast Israel and Middle East news for Vision Christian Radio on Tuesdays.

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