A far-left CNN priest faced backlash on Christmas for claiming that Jesus was a “Palestinian Jew” who was born into an “occupied” country as he tried to make comparisons from the time of Christ’s birth to modern day Israel.
“I think the message of Christmas is that God enters into it with us and we’re not alone in it,” Beck said. “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.”
“And so in some way, that is who we believe God becomes born into that situation and yet, that very man, Jesus, says love one another, love your enemies,” he continued. “There is hope. There is light in the darkness. I’m attesting to that. So somehow that God enters that experience of suffering and that struggle and is actually born into it. That is what is so miraculous about this celebration for me.”
WATCH:
WOW: "The story of Christmas is about a Palestinian Jew… born into a time when his country was occupied.. have to flee as refugees…" –@FrEdwardBeck, who is now a full-time activist trying to push Christians into Palestinian nationalism & erase Jewish history. pic.twitter.com/MU5m2azHih
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) December 25, 2023
Beck’s remarks faced significant pushback online from commentators who noted what he said was factually false.
“This is embarrassingly wrong,” responded New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz.
Radio host Erick Erickson responded, “How can the press signal itself not really connected to the people? Put on commentary like this. Palestine was not even a creation of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ’s birth. Pushing a political agenda like this, using Christ, reflects poorly on the network.”
Hussain Abdul-Hussain, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, responded: “Because you know how in Matthew 15:24 Jesus said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’ by Israel Jesus meant Palestine. Father Beck has to stop watching Al-Jazeera and start reading the New Testament.”
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International human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky wrote: “I think @FrEdwardBeck may have missed his Theology 101 class! This is embarrassing on any day, let alone #Christmas, as he’s on CNN.”