Friday, December 22nd, 2023

When I was in grade 9, I didn’t yet realize that Mr. Mckay, my history teacher, was a rabid anti-Semite, calling me a “Hebrew” because he could never bring himself to utter the word “Jew”. One day, I helpfully pointed out to Mr. Mckay that there was a mistake in our history book. “Mr. Mckay,” I offered, “the book says that Jesus was the founder of Christianity, but Jesus was Jewish his entire life. Christianity was founded much later.” I was entirely unprepared for his dismissive response. “If it’s in the book, it’s right,” he said, shooting me down and waving me away.

I have long since learned that true facts don’t always change people’s minds. Nevertheless, 13-year-old me is still there, always hopeful, and believing that by sharing facts, something in this world is set right.

As we get closer to Christmas, the newest thing going around is that “Jesus was a Palestinian” even though there was no such thing as Palestine or Palestinians at the time of Jesus. So, adding to some parts of a post by Marina Medvin, here are the facts as to

Why Jesus was not Palestinian:

1. Jesus was born a Jew to a Jewish family in Bethlehem*. Bethlehem was a city in Judea, the former Kingdom of Judah. (This was the southern kingdom of the Jews, the native inhabitants of the region. The northern kingdom of the Jews was called Israel, and it was conquered by Assyrians 722 years before the time of Jesus.)

2. During Jesus’ lifetime, Judea was occupied by the Romans. It was only 200 years after Jesus’ life in Judea that the Romans, following the Bar Kokhba revolt (the last of the three major Jewish-Roman wars), renamed Judea “Syria Palaestina” to punish the rebellious Jews of Judea.

3. Jesus was a Rabbi who practiced Judaism. Jesus’ last meal is described as a Passover Seder. . . because he was Jewish.

4. Christmas is celebrated today by Christians, but it is a celebration of Jesus’ birth in Judea to a Jewish family. This is because Christianity is rooted in the history and beliefs of the Jews of Judea. Christmas is the only Christian holiday that begins the evening before, because all Jewish holidays begin the evening before, and Jesus was Jewish.

5. The region of Syria Palaestina was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1516. (For the rest of the history of the area, see my other “Just the Facts” blog posts.) By the way, modern day Israel contains only a portion of the land belonging to the original kingdoms of the Jews.


Please understand something. The purpose of this post is not to claim that “Jesus was one of us.” The facts that I point out are to, once again, show the misinformed who claim that we have no right to be there, that the Jewish people have been in the land of Israel for thousands of years — millennia before anyone called an Arab a “Palestinian.” 

We wish our Christian friends a meaningful and joyous celebration.  As for us, let us continue to pray for the return of the hostages, the safety of our soldiers, and peace in Eretz Yisrael.

Am Yisrael Chai!


*A Note about Bethlehem: Today, Bethlehem is located in the West Bank. For the past two decades, Jews have not been permitted in that part of the West Bank. Many pro-Palestinians are now saying that if Jesus were born today, the Israelis would be bombing his home. Absurd – if he were born today, his family wouldn’t be allowed in Bethlehem.

*A Note about Jesus’ birth: The Christian Bible (commonly known as The New Testament) states “For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour.” (Luke 2:11) Isn’t it interesting to note that thousands of years ago, it is referred to as the “City of David”, the Jewish city? I would imagine that this pre-dates 1948, wouldn’t you?