Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - July 6, 2006
Palestinian Media Watch:
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Jesus the Palestinian
In Palestinian Authority ideology
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

The cartoon in today's Al Quds depicts a Palestinian and an Iraqi being
crucified on the same cross. This expresses a common Palestinian motif,
found in both text and cartoons, that depicts Palestinians as Jesus, and
Jesus as a Palestinian. [See below for more cartoons of Palestinians on
cross like Jesus.]
"Brother from Iraq, Relative from Palestine"

[Al Quds July 6, 2006]

Palestinian historical revisionism

Historical revision is a backbone of Palestinian political and academic
behavior, as the leaders attempt to create a separate "Palestinian Arab"
history and identity for themselves, distinct from the general Arab and
Islamic history. "Palestinian" Arabs are a very recent creation, and did not
exist before the advent of PLO terror in 1965. Note, for example, that under
UN resolution 194 in 1948, refugees were not called "Palestinian Refugees,"
relating to a national identity, but were called "Palestine Refugees,"
referring to geography - from where they came.

Jesus was Palestinian, the Palestinians are Jesus

One aspect of this attempt to create a Palestinian history is to present
Jesus, who according to Christian scriptures was a Jew (Judean) living in
the land of Judea-Israel, as a Palestinian. (In fact the name was changed to
Palestine 136 years after Jesus' s death as part of Rome's plan to cut the
Jews' ties to their Land of Israel.)

Jesus has even been presented by Palestinians as the "the first Palestinian
Shahid - Martyr for Allah," [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, January 17, 2005] applying
to Jesus Islamic theology that evolved centuries later. On a culture program
on Palestinian TV, a Palestinian artist depicted Israeli soldiers arresting
Jesus, and explains that Jesus symbolizes the Palestinians.

The following are some of these examples identifying Jesus as a Palestinian:

"We must not forget that (Jesus) Messiah, may peace be upon him, is
Palestinian, the son the Mary the Palestinian, who is sanctified by hundreds
of millions of believers in this world."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 18, 2005]

"It was quite natural that the Palestinians rose to save their sanctuaries
[in Nazareth] without anyone thinking there is a difference between a
Christian and a Muslim. since in the Palestinian situation, the lord Messiah
[Jesus] and his mother [Mary] are both Galileans and Palestinians ."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 9, 2006]

"The Palestinian Galilee village of Kfar Kana takes pride in the fact that
in [the village] the Palestinian Messiah succeeded to turn water into wine."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 14, 2004]

Jesus is likewise defined as a Shahid (Martyr for Allah):
".And a child from the De'haisha refugeecamp will shout: "Yes, we have won,
just as the prophets and [Jesus'] Apostles won," and the shahids will cry,
'We shook the palm trees alongside Lady Earth and the lady of the people,
the Virgin Mary, and with her son the first Palestinian Shahid."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, January 17, 2005]

The flip side of turning Jesus into the Palestinians is the turning of
Palestinians into Jesus.
"Muhammad [Al Dura, child who was killed by undetermined gunfire] ... a tiny
sleeping Jesus..."
[Al-Quds, May 25, 2001]

During a culture program, a Palestinian artist depicts Israeli soldiers
arresting Jesus, and explains that Jesus symbolizes the Palestinians.

Pic from web and link from web

Artist: "Our struggle today against the other side is an eternal one. It can
be said that it started 2,000 years ago and continues until today. I
demonstrate this through the figure of Jesus. The Israeli soldiers are
wearing army uniforms while Jesus has nothing except for the truth. When
they searched him at the entrance of Jerusalem, they found a stone, a piece
of bread and fish and he was cuffed. This is the Palestinian from the
beginning of the struggle until the end."
[PA TV, July 21, 2000]

Misappropriating Jesus into Palestinian Islamic tradition allows the image
of the Crucifixion to become a Palestinian symbol, which they then use to
portray themselves and other Muslims as victims of Israel.

The following are additional examples of this visual motif:

1. Palestine is Jesus

[PA Website]

[Text on woman: "Palestine
Al Hayat Al Jadida supplement-Intifada, Dec. 11, 2000]

[Al Hayat Al Jadida April 15, 2001]

2. Israeli and U.S. shells targeting Palestinians represented by the cross

[PA daily supplement Dec 14 2000]

3. Another attempt at defining Palestinians as the modern dayJesus.
Palestinians killed by Israel is called "repeating history" of Crucifixion.

[Al Hayat Al Jadida May 9 2001]
Pope: Praying for Mid-East peace
Sharon: "What do you think about repeating history?"

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