#Because Jesus is with Palestine too

[bloodycoolfrye]

🇱🇧🇵🇸🇾🇪YOU CAN NOT BEAT A COUNTRY THAT IS PROTECTED BY ALLAH!❤️‍🔥

[hussyknee]

Even funnier than the tweet is the seething cope in the replies at the fact that Jesus was a Jew from West Bank. 💀

[macroglossus]

man. the family reunion was great except for getting sick/being crazy but one shitty thing was that one guy came and he has historically been so weird and creepy.... he hit on my best friend when she came to the reunion when she was 15 (!!! went "oh i thought you were older ;) here's my snap hit me up when youre 18" after being weird) and also sort of hit on me even though we are RELATED. by BLOOD. and this year im the age he was when he hit on us (23!!!!) and firstly it's even more what the fuck because. like. come on we both had baby faces. and secondly i think he was trying to hit on me again?? i did my best to avoid him but at one point he caught me and was like "i want my next girlfriend to have food allergies ;)" because i was looking for a drink that didn't have gluten. like what the fuck girl firstly for obvious reasons and secondly because WHAT who even says that. why is that a desirable trait for you

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

This post used to hold a poem inspired by the Rev. Munther Isaac's declaration that "God is under the rubble in Gaza."

After a few anons and a conversation with a Jewish friend, I've decided to take the poem down because, regardless of my own intentions with it, it risks feeding the long and extremely harmful history of blood libel, because I included imagery of the infant Jesus and his parents being killed by an Israeli soldier, as many Palestinians are being killed now.

Before talking with that friend, I wrote in this response to an anon about my intentions with the poem — but while I do believe that intentions do matter, they don't matter nearly as much as impact does.

My friend helped me come to the conclusion that while the poem I wrote could be interpreted as I intended by people who already have all the context I wrote it in (see below), it could also all too easily be interpreted much more harmfully by those who lack that context — or worse, who are looking for more fuel for their antisemitism. The poem is not worth that risk, not at all.

___

Ultimately, I hold two things I believe to be true in tension:

that Christians throughout the ages have found deep comfort and encouragement in understanding Jesus as suffering in and with them. I support all Christian Palestinians who, like Rev. Isaac, experience God-with-them in this way — in this horrific time, they deserve any ounce of comfort they can derive. And them personally seeking and finding the Divine presence with them is not antisemitic.

that for Christians like myself in the USA, who live in the beating heart of Empire and Christian Supremacy, it is vital to take care in how we talk about this theology in this current situation, where the oppressors are Jewish. Providing more fuel for Christian antisemitism is inexcusable, and I deeply apologize for writing and sharing a piece that can be used in that way.

Because modern-day Israel is a Jewish state, exploring that Divine solidarity in this context comes with a great risk of perpetuating the long, harmful history of antisemitic blood libel and accusations of deicide. How do we affirm God’s presence with those suffering in Palestine without (implicitly or explicitly) adding to the poisonous lie that “the Jews killed Jesus”?

In wrestling with this complexity, I tried to write this poem to uplift both Jesus’s Jewishness and his solidarity with Palestinians. Jesus was born into a Jewish family, his entire worldview was shaped by his Jewishness, and he shared in his people’s suffering under the Roman Empire. His solidarity with Palestinians of various faiths suffering today does not erase that Jewishness. Nor does it mean that Jewish persons don’t “belong” in the region — only that modern Israel’s occupation of Palestine is in no way necessary for Jews to live and thrive there, or anywhere else in the world.

I also aimed to point out that Israel is by no means acting alone in this attack on Gaza or their decades-long occupation of Palestine. There is a much larger Empire at work, with my own country, the United States, at the helm. Israel is entangled in that imperial mess, and directly backed and funded by those forces — not because of what politicians claim, that we have to back Israel or else we’re antisemitic, but because Israel is our strategic foothold in the so-called Middle East. How do we name our complicity as our tax dollars are funneled into violence across the world, and act to end that violence?

___

I'm sorry this post isn't as articulate as I want it to be. All of this to say: I deeply apologize for any hurt my poem caused. I understand how horrific Christianity's history of — and ongoing present — antisemitism is, and how it poisons and warps so much that could have been beautiful. I'll keep educating myself; I'll keep having hard conversations; I'll keep working to uproot antisemitism in myself and my communities.

___

I'll close with a list of resources for learning about Palestine's history and getting involved.

[chelledoggo]

friendly reminders/spicy hot takes:

you can (and should) support Palestine and oppose Zionism WITHOUT being anti-Semitic. practicing Jews exist in Palestine, even if they are a minority there.

to Christians supporting Israel because they "support their fellow Christians": Christians exist in Palestine, too.

also to Christians: Revelations was never meant to be a literal prophecy of the future. we don't need to "protect Israel" so "Jesus can come back." (i know. this is a lot to take in. i was surprised when i first learned this, too. feel free to sit down and process this.)

one more to Christians: if you "support Israel" but hate Jews, stop and take a look at yourself in the mirror because what the fuck is wrong with you?

don't boycott your local Jewish-owned small businesses if you don't know for certain whether they support Israel, you weirdos.

if you support Israel just because they're "LGBTQ+ friendly," you have your priorities messed up. (and i'm saying this as a queer person myself. government pinkwashing does not excuse war crimes.)

war is hell and by no means should we be okay with violence or death of civilians. we want peace and freedom for Palestine, not more death.

literally anyone can drop into your DMs and claim to be a Palestinian in need of financial support. make sure to thoroughly verify their genuineness before considering donating. (the person in the DMs claiming they're verified by 90Ghost is NOT sufficient proof.)

beware of AI "photos" and videos. (i can't believe i need to say this we live in the worst timeline i s2g)

Israel's government is the enemy. innocent civilians of Israel are not. (unless they support the war, but in that case they are likely brainwashed by their government. no one is immune to propaganda.)

people can care about other current issues while also caring about Palestine. don't freak out because someone is talking about the hurricane or election season "instead of" talking about Palestine.

for the love of GOD don't shame people for taking a mental health break from the news.

k bye

[jewishbarbies]

I remember when directly after October 7th, many celebrities posted in support of Israel and got cancelled, then a few changed to pro Palestine and most stayed silent after that. I’ve noticed most people (non celebrities) tend to hound after Jewish celebrities in order to find out whatever they believe. For example, Troye Sivan (South African Jewish man) hasn’t posted anything about Israel since he was 18 (he was happy that a helicopter sent to attack Israel from Gaza was shot down) and he’s like 28 now I think, and people were in his COMMENTS blaming him for October 7th, hating on him, etc. People were hating on Milo Manheim as well because he was in a retelling of Christ type movie even though he was Jewish because according to the pro Palestine camp, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph we’re supposedly Palestinians (if they existed).

And then there’s the Noah Schnapp shit and I’m sure you know how that went. So whenever non Jewish people critique Jewish celebrities for not saying a single thing in support of either side, I sort of disagree because it seems like Jewish celebrities are in a lose lose situation. If they support Israel and Jews, they’re called genocide supporters. But if they choose to support Palestine, they’ll still face antisemitism and blame.

it definitely is a lose lose. I would just do what i could in private to help based on my morals and keep my mouth mostly shut publicly. like, i would WANT to be able to use my reach to speak out of things, and i would to an extent. but I feel like it would get a point where it was just too dangerous for my own safety.

[weabooweedwitch]

I really resent the framing of "democrats should have ran a better campaign" as a defense for the fact that Trump undeniably won almost exclusively because more than 15 million Democrats refused to even vote this year in a country extremely notorious for only like 40% of its population voting at all

No it's absolutely on the people who refused to vote. How many times do we have to say, "it's one side or the other, choosing neutrality benefits exclusively the aggressor" until people fucking get it, like legitimately actually do you understand that neutrality in an election DOESNT FUCKING EXIST

And yeah I support Palestine but I'll say with my full fucking chest that if you refused to vote over Palestine you're a fucking idiot because Trump's literal entire career has involved him openly praising fascist dictatorships and him moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and declaring it the capital of Israel was him PERSONALLY escalating much of the conflict in the Middle East including the violence against Palestinians. You guys literally handed the presidency to a guy who doesn't even fucking care about Palestinian statehood and literally passed a fucking Muslim ban in his first term like

Maybe I'm just too autistic for this discussion and I'm thinking of it too logically but when did Americans start associating a single candidate with their entire party. "Oh wow I don't like the Democrat elect as a person, guess I won't vote for the side that wants to get free school lunches for kids just because I don't think this one person has enough charisma" like are you an actual inbred fool

2028 could have the Democrat candidate be a literal actual axe murderer and I would still vote for them because I'm voting for Democrat and leftist POLICY, not if I personally like the symbolic figurehead, and even if the Democrats promised NOTHING, I would still vote for that so I could actively stop team "we are openly goddamn racist all the time and we hate women and people of color so goddamn much we literally wrote an almost 1000 page manifesto on how we plan to systematically control them or strip them of their rights"

You guys literally handed the election to the "maybe we should inspect children's genitals because we have an irrational hatred of queer people" "Jewish space lazers" "transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison" "if you cant feed your child and need school lunches then CPS should be called on you" team because you thought Kamala didn't promise you everything on your checklist. Jesus Christ Americans are hopeless. I actually fucking hate it here.

[saint-vagrant]

it's nothing i haven't already said (because it never stops being true) but let me unequivocally state that i stand against genocide and with anyone opposing genocide especially with those to whom it's being done. full stop.

fuck israel. fuck the biggest world powers trying to annihilate not only palestine but yemen, lebanon, iraq, iran, on and on, over over, syria, pakistan, afghanistan, somalia, jesus christ libya— that's just "one" (large) region, but go ahead and name anywhere! a march of death! it turns my stomach. occupies every thought. how can we abide more death and pillaging on top of more death and pillaging! that israel is continuing its western-sanctioned and supported genocide even while dicking around in their own genocide trial... they're confident they're going to get away with this just fine and i mean, they have so far, and the crimes they're accused of are diminished and distorted and blocked from mainstream tv, so that confidence is unfortunately well-founded. all i have is hope and i sincerely hope for them nothing but total dismantling and a future of profound irrelevance. a future where israel is a memory. a future where the US buckles to mobilised solidarity worldwide. palestine will be free. my hopes may be low but it's what i have and that, too, is well-founded.

[hussyknee]

Jesus is Under the Rubble

“This Advent, while global Christians prepare to commemorate the arrival of the Prince of Peace, our Palestinian kin in Gaza suffer unthinkable violence. Their cries of deliverance, echoing those of two millennia ago, seem to be falling unheard on the United States.”

— by Kelly Latimore icons. All proceeds from sales of this digital image will go toward Red Letter Christians trusted partners in Gaza.

Transcript: Christ in the Rubble A Liturgy of Lament Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church Bethlehem Saturday, December 23rd, 2023 We are angry…

We are broken…

This should have been a time of joy; instead, we are mourning. We are fearful.

Twenty thousand killed. Thousands under the rubble still. Close to 9,000 children killed in the most brutal ways. Day after day after day. 1.9 million displaced! Hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed. Gaza as we know it no longer exists. This is an annihilation. A genocide.

The world is watching; Churches are watching. Gazans are sending live images of their own execution. Maybe the world cares? But it goes on.

We are asking, could this be our fate in Bethlehem? In Ramallah? In Jenin? Is this our destiny too?

We are tormented by the silence of the world. Leaders of the so-called “free” lined up one after the other to give the green light for this genocide against a captive population. They gave the cover. Not only did they make sure to pay the bill in advance, they veiled the truth and context, providing political cover. And, yet another layer has been added: the theological cover with the Western Church stepping into the spotlight.

The South African Church taught us the concept of “The state theology,” defined as “the theological justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totalitarianism.” It does so by misusing theological concepts and biblical texts for its own political purposes.

Here in Palestine, the Bible is weaponized against our very own sacred text. In our terminology in Palestine, we speak of the Empire. Here we confront the theology of the Empire. A disguise for superiority, supremacy, “chosenness,” and entitlement. It is sometimes given a nice cover using words like mission and evangelism, fulfillment of prophecy, and spreading freedom and liberty. The theology of the Empire becomes a powerful tool to mask oppression under the cloak of divine sanction. It divides people into “us” and “them.” It dehumanizes and demonizes. It speaks of land without people even when they know the land has people – and not just any people. It calls for emptying Gaza, just like it called the ethnic cleansing in 1948 “a divine miracle.” It calls for us Palestinians to go to Egypt, maybe Jordan, or why not just the sea?

“Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” they said of us. This is the theology of Empire.

This war has confirmed to us that the world does not see us as equal. Maybe it is the color of our skin. Maybe it is because we are on the wrong side of the political equation. Even our kinship in Christ did not shield us. As they said, if it takes killing 100 Palestinians to get a single “Hamas militant” then so be it! We are not humans in their eyes. (But in God’s eyes… no one can tell us we are not!)

The hypocrisy and racism of the Western world is transparent and appalling! They always take the words of Palestinians with suspicion and qualification. No, we are not treated equally. Yet, the other side, despite a clear track record of misinformation, is almost always deemed infallible!

To our European friends. I never ever want to hear you lecture us on human rights or international law again. We are not white— it does not apply to us according to your own logic.

In this war, the many Christians in the Western world made sure the Empire has the theology needed. It is self-defense, we were told! (And I ask: how?)

In the shadow of the Empire, they turned the colonizer into the victim, and the colonized into the aggressor. Have we forgotten that the state was built on the ruins of the towns and villages of those very same Gazans?

We are outraged by the complicity of the church. Let it be clear: Silence is complicity, and empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action— are all under the banner of complicity. So here is my message: Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world. Gaza was hell on earth before October 7th.

If you are not appalled by what is happening; if you are not shaken to your core— there is something wrong with your humanity. If we, as Christians, are not outraged by this genocide, by the weaponizing of the Bible to justify it, there is something wrong with our Christian witness, and compromising the credibility of the Gospel!

If you fail to call this a genocide. It is on you. It is a sin and a darkness you willingly embrace.

Some have not even called for a ceasefire.

I feel sorry for you. We will be okay. Despite the immense blow we have endured, we will recover. We will rise and stand up again from the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians, although this is by far the biggest blow we have received in a long time.

But again, for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this?

Your charity, your words of shock AFTER the genocide, won’t make a difference. Words of regret will not suffice for you. We will not accept your apology after the genocide. What has been done, has been done. I want you to look at the mirror… and ask: where was I?

To our friends who are here with us: You have left your families and churches to be with us. You embody the term accompaniment— a costly solidarity. “We were in prison and you visited us.” What a stark difference from the silence and complicity of others. Your presence here is the meaning of solidarity. Your visit has already left an impression that will never be taken from us. Through you, God has spoken to us that “we are not forsaken.” As Father Rami of the Catholic Church said this morning, you have come to Bethlehem, and like the Magi, you brought gifts with, but gifts that are more precious than gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You brought the gift of love and solidarity.

We needed this. For this season, maybe more than anything, we were troubled by the silence of God. In these last two months, the Psalms of lament have become a precious companion. We cried out: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Gaza? Why do you hide your face from Gaza?

In our pain, anguish, and lament, we have searched for God, and found him under the rubble in Gaza. Jesus became the victim of the very same violence of the Empire. He was tortured. Crucified. He bled out as others watched. He was killed and cried out in pain— My God, where are you?

In Gaza today, God is under the rubble.

And in this Christmas season, as we search for Jesus, he is to be found not on the side of Rome, but our side of the wall. In a cave, with a simple family. Vulnerable. Barely, and miraculously surviving a massacre. Among a refugee family. This is where Jesus is found.

If Jesus were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble in Gaza. When we glorify pride and richness, Jesus is under the rubble.

When we rely on power, might, and weapons, Jesus is under the rubble.

When we justify, rationalize, and theologize the bombing of children, Jesus is under the rubble.

Jesus is under the rubble. This is his manger. He is at home with the marginalized, the suffering, the oppressed, and displaced. This is his manger.

I have been looking, contemplating on this iconic image….God with us, precisely in this way. THIS is the incarnation. Messy. Bloody. Poverty.

This child is our hope and inspiration. We look and see him in every child killed and pulled from under the rubble. While the world continues to reject the children of Gaza, Jesus says: “just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” “You did to ME.” Jesus not only calls them his own, he is them!

We look at the holy family and see them in every family displaced and wandering, now homeless in despair. While the world discusses the fate of the people of Gaza as if they are unwanted boxes in a garage, God in the Christmas narrative shares in their fate; He walks with them and calls them his own.

This manger is about resilience— صمود. The resilience of Jesus is in his meekness; weakness, and vulnerability. The majesty of the incarnation lies in its solidarity with the marginalized. Resilience because this very same child, rose up from the midst of pain, destruction, darkness and death to challenge empires; to speak truth to power and deliver an everlasting victory over death and darkness.

This is Christmas today in Palestine and this is the Christmas message. It is not about Santa, trees, gifts, lights… etc. My goodness how we twisted the meaning of Christmas. How we have commercialized Christmas. I was in the USA last month, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, and I was amazed by the amount of Christmas decorations and lights, all the and commercial goods. I couldn’t help but think: They send us bombs, while celebrating Christmas in their land. They sing about the prince of peace in their land, while playing the drum of war in our land.

Christmas in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, is this manger. This is our message to the world today. It is a Gospel message, a true and authentic Christmas message, about the God who did not stay silent, but said his word, and his Word is Jesus. Born among the occupied and marginalized. He is in solidarity with us in our pain and brokenness.

This manger is our message to the world today – and it is simply this: this genocide must stop NOW. Let us repeat to the world: STOP this Genocide NOW.

This is our call. This is our plea. This is our prayer. Hear oh God. Amen.

(Source)

I found these on Twitter a while ago. Original creator unknown.

I can't stop you ascribing hateful, paranoid meanings to these images, but they're not about blaming religions. Jesus was a Jew born to a community of Jews in Palestine, the cradle of the Abrahamic faiths. He was raised and loved by them, betrayed by their rulers* and killed by Romans. He's a Prophet of Islam. End of.

*Y'know, like how the people of the Arab and Muslim nations love Palestine and crying to help them, except their leaders are greedy and rotted to the core. The ruling class will always only serve the empire.

Edit: alt text provided by @this-world-of-beautiful-monsters

[anamericangirl]

Hi, you are aware 99% of ppl condemning the colonizers are also condemning past colonization yes?

I condem the settler state of Israel. i conem them for what they have done to Palestine,i condem them for how they treat holocaust survivors.

I condem them for using the genocide of their ppl as a reason to cause genocide.

I condemn them for Bombing hospitals full of the sick elderly frail and young. Saying that a building AT OR BELOW SEA LEVEL can have tunnels. (Fun facts we all have “tunnels” it’s called SEWWERS)

You know that they have indiscriminately killed off some of the oldest CHRISTIAN bloodlines yes? Because your savior, the prophet son of god, Jesus was a Palestinian. A middle eastern man. So Ofcourse his first followers, and their descendants would be living in Palestine.

Jews and Muslims and Christians lived and coexisted in PEACE for millennia. And then Israel was formed as a way to get rid of the Jews from Europe in a “humane” manor. As a way to put a western agenda in the Middle East.

I condemn what Jesus would condemn.

And this is not to say I’m gungho Hamas. But if you were constantly being curb stomed. Killed starved imprisoned. You too would get to a point where you would consider violence.

It's amazing how you guys manage to get literally every single fact wrong. It's ok not to know things or not even to know everything, but to know nothing about a cause you are advocating for? And more than that, every single claim you make is false? That's inexcusable.

"I condem the settler state of Israel."

They aren't a settler state. You don't know what a settler state is so you should not use that term until you can do so correctly.

"i conem them for what they have done to Palestine."

What have they done?

"i condem them for how they treat holocaust survivors"

How do you think they treat them?

"I condem them for using the genocide of their ppl as a reason to cause genocide"

You are a massive fucking hypocrite. You acknowledge their people are under threat of genocide without condemning Hamas for trying to genocide them and then you condemn Israel for a genocide they aren't even guilty of.

They are not causing genocide and you're pretty rotten to condemn them for a genocide that's not happening while you refuse to condemn the genocide that you admitted was being attempted.

But I guess you don't care when it's a genocide of Jews, huh?

"I condemn them for Bombing hospitals full of the sick elderly frail and young"

They didn't do that you moron. Hamas, the terrorists you simp for, LIED. That is a verifiable fact.

"Saying that a building AT OR BELOW SEA LEVEL can have tunnels"

lmao glad to see you condemn Israel for this but not Hamas for lying, attempting genocide or using children as human shields you ignorant little terrorist apologist.

"You know that they have indiscriminately killed off some of the oldest CHRISTIAN bloodlines yes."

Prove it.

"Because your savior, the prophet son of god, Jesus was a Palestinian. A middle eastern man. So Ofcourse his first followers, and their descendants would be living in Palestine."

Jesus wasn't Palestinian you ignoramus. Palestine didn't exist. Jesus was a Jew.

"Jews and Muslims and Christians lived and coexisted in PEACE for millennia"

That's bullshit. Muslims have been starting wars with Jews and Christians since they came into existence.

"And then Israel was formed as a way to get rid of the Jews from Europe in a “humane” manor. As a way to put a western agenda in the Middle East."

Again, that's bullshit.

"I condemn what Jesus would condemn."

You don't condemn what Jesus would condemn because you're lying about a country and people under attack and supporting their genocide and Jesus wouldn't do that. Don't use the name of Jesus to try and justify your filth and lies. That's blasphemy.

"And this is not to say I’m gungho Hamas. But if you were constantly being curb stomed. Killed starved imprisoned. You too would get to a point where you would consider violence."

You are gungho Hamas. Everything you accuse Israel of doing to them they have done to Israel and you justify their unjustifiable violence and then lie about Israel. What Hamas does to Israel on the daily is magnitudes worse than anything Israel has ever done so shame on you for standing behind them and lying about Israel to justify the slaughter of Jews. Hamas is lucky to have a moron like you at their disposal to spread their lies and anti-semitism for them.

If Hitler was alive right now you'd be kissing his ass too.

You got nothing right. You are a liar. You are just a nasty, repulsive person who hates Jews and supports terrorism and genocide.

So, from the bottom of my heart, fuck you.

[beardedmrbean]

One hundred days.

It's been 100 days since terrorists invaded my homeland, the Jewish people's only home, Israel.

It's been 100 days since hundreds of Israelis were taken hostage.

It's been 100 days of war and sorrow and uncertainty.

But after these 100 days, the one thing I am certain about—that I've always been certain about, and have seen more than ever in the days since Oct. 7—is that the Jewish state and the Jewish people have true friends in Christians around the world.

That's why it has been so unsettling to see anti-Semitism being spread in the name of Christianity—by those on the fringes, and those in mainstream media. But you know who has notbeen fooled by these lies?

Israel has more than 700 million Christian friends worldwide. As people who value human life—in this fight against those who don't hold life sacred, we all—Christians and Jews—must take a stand now, before it's too late. The time to stand for Israel and the Jewish people in now,as hateful and dangerous anti-Semitism has risen by nearly 400 percent in the 100 days since Hamas' attacks on the Jewish people.

During these 100 days of war, I've been shocked to see centuries-old blood libels revived, which have always been intended to divide the Christian and Jewish communities and make them see one another as enemies: "The Jews killed Jesus..." (...no, the Romans did).

Over these past 100 days, I've also seen new anti-Semitic theories spread like wildfire, all of them, too, based on historical inaccuracies—including Munther Isaac in the New York Times and Father Edward Beck on CNN both saying that if Jesus were born today, he'd be a Palestinian (...no, Jesus was a Jew, born in what the Bible calls the Land of Israel, more than 100 years before Judea was named Palestine by the Romans).

As I've heard these dangerous, harmful, evil anti-Semitic tropes spewed, it makes me wonder why Jesus' own people—the Jewish people—are being attacked in his name.

Because today, Jesus would be a Jewish citizen of the Jewish state—the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population is growing, up 1.3 percent from the year before, with 187,900 Christians living in freedom. More than 20 percent of Israel's population is not Jewish and enjoys full legal equality.

Jesus today, would be proud to be an Israeli.

Today, the Jewish Jesus certainly wouldn't live in or even be allowed to visit biblical places like Gaza or Jericho or Bethlehem—these are places in which no Israelis are able to enter.

And like Israelis of all faiths—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—Jesus would be in the middle of this ongoing war, spending time in a bomb shelter as terrorist rockets have targeted nearly every city in the Holy Land, including Jesus' hometown of Nazareth, these past 100 days.

One reason I am shocked, terrified, and outraged that such antisemitism is spreading is because Jewish-Christian relations have come so far. Bridges built on faith and fellowship have ended what have been centuries of distrust and worse. For the first time in history, millions of Christians and Jews are standing shoulder-to-shoulder in shared Judeo-Christian values we hold sacred. I guess it makes sense that the terrorists and the forces of darkness are trying to destroy what we, as people of faith in a loving God who sanctifies life, have achieved.

But those evil forces will never win. Today more than ever, millions of Christian friends around the world do stand for Israel.

Millions of Christians have stood with Israel—with their prayers and their support—during this war. Instead of joining the trending calls for Israel's destruction, they're praying for our strength and our success in wiping out Hamas, the modern day Amalek.

Millions of Christian friends of the Jewish people act by boldly rejecting the anti-Semitic lies being spread and by speaking up and spreading the truth about Israel.

No longer will a huge portion of the Christian community be fooled by hatred and lies, nor will they be fooled into spreading them. Israel's Christian friends are too committed to spreading love and support for their Jewish brothers and sisters, as they fight for survival in the only Jewish homeland.

The rising anti-semitism across the globe, only serves as a stark reminder to us all, why the Jewish people need a safe haven.

In Israel, it has been a beacon of hope for all of us, to see how millions of Christians love, pray, and act for Israel during our fight for survival, as enemies on every side try to destroy the land of the Jewish people, the Promised Land of the Bible.

No longer will Christians and Jews be separated by lies and hatred. Today, we stand unified.

These past 100 days, as Israel's enemies have chanted, "from the river to the sea," Israel's millions of Christian friends continue the same chorus to which they've been committed for more than 75 years:

Never again.

[vifilms]

You know what let them unfollow us because most of the fic writers on this app are only posting things about Palestine soon enough all the writers will stop writing for a time(hopefully) and the readers will have nothing else to do then wait so they’ll probably maybe just might open their goddamn eyes and see what’s happening in Palestine right now as we speak!!

And all this unfollowing makes me so fucking mad like?? Are you a human being or a porn reading machine??

thank you. finally someone with an actual brain and cognitive thinking skills and reasoning. hopefully they’ll pay attention and i don’t know? have a good heart? not going to hold my breath on it.

genuinely, makes me so infuriated too. jesus christ, at least give a damn. more to life then just fanfic? they said…..nah. fr though, i dont want anyone following me if they don’t care. good riddance.

it’s truly inhumane how heartless some of my followers/mutuals are being. so disheartening and disappointing.

[a-queer-seminarian]

Today is Easter Sunday. Today is Trans Day of Visibility. Today is day 176 of genocide.

This year the lectionary gives us Mark's account of the Resurrection, with its fearful cliffhanger ending — an empty tomb, but Jesus's body missing. And isn't that unresolved note fitting?

In the face of so much suffering across the world, it feels right to be compelled to sit — even on this most jubilant of days — with the poor and disenfranchised in their continued suffering.

Mark's account:

Just days before, the women closest to Jesus witnessed him slowly suffocate to death on a Roman cross. Now, now trudge to his tomb to anoint his corpse — and find the stone rolled away, his body gone. A strange figure inside tells them that Jesus is has risen, and will reunite with them in Galilee.

They respond not with joy, but trembling ekstasis — a sense of being beside yourself, taken out of your own mind with shock. They flee.

The women keep what they've seen and heard to themselves — because their beloved friend outliving execution is just too good to be true. When does fortune ever favor those who languish under Empire's shadow?

Love wins, yet hate still holds us captive.

I'm grateful that Mark's resurrection story is the one many of us are hearing in church this year. His version emphasizes the "already but not yet" experience of God's liberation of which theologians write: Christians believe that in Christ's incarnation — his life, death, and resurrection — all of humanity, all of Creation is already redeemed... and yet, we still experience suffering. The Kin(g)dom is already incoming, but not yet fully manifested.

Like Mark's Gospel with its Easter joy overshadowed by ongoing fear, Trans Day of Visibility is fraught with the tension of, on the one hand, needing to be seen, to be known, to move society from awareness into acceptance into celebration; and, on the other hand, grappling with the increased violence and bigotry that a larger spotlight brings.

The trans community intimately understands the intermingling of life and death, joy and pain.

When we manage to roll back the stones on our tombs of silence and shame, self-loathing and social death, and stride boldly into new, transforming and transformative life — into trans joy! — death still stalks us.

We are blessedly, audaciously free — and we are in constant danger. There are many who would shove us back into our tombs.

And of course, the trans community is by no means alone in experiencing the not-yet-ness of God's Kin(g)dom.

Empire's violence continues to overshadow God's liberation.

The women who came to tend to their beloved dead initially experienced the loss of his body as one more indignity heaped upon them by Empire. Was his torture, their terror, not enough, that even their grief must be trampled upon, his corpse stolen away from them?

The people of Gaza are undergoing such horrors now. Indignity is heaped on indignity as they are bombed, assaulted, terrorized, starved, mocked. They are not given a moment's rest to tend to their dead. They are not permitted to celebrate Easter's joy as they deserve. They are forced to break their Ramadan fasts with little more than grass.

Those of us who reside in the imperial core — as I do as a white Christian in the United States — must not look away from the violence our leaders are funding, enabling, justifying.

We must not celebrate God's all-encompassing redemption without also bearing witness to the ways that liberation is not yet experienced by so many across the world.

This Easter, I pray for a free Palestine. I pray for an end to Western Empire, the severing of all its toxic tendrils holding the whole earth in a death grip.

I pray that faith communities will commit and recommit themselves to helping roll the stones of hate and fear away — and to eroding those stones into nothing, so they cannot be used to crush us once we've stepped into new life.

I pray for joy so vibrant it washes fear away, disintegrates all hatred into awe.

In the meantime, I pray for the energy and courage to bear witness to suffering; for the wisdom for each of us to discern our part in easing pain; for God's Spirit to reveal Xirself to and among the world's despised, over and over — till God's Kin(g)dom comes in full at last.

"The Empty Tomb" by artist He Qi.

[germiyahu]

Similarly to the "Jesus was Palestinian!" crowd, I find this phrasing (and I've seen it in so many fandoms and other contexts about portraying Bibical characters I'm not just picking on the thing that it's popular to critique right now):

Kind of annoying? Like "Middle Eastern Jewish" is baffling to me. Is it because the average person thinks Jews are white Americans and they need to specify Middle Eastern = Brown which isn't even always the case, especially when we decenter American conceptualizations of race. But it also very cleanly lops of Middle Eastern-ness, and therefore this implicit Person of Color-ness from Jews as a class?

Some Jews can be Middle Eastern, and therefore brown/indigenous/poc/valid/worthy of protection, but it's not automatic and it's certainly not universal, so any time a Jew is granted this special status it must be verbalized so as not to confuse people. They might think the Jew you're talking about is a colonizer otherwise!

Or is it a way to imply (if not outright say) that there has never been a Jewish state in the region? Any Jews from Jesus' time were just denizens of the Middle East broadly? They had no country of their own, they just existed nebulously scattered throughout among other tribes and tongues and nations? Like if the Hasmonean Dynasty ruled over a polity called Israel I would see how the average Tumblerino would obviously want to avoid alluding to that when talking about New Testament characters/historical figures. But it was called Judea, well Iudaea in Latin. Some Israelis refer to the Hebron region as Judea now but this is not something that most anti-Israel people on Tumblr know about. So it has to be an aversion to admitting that there was a Jewish state in the Levant no matter what it's name was?

And less than 2 centuries later the land was renamed Palestine anyway. They don't even call Biblical characters "Palestinian Jews," at best some people used to call Jesus a Palestinian Jew, but I don't even see that anymore really. He's just "Palestinian" now. So you can be ahistorical when it's Jesus but not for anyone else in these books? Why? What's the point? What's the story what's the vision?

I'm definitely reading too much into this specific post, the worms in my brain sing so sweetly to me, but when these spaces are filled with so much casual disregard and disinterest in Jewish people, their culture, their history, their rights, their dignity, their lives... well maybe it's time to stop just slapping on "JOOISH!" to get sjw points while you're canceling the thing that is cringe.

[flower-tea-fairies]

I eat breakfast and I think of people in Gaza having to eat grass from hunger

I pet my cats and I think of the kitten who would not let go of the man who saved them because they were afraid of the bombs

I say bye to my dad in the morning and I think of the father who was searching the rubble for his children for multiple days straight

I get on the school bus and I think of the school saying that the academic year is ended early because all of the students were killed

I greet my friends at school and I think of the man who was shaking on top of the rubble and holding his phone with shaky hands desperately trying to call his friend

I go to get a drink of water from the water fountain and I think of the kids desperately trying to collect rain water to drink

I write my name on a homework assignment and I think of the children writing their names on their arms so that they can be identified if they are killed in the bombings

I get asked what job I want when im older and I think about the child that said “Palestinian children dont grow up”

I help out my grandma and I think of the woman who was older than Israel and was killed because she said that

I call my tias and I think about the Palestinians in america sobbing because all of their relatives were slaughtered

I text my friend happy birthday and I think about the mother who was clutching her dead childs body saying she will bake the birthday cake that they wanted

I talk with my grandpa and I think about the grandpa who was hugging his granddaughters dead body and calling her the soul of his soul and then went to fix his killed grandsons hair the way he liked it when he was alive

I hug my mom and I think about the boy who said he didnt want the blanket the paramedic gave him and said he wanted to be warmed by his dead mothers embrace

I check on my brother and I think about the child who said “i cant lose you too” after he found out his sibling was dead

I braid a part of my hair and I think about the girl who updated her family overseas saying her grandma braids her hair because she doesnt want her granddaughter to die with her hair messy

I eat dinner and I think of the girl who tries every night to silence her stomach from growling of hunger because she doesnt want to break her mothers heart

I drive by a church and I think about how Jesus’s birth place is completely destroyed

I live and I think about Palestine

I exist and I think about Palestine

I breath and I think about Palestine

[myguidingmoon-light]

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)

No room. That’s something I’ve heard too much lately. Palestinians have been hearing that for 75 years. Since they were driven out of their homes—more than 700 000 of them—in 1948 to make room for the colony of Israel, there has been less and less room every day. Less land, literally, as even though lines and walls have been drawn over the years, Israel continues to illegally settle in Palestinian land. Less room to breathe, as the population of Gaza grew within the illegal blockade walling them into a tiny strip of land. Less room to live now, as Gaza has been under constant attack by Israeli bombs and guns and while the civilians of Gaza are pushed by this violence into even smaller and smaller “safe zones” (though there is nowhere safe in Gaza right now).

But also no room our conversations. No room in our imagination. No room in our understanding of our world of “human rights” and “developed nations.” You’d think “Palestinian” is a slur for how quickly it shuts up (or heats up) dialogue. These are our neighbours, and it feels like pulling teeth to get people to engage with their humanity—let alone ask their MP to ask our government to ask Israel’s government to please stop bombing civilians for the third month straight.

Today we recognize when a Jewish Palestinian family was forced by the state to leave their home, shelter in unfit terrain, give birth without proper medical care, survive a massacre, and become refugees. We Christians call the baby born in that family Emmanuel, which means God with us. God was born in Bethlehem, behind the border wall, in an occupation. What does that tell us about who God is?

Our Christian siblings in Palestine have asked us not to let this Christmas pass as usual. To that, I ask, what is Christmas as usual? If we don’t see our neighbours in the story of Jesus, what is the point? If we need to put the real, genuine injustices of the world out of our mind so that we can be comforted by Christmas, we are frankly doing it wrong. The point—the whole point—is that love and justice are possible for the unloved and the oppressed, even when it doesn’t feel that way. It is our responsibility to make that happen, and we can’t do that with our eyes closed.

You should feel uncomfortable about celebrating Christmas while a genocide is going on. We need to have room for that. We also need to have room for the hope that Christmas represents. We need to have room in our hearts for justice, lasting peace, and a free Palestine, because we are all needed to make it a reality.

And for God’s sake, CEASEFIRE NOW!

“He has brought down the mighty from their thrones/ and exalted those of humble estate;/ he has filled the hungry with good things,/ and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:52-53)

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I am indebted to Rev. Munther Isaac for his wisdom in helping so many of us walk through this time. Personally, I just finished his book “The Other Side of the Wall”—if you are a Christian, you have to read this book. I’ll buy you a copy if you want.

I also want to note that this post isn’t really supposed to be an explainer or an argument. I didn’t cite anything here, but if you’re curious about anything I referenced (e.g. why did I bring up medical care?), send me a message and I’d be happy to give you more details about what’s happening in Palestine. I’m no expert, but I know some people just genuinely don’t know the extent of the injustice and don’t know where to learn more; if you have questions I’m happy to help, but I’m not here to fight with you.

Same deal if you want to help but don’t know how. I’m happy to give you some ideas and even help you out with them (distance permitting). One important action you can always take is contacting your Member of Parliament. You don’t have to write anything fancy—just tell them honestly how you’re feeling and ask them to support an urgent ceasefire. This is literally your right as a Canadian, so you don’t have to worry about doing something wrong.