Hamada Fara’neh, a Palestinian-Jordanian journalist and author and also a member of the Palestinian National Council, recently published an article entitled “They stole Christianity from us” in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustour and the Palestinian daily Al-Quds. . In this article he claimed that Jesus, born in Bethlehem and living in Palestine, was a Palestinian and that the West had stolen Christianity from the Palestinians, just as it then stole Palestine itself and colonized it with the Jews. This, he said, is why the West and its Churches support Israel and do not denounce the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people. He added that just like Jesus – who was the first Palestinian fida’i (dedicated fighter) and emblem of sacrifice for the good of others – was crucified following a pact between Judas Iscariot and the Roman colonialists, the Palestinian people are today victims of a pact between Israel and the West colonialist, led by the United States
It should be noted that this is not the first time Palestinians have linked Jesus to the Palestinian national struggle.(1)
Hamada Fara’neh (Image: Alqalahnews.net)
The following are translated excerpts from Fara’neh’s article: (2)
“Jesus was not Roman but Palestinian. He was born in Bethlehem, his divine revelation and resurrection took place in Palestine, and he was baptized in the Jordan River, because the Jordan-Palestine was his homeland and the homeland of his disciples and his message.
“He was not a European from Moscow or London, or anywhere else outside our region, although his message transcended borders and his followers came from every nation and continent – all as Islam transcends borders and nations, and its followers are not limited to the Arabian Peninsula but come from the entire Arab world and all continents: from Asia to Africa, including Europe and America. Religion has no homeland; it spreads in an effort to embrace all of human existence, for it is a divine message to human beings throughout the world.
“The West stole Christianity from us, our people, just as it did with Palestine, which was blatantly stolen by British imperialism. (This was done) by means of the Balfur Declaration, in order to round up all foreign Jews, to help They emigrate (to Palestine) and forcibly settle on Palestinian land at the expense of the Palestinians. But no matter how big and strong the Israeli colony, it will not have never the right to steal (the land of the Palestinians) – as long as the Palestinian people remain alive and productive, their women remain fertile and their men remain ready to act, to sacrifice and to attach themselves to their homeland, to their honor and their rights, which cannot evaporate or be forgotten and do not expire with time.
“They (Westerners) stole the Christian religion from our land, just as they stole Palestine (itself), and that is why they did not speak out against the horrible violent takeover, the killings and the destruction (inflicted by Israel against the Palestinians).) the people and inhabitants of the towns, villages and neighborhoods of the Gaza Strip. (The Israelis) did this before, in 1948, but without being scrutinized, filmed and They inherited this behavior from their predecessors, because they did to the Palestinians what Tsarist Russia, German Nazism and Italian Fascism did to them.
“They (the Westerners) stole the Christian religion from us, and that is why the patriarchs and archbishops (of the Western Churches) did not oppose what the (military) forces of the (Israeli) colony are doing to the Christians and Muslims in Palestine, land of Jesus, despite the fact that the three Palestinian churches – the Church of the Nativity (in Bethlehem), the Church of the Annunciation (in Nazareth) and the Church of the Sepulcher ( in Jerusalem) – lament with their people and their faithful in Palestine, because their people, their churches, their schools, their hospitals and their family homes are in Gaza. His Holiness the Pope confirmed this in his Christmas message, which addressed the horrors of the grave disaster that the Palestinian people are under pressure from the Israeli imperialists.
“The Palestinian people face death, murder, execution and destruction, as well as famine, penury and loss of the right to life. The churches of London and Moscow and their branches do not feel the pain and suffering of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
“Christmas, the celebration (marking) the birth of Jesus – who was the first Palestinian and the first fida’i, characterized by sacrifice, selflessness and an early death – (which will be marked this year) without joy, because the Palestinian people are crucified in their own homeland, just like Jesus (was crucified) because of a pact between the Roman imperialism of his time and the betrayal of Judas Iscariot. Today too, the cruelty, racism, fascism and shameful actions of the (Israeli) colony are met with betrayal against the values of humanity by those who support (Israel), stand by its sides, help him, lend him political support. and protect him from any liability. This is what the American administration did when it supplied Israel with 230 cargo planes and 30 cargo ships (loaded with weapons, bombs and means of destruction). (These weapons are now) killing Palestinians, Christians and Muslims, who honor (Christ), the Messenger of Love and Peace, just as they love all the messengers and prophets, chief among them them (Muhammad), the Messenger and Prophet of the Muslims. »
(2) Al-Quds (East Jerusalem), Al-Dustour (Jordan), December 26, 2023.
