Pro-Palestinian Activism Appropriates Jesus Christ, Again
- Ofek Kehila
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
After dressing Anne Frank in a keffiyeh, the next victim of pro-Palestinian appropriation is none other than the central figure of Christianity, as a sponsored Times Square billboard claims “Jesus is Palestinian”. However, this is hardly the first time.
Why is Jesus claimed to be Palestinian?
Jesus Christ was a Jewish 1st-century preacher and religious leader in the Roman province of Judaea. Today, he is revered by billions worldwide as the central figure of Christianity. Yet just ahead of Christmas, a billboard in New York City’s Times Square claims that Jesus was Palestinian.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the billboard was sponsored by the American Arab Discrimination Committee (ADC), an organization that claims to defend civil and human rights, fight discrimination, and promote understanding of Arab history and culture.
However, the portrayal of Jesus as a Palestinian does not seem to serve the purpose of defending human rights or fighting discrimination. In the best of cases, it is a publicity stunt designed to attract public attention. In the worst of cases, it is yet another disturbing instance in which a prominent figure is being appropriated by pro-Palestinian activism for propaganda purposes.
Cultural appropriation and rewriting of history
When pro-Palestinian voices claim Jesus is Palestinian, they do not mean it figuratively but quite literally. The ADC referred to their billboard as “an act of cultural pride.” “Using these billboards, we reclaim the truth, honoring the Palestinian refugee born in Bethlehem,” the organization stated.
For her part, Greta Thunberg wrote on Facebook: “For the Christians of the world, the son of God you worship was born in Palestine, Bethlehem, today under violent occupation.” Another writer added: “To say that Jesus is a Palestinian affirms a historical truth.”
It is important to understand that the appropriation of Jesus did not start with ADC’s billboard. In fact, for years, the Palestinian Authority has been conducting a campaign to depict Jesus as a Palestinian.
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian politician and diplomat, said Jesus was “the first Palestinian.” PA President Mahmoud Abbas referred to Jesus as a Palestinian messenger, adding that Christmas is actually a Palestinian holiday; and former PA President Yasser Arafat had said, “Jesus was the first Palestinian Martyr.”
Other PA officials went so far as to compare Jesus to murderers and suicide bombers.
Cultural appropriation is defined as the adoption of elements of a culture by members of another culture in a manner that is considered inappropriate. Nevertheless, more than adopting the figure of Jesus Christ, pro-Palestinian activism seeks to rewrite history, asserting that a Jew who was born two millennia before the emergence of Palestinian national and cultural identity was, in fact, Palestinian.
Wrap up
For centuries and millennia, people from different places and backgrounds have tirelessly repeated the story of Jesus Christ in many ways and manners, from the Synoptic Gospels to later depictions in religion, history, and art. This is why Jesus is not just an essential figure to humanity, but also a universal one: everyone can identify with him.
The fact that pro-Palestinians adopt the figure of Jesus and identify with him is completely valid; the problem starts when Jesus is used for anti-Israel propaganda and the distortion of history, as in the case of Anne Frank and other figures and symbols.
Ofek Kehila (Israel, 1987) is a scholar of Spanish Golden Age literature and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. His research bridges the gap between those traditions, highlighting their aesthetic, cultural, and historical dialogue. He holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2022) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Freie Universität Berlin (2023-2025).