Page 15 - TORCH Magazine #30 - Spring 2026

2. Jesus, a Palestinian
No, Jesus was not a Palestinian. This
claim has moved from fringe rhetoric
promoted by Palestinian Islamists to
mainstream churches in the West.
This reflects another expression of
replacement ideology.
Jesus was born in Judea to Jewish
parents in the town of David. Jesus lived
as a Jew, died as a Jew, and will return
as the Lion of Judah. Reframing Jesus as
a Palestinian is becoming increasingly
common practice in churches that
teach Replacement Theology, which
often accompanies theological
positions that minimise Jesus’s Jewish
identity. In turn, this almost always leads
to a pro-Palestinian bias against Israel
taking root.
The modern term ‘Palestinian’ refers
to Arab populations in the Palestinian
territories. However, at the time Jesus
was on earth, Arabs did not live in the
Land of Israel. They lived primarily in
Arabia, and Islam would not emerge
until six centuries later.
Christians who describe Jesus as
a Palestinian have bought into an
antisemitic campaign against Israel.
Known as ‘Palestinian Liberation
Theology’, it misappropriates Jesus as
a Palestinian political figure resisting
Jewish authority or Roman rule in a
hostile attempt to demonise Israel.
It uses modern political narratives
like Jesus living ‘under occupation’ to
accuse Israel of mistreating Palestinians.
Palestinian Muslim leaders, who have
no authority whatsoever to teach
Christians, know that by denying the
Jewishness of Jesus they can further
undermine the Jewish connection to
the Land of Israel. It tries to redefine
Jesus as a political freedom fighter who
stands against Israel. This deception is
rampant in pro-Palestinian advocacy
but is also misleading many others by
distorting both historical and Biblical
truth. Sadly, it also risks separating
Christians further from the Jewish roots
of our faith and creating a wider chasm
between Christians and Jews.
3. The United Nations and
de-Judaification
In 2016 and in subsequent years, UNESCO
and the UN General Assembly passed
resolutions that renamed Jewish holy sites
with Islamic terminology, thus denying Jewish
historical connections to these locations.
These resolutions referred to the Temple
Mount exclusively by its Islamic name,
al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
instead of its Hebrew or English names
(Har HaBayit or The Temple Mount). They
also labelled the Tomb of the Patriarchs in
Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as
“Palestinian sites” and often used the phrase
“occupying power” to describe Israel. The
Western Wall is only referred to as “Western
Wall” in quotes, undermining its description.
This deliberate replacing of Jewish sites is a
further example of the spirit of replacement
ideology that seeks to revise Jewish historical
and religious connections to the land.
4. Jews in Israel are not real Jews
The statement that the Jews living in Israel
are not real Jews is a lie from the pit of hell.
Sadly, the slur that Jews living in Israel are
not authentic descendants of ancient Israel
is increasing in popularity. Some Christians
are being misled by antisemitic fringe
groups such as the ‘Black Hebrew Israelite’
movement, who twist the Bible, and believe
that African Americans are the real Jews. Jewish
populations worldwide, including those living
in Israel, represent a diverse range of ethnic
backgrounds, including communities from
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia,
and the Americas. However, purporting that
Jews are not real Jews is antisemitic to the
core.
It is another example of the spirit of
replacement ideology, and is another method
that Satan is using to delegitimise the Jewish
people’s claim to the Land of Israel. This
heresy can be easily debunked genetically,
genealogically, and numerically.
There is strong peer-reviewed genetic
research that shows genetic continuity among
Jewish populations, despite centuries of
dispersion. Genetics only show shared ancestry,
but Jewish identity is also religious and cultural.CUFI.ORG.UK 15