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‘Imagined Reality’: Bethlehem Pastor tears into Zionist idea of 'Greater Israel'

The idea of 'Greater Israel' that Israel and its supporters want the world to believe in order to create a Zionist state in Palestine is a case of ‘imagined reality’ based on incorrect interpretation of Bible, Rev. Munther Isaac said.

Wednesday December 25, 2024 12:30 PM, ummid.com News Network

[Nuns walk along the Church of the Nativity - traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is set to mark on Wednesday December 25, 2024 a second subdued Christmas during the war in Gaza (Image: Associated Press/Matias Delacroix)]

Bethlehem (Occupied Jerusalem): The idea of "Greater Israel" that Israel and its supporters want the world to believe in order to create a Zionist state in Palestine is a case of ‘imagined reality’ based on incorrect interpretation of Bible, Rev. Munther Isaac said.

Rev. Munther Isaac, the Palestinian Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, came to limelight last year after his church displayed a nativity featuring the baby Jesus draped in a keffiyeh amid a heap of rubble, representing the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza.

“When you look at what they are saying, that there is no occupation, that it is Judea and Samaria (rather than the West Bank), it clearly shows their imagined reality of Palestine from their biblical understanding, Trump’s (understanding), (removed from) any reality on the ground, whether it is international law or the reality we are living in,” Isaac said in an interview with Arab News.

Also Read: Zionist Terrorists must not have any control over Palestine, Einstein's letters resurface

Isaac said the most dangerous thing about the holders of this ideology is that they “have a totally different sphere or reality to them. It is the imagined biblical times. God has given the land to Israel, and it does not matter what international law says.

“It does not matter that Palestinians have lived on this land for generations. To them, the only reality that matters is the way they understand the Bible”, he said.

Isaac also slammed the double standard of the Zionists who on one hand wants separation of state and religion, and on the other hand, try to impose their imaginary beliefs on everyone.

“I find it strange that these are the very same people that preach to the world about the separation of state and religion, yet here they are imposing their own religious beliefs on me and our people, and they want all of us in the Middle East to accept not only their religion but to accept the way they interrupt the Bible, which is something not all Christians agree on.

“And they want to impose it on Arabs, on Palestinians, even on Palestinian Christians with a total disregard for reality or international law”, Isaac said.

Also Read: For Lasting Peace, Zionism Must End

Isaac was also damning in his assessment of the US President-elect Donald Trump’s new cabinet picks, including the new US ambassador to Israel, Michael Huckabee, who has said he does not believe there is an Israeli occupation.

“When he says there is no occupation, I want to take him with me when we take our kids to school every day, and we pass by a checkpoint with (Israeli) soldiers pointing their guns at us”, Isaac challenged Trump and Huckabee.

Interestingly, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a July 2024 ruling said Israel is an occupying power which has unlawfully occupied the Palestinian land that must end earlier than later.

Palestinian Christians from Jerusalem and Bethlehem turn Christmas parade into protest against the Genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/gXkpnuKGkN

— PALESTINE ONLINE (@OnlinePalEng) December 25, 2024

Following the ICJ verdict, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted on September 18, 2024 a historic resolution calling Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian lands in 12 months.

Meanwhile, Bethlehem – believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, cancelled all Christmas celebrations for the second year in row in solidarity with the Palestinians suffering because of the brutal Israeli war in Gaza and other occupied lands.

This comes after the Bethlehem civic body announced cancellation of all Christmas celebrations, and instead limiting the event to special prayers.

The civic body said prayers, including the Church of Nativity’s famed midnight mass, will still be held in the presence of the Catholic Church’s Latin Patriarch, but the festivities will be of a more strictly religious nature than the festive celebrations the city once held.

On Christmas Eve on Tuesday, Bethlehem was bereft of its usual holiday cheer, with no lights nor a giant tree adorning its central Manger Square, no crowds of tourists, and no marching youth bands that otherwise mark the occasion.

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