'Pope can't rewrite Bible - Jesus was a Jew from Judea, not Palestinian,' Christian leader says

"The Pope’s inauguration of a nativity scene that showed baby Jesus cradled in a Palestinian keffiyeh is an affront to Jesus, the Bible, and the 80% of Christians who have fled Bethlehem since the Palestinian Authority took over the city,” President of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations, Laurie Cardoza-Moore said on Wednesday.

“Let’s be clear. The Pope can’t rewrite the Bible - Jesus was a Jew from Judea, not a Palestinian. He was born to a Jewish mother in Bethlehem, in Judea – there was no Palestine," Cardoza-Moore continued.

Proclaiming Justice to The Nations is an organization “that educates, advocates, and moves to activate Christians, Jews and all people of conscience in building a global community of action and prayer in support of Israel and the Jewish people,” according to its website.  

A nativity scene featuring baby Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh was unveiled at Pope Francis’ Nativity Scene and Christmas Tree inauguration on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square.

“Every year, subversive elements within the Church attempt to hijack the holiday and pull the Keffiyeh over our eyes – but it will never work. Instead of paying homage to this blasphemy, the Pope should be publicly supporting the State of Israel in her fight for survival,” she said.

Cardoza-Moore hosts a weekly television show titled “Focus on Israel,” which has an audience of two billion potential viewers worldwide. 

She then called on the Christian world to “open their bible and read.” She continued, “There is no mention of Arafat, Sinwar, or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Bible was written in Hebrew, not Arabic. It is time that we wake up and listen to the rhetoric coming out of Teheran and their proxies: first, they are coming for the Saturday People (the Jews) and then, the Sunday People (the Christians).”

Contrasting status of Christians in Israel proper compared to under PA

She then highlighted the contrasting situations for Christians in Israel proper, compared to Christians in Bethlehem, in the West Bank. 

“Christians in Israel enjoy full rights under the law. Many Christians are currently fighting in the Israel Defense Forces, on the front lines. Meanwhile, Christians in Bethlehem are second-class citizens. The tiny minority which remains in the Holy City is forced to conform with the Palestinian revisionist narrative or else,” she said.

She concluded her statements by calling for a prayer for peace and “not do the bidding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization - a Christian-hating, Jew-hating National Socialist movement which has done nothing but bring pain and bloodshed to the people of the Middle East.”