A Catholic priest who sat for an interview on CNN on Christmas day, claimed that Jesus was a persecuted Palestinian and that the story of his birth contains parallels to what’s going on in the Middle East.
Father Edward Beck, a regular contributor, joined Monday morning’s anchors to discuss the topic of how to keep faith alive this holiday season with everything going on in the world, namely, the war between Israel and Hamas, with Palestinians caught in the middle.
He claimed that the story of Christmas was actually one of a “Palestinian Jew”, noting how extraordinary it is to hear those two words put together. Father Beck went on to say Jesus was born into an occupied country, and that his mother and father (Mary/Joseph) were forced to flee into Egypt as refugees which is technically correct, as far as the Bible’s concerned.
Beck went on to say the same sort of thing is going on right now in 2023, and while he didn’t outrightly come out as explicitly pro-Palestine, that was how his remarks were perceived.
Father Beck has defended what he said in some back-and-forths online. Again, some took his words here to imply that Jesus was more so Palestinian/Arab than he was Jewish, but Beck says his words are being twisted, and his larger message of peace/unity overshadowed.
He’s also posted articles that reference the use of the word “Palestinian” historically and how it’s apparently been employed to identify Muslims, Jews and others who’ve lived in that region dating back millennia.