Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, trying to force a schism between Christians and Jews, made an outrageous claim in his “Christmas message,” saying that Jesus was a Palestinian, not a Jew. Abbas astonishingly continued that Israel is responsible for the exodus of Christians from Israel.
Abbas may know his Koran, but not his Bible, in which Jesus clearly states his allegiance to the Torah: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill … For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Additionally, Abbas may not know that the last Supper was a Seder. That’s pretty Jewish.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel , “He should have read the Gospel before uttering such offensive nonsense, but we will forgive him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.” He added that Abbas’s message is “an outrageous rewriting of Christian history.”
Abbas wrote in his message that Jesus was “a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world.” He furthered his accusations by writing, “We celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem under occupation. This Christmas Eve, our hearts and prayers will be with the millions who are being denied their right to worship in their homeland.” He called Israel’s security fence an “annexation Wall, which is stealing [Palestinians’] land and dooming their future.”
Palmor responded, “These rather unfriendly statements are ‘not exactly in the spirit of Christmas.'” He added, “Maybe he needs a hug from Santa?”
Abbas continued by lamenting Palestinians “trapped under siege” in Gaza, and “those who are prevented from worshiping in Bethlehem. Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Al Dbayeh Refugee Camp in Beirut, along with all of our Palestinian refugees — Christians and Muslims uprooted from their hometowns in 1948 and who, since that time, have suffered the vicissitudes of a forced exile.”
Abbas directed part of the message to Palestinians living abroad: “To them we say that Bethlehem is their town and Palestine is their country. We will continue working tirelessly to give them the freedom to decide where to spend Christmas.”
An Israeli government official was furious at the accusation from Abbas that Israel had caused Christians to leave the country, saying, “The exodus of Christians from Bethlehem turned into a flood the moment the PA took control.”
Abbas tried to paint a rose-colored picture of life in the Palestinian territories, writing, “Christians are not a minority here: they are an integral part of the Palestinian people. Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians, Assyrians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Copts, Melkites, Protestants and others are all part of the rich mosaic of this free, sovereign, democratic and pluralistic Palestine we aspire to have.”
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