FILE PHOTO: U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) at an event in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate and director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called out Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and The New York Times for promulgating the notion that Jesus was a Palestinian.
Omar re-tweeted an April 20 tweet from Omar Suleiman, an adjunct professor for Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University, who said a Palestinian relative told him regarding the “Christian right”: “Don’t they know we’re Christian too? Do they even consider us human? Don’t they know Jesus was a Palestinian?”
Similarly, an April 19 New York Times piece focusing on various depictions of Jesus Christ’s skin color stated, “Jesus, born in Bethlehem, was most likely a Palestinian man with dark skin.”
Cooper told the Journal in a statement via email that it’s a “grotesque insult to Jesus born in the land of Israel and to Christianity” to say that Jesus was a Palestinian.
“Palestine was a name made up by Romans after they crucified thousands, destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and exiled the People of Israel from their homeland,” Cooper said.
Others similarly tweeted:
Is it for real? Jesus was a Jew. What’s next? The Pope is also Palestinian? Stop lowering our IQ
— SSI Movement (@SSI_Movement) April 22, 2019
No, Jesus was Jewish, actually. I'm a bit surprised that a Congressperson would retweet false and inaccurate information.
— Fred Menachem (@FredMenachem) April 22, 2019
Yea no, honey. Jesus was not Palestinian @IlhanMN.
Jesus was Jewish. pic.twitter.com/rvIZaGfaVv
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) April 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/ElliottRHams/status/1120405513651544066
Omar and The New York Times did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
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