Jesus Is Palestinian: Not Just Politics, But Gospel Truth

Let’s get something clear. Jesus wasn’t white.He wasn’t American.And he sure as hell wasn’t pro-empire. Jesus was a Jewish man from Nazareth.Born in Bethlehem.Raised under Roman occupation.Crucified by the state. That land? Today, we call it Palestine.

Why This Matters Now

Because while evangelical nationalists in the U.S. cheerlead Israel’s military aggression, they forget their Christ was born in the very hills now being bombed. The same checkpoints, walls, and color-coded ID systems that strip dignity from Palestinians today mirror the same colonial cruelty Jesus endured. And Palestinian Christians know it. They see Jesus not just as a historical figure but as kin. An ancestor. As a fellow sufferer under occupation.

History, Not Hashtag

Let’s address the historical critique: yes, the name "Palestine" wasn't officially applied by the Romans until about 135 CE, after the Bar Kokhba revolt. Jesus died before that. So technically, he wasn't called "Palestinian" in his time.

But for Palestinian Christians, saying "Jesus is Palestinian" isn’t about rewriting history. It’s about reclaiming theological truth. It’s about seeing Jesus as one of their own: a brown-skinned, colonized Jew, born in the very place their families now suffer.

And for scholars? The historical Jesus was undeniably a Jewish man from Roman-occupied Judea. Think olive skin, brown eyes, 5'5", muscular, Aramaic-speaking. Not a blue-eyed Nordic figure. That image? It’s colonial propaganda.

The Erasure of Palestinian Christians

The Western church has sanitized and decontextualized Jesus so thoroughly that it has erased the very people who carry his bloodlines today. Palestinian Christians—the oldest Christian community in the world—are disappearing, not because of Hamas, but because of systemic occupation and economic strangulation.

Bethlehem, where Christ was born, is being choked. And while American Christians pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they ignore the checkpoints, demolitions, and war crimes just miles away. As Palestinian theologian Munther Isaac puts it: "The Christian world sacrificed Palestinians on the altar of their repentance for the Holocaust."

Empire in a Choir Robe

Christian Zionism preaches a theology that casts God as tribal, violent, and racist—a God who plays favorites based on ethnicity and land deeds. This isn’t the God of the Gospels.

When Christians baptize nationalism, they crucify Christ all over again. You can’t worship a Palestinian Jew on Sunday and cheer for the bombing of Gaza on Monday.

That’s not faith. That’s blasphemy.

The Gospel According to the Oppressed

Jesus’ teachings weren’t abstract ethics. The Sermon on the Mount wasn’t a Hallmark card. It was resistance. It was a manifesto.

He said, 'Blessed are the poor.' The peacemakers. The persecuted.

He didn’t say, "Blessed are the occupiers."

Naim Ateek, founder of the Sabeel Liberation Theology Center, said: "Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him. Palestine has become one huge Golgotha."

What Western Christians Must Do

• Stop worshiping white Jesus

• Learn from Palestinian theologians like Ateek and Isaac

• Name Christian Zionism for what it is: heresy

• Support creative nonviolent resistance like BDS

• Advocate for equal application of international law

Final Word

Jesus was a Jew from what is now Palestine. He lived, loved, and died under occupation.

He sides with the wounded, not the war machine. With the displaced, not the drones.

He is Palestinian. And he’s still being crucified. The question is: Are you cheering with the crowd? Or weeping at the cross?

Works Cited

Ateek, Naim. Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation. Orbis Books, 1989.

Isaac, Munther. The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope. InterVarsity Press, 2020.

“Jesus Is Palestinian: A Theological and Political Stance.” Podcast by Dr. Justin Hurtado, PhD

“Was Jesus Really White?” National Geographic, 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/was-jesus-white-or-brown-middle-east.

“Christian Zionism.” BBC News, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/zionism_1.shtml.

Francis. “Hypocrisy in the Church Is Particularly Detestable.” National Catholic Reporter, 2023, www.ncronline.org.

Sojourners. “What Does It Mean to Say Jesus Is Palestinian?” Sojourners, 2024, sojo.net/articles/opinion/what-does-it-mean-say-jesus-palestinian.