A CNN contributor who claims to be a Catholic priest made the dual false claims on the air that Jesus was a “Palestinian” and that he was “homeless.”
Father Edward Beck appeared on CNN early on Christmas morning and made the effort to link the birth of Christ to the current confrontation going on in Gaza between the nation of Israel and the terrorists of Hamas. But instead of being praised for an uplifting message, the commentator faced an intense backlash for being so embarrassingly wrong about the birth and lineage of Jesus Christ.
During the segment, Beck was asked about the “pain and suffering” taking place all over the world this year and was asked to speak to those feeling “hopeless” in these tumultuous times, the New York Post reported. He replied by speaking of the birth of Christ.
Father Edward Beck says Jesus was a Palestinian Jew. Is this the official position of the Vatican? pic.twitter.com/SKf9Y2WHc0
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 26, 2023
“I think the message of Christmas is that God enters into it with us and we’re not alone in it,” Beck said.
“What I’m so struck by is that the story of Christmas is about a Palestinian Jew — how often do you find those words put together? A Palestinian Jew born into a time when his country was occupied, right?” Beck absurdly claimed.
“They can’t find a place for her to even give birth, his mother. They’re homeless. They eventually have to flee as refugees into Egypt, no less. I mean, you can’t make up the parallels to our current world situation right now,” he rambled on.
“And so in some way, that is who we believe God becomes. Born into that situation, and yet that very man, Jesus, says love one another. Love your enemies,” he said, wrapping up his woke revisionism. “There is hope. There is light in the darkness. I’m attesting to that. So somehow that God enters that experience of suffering and that struggle and is actually born into it. That is what is so miraculous about this celebration for me.”
Was this priest out of line for saying Jesus was a Palestinian?
It was not long, though, before thousands of social media users began to rail against the outright lies about Jesus that Father Beck was pushing on CNN.
“I’m no expert @CNN, but Jesus could not have been a ‘Palestinian Jew’ because the term ‘Palestine’ was introduced by the Romans some years after his death,” Jake Wallis Simmons wrote. “Jesus lived in Judea. To retrospectively call him ‘Palestinian’ suggests a political agenda.”
I’m no expert @CNN, but Jesus could not have been a “Palestinian Jew” because the term “Palestine” was introduced by the Romans some years after his death. Jesus lived in Judea. To retrospectively call him “Palestinian” suggests a political agenda pic.twitter.com/kEud02PnyO
— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) December 26, 2023
“Because you know how in Matthew 15:24 Jesus said ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,’ by Israel Jesus meant Palestine,” another X user blasted, adding, “Father Beck has to stop watching Al-Jazeera and start reading the New Testament.”
Because you know how in Matthew 15:24 Jesus said “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” by Israel Jesus meant Palestine.
Father Beck has to stop watching Al-Jazeera and start reading the New Testament. https://t.co/BOl2xUdw7d— Hussain Abdul-Hussain (@hahussain) December 25, 2023
Another slammed CNN, writing, “They just made Christmas about Jesus being a ‘Palestinian Jew’ on CNN.”
They just made Christmas about Jesus being a “Palestinian Jew” on CNN.
WHERE DO THEY FIND THESE PEOPLE? pic.twitter.com/KEMJhK9jCO
— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) December 25, 2023
New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz reacted, saying, “This is embarrassingly wrong.”
Of course, Jesus was neither a “Palestinian,” nor was he “homeless.”
Mary and Joseph had traveled from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem to appear before Caesar’s government for a census, so they could be assessed for taxes.
The key explanation comes in the Book of Luke, Chapter 2, which reads:
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
Jesus was not born to a “homeless” couple who were aimlessly roaming around Bethlehem. They had a home in Nazareth where Joseph was earning a living as a carpenter.
And Jesus’ father, Joseph, was descended from the House of David.
That means Jesus was not a “Palestinian Jew.”
Father Beck tried to defend his false presentation of Jesus’ birth by taking to his social media and sharing an article from Encyclopedia Britannica entitled, “Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus,” claiming that the word “Palestinian” had long been used to describe people of all religions living in that area.
The Bible, though, does not use the word “Palestine” to describe Bethlehem and its surroundings. It was then referred to as the Roman province of Judaea.
This is far from the first time Beck has become the focus of controversy. In 2021 he told CNN that Catholics who are unvaccinated for COVID-19 should be barred from ever attending church, the U.K. Daily Mail reported at the time.
This purported priest is clearly far more interested in pushing his radical, left-wing politics than enlightening people about Christianity.
