Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) drew massive heat after she put out a Christmas post that described the state of Israel as a violent, occupying force and compared Jesus with the Palestinians. Her words created outrage, with some calling her antisemitic, including Rabbi Shmuley, widely known as “America’s rabbi.”
The New York representative’s post went up on Instagram on Christmas Eve, and depicted a child on top of exploded rubble, with wooden nativity scene icons seen around the damage.
“In the story of Christmas, Christ was born in modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre of innocents,” AOC wrote.
She then compared the plight of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph with the modern Israel-Hamas war, writing, “Mary and Joseph, displaced by violence and forced to flee, became refugees in Egypt with a new born waiting to one day return home. Thousands of years later, right-wing forces are violently occupying Bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today’s Palestinians, so much so that the Christian community in Bethlehem has canceled this year’s Christmas Eve celebrations out of both safety and respect.”
“And yet, also today, holy children are still being born in a place of unspeakable violence — for every child born, of any identity and from any place, is sacred. Especially the children of Gaza.”
“The entire story of Christmas and Christ himself is about standing with the poor and powerless, the marginalized and maligned, the refugees and immigrants, the outcast and misunderstood without exception.
“This high Christian holiday is about honoring the precious sanctity of a family that, if the story were to unfold today, would be Jewish Palestinians.
“Merry Christmas. May there be peace on Earth, amen.”
This post outraged many, including Rabbi Shmuley, a nationally known religious figure that The Washington Post and Newsweek called “the most famous Rabbi in America.”
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Approved ~ MJM
