The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that Jesus was “the first Palestinian self-sacrificing fighter” and the one who taught Palestinians “Martyrdom-death,” comparing him to suicide bombers.
In a speech at a Christmas dinner last week, Shtayyeh called Jesus “the first Palestinian self-sacrificing fighter from whom we learned Martyrdom-death, and who paid for his mission with his life.”
Reporting on the incident, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a watchdog that monitors incitement in the PA media, noted that Shtayyeh used the expression “Fida’i,” used for terrorists who have been fighting Israel since 1965.
“Defining Jesus who preached non-violence as a ‘self-sacrificing fighter’ in the category with Palestinian murderers is a desecration,” PMW stated Sunday.
Furthermore, the PA’s presentation of Jesus as one who taught Palestinians “Martyrdom-death,” is “a grave insult to Christians as well, since the PA promotes Martyrdom-death as something to be aspired due to the rewards in Paradise, among which according to Islam’s tradition the ‘Martyr’ marries 72 dark-eyed virgins,” the PMW further noted.
Moreover, Shtayyeh linked Jesus’ Martyrdom to the “thousands of Martyrs” who have died for “Palestine.”
“The birthday of our Lord Jesus… takes place at the same time as the anniversary of the outbreak of the Palestinian revolution [its first terror attack against Israel in 1965], for which thousands of Martyrs have paid with their lives,” said Shayyeh at the dinner.
“Linking Jesus to the thousands of Palestinian ‘Martyrs,’ which is the term the PA uses to define all its suicide bombers as well as all terrorists who were killed while attacking Israelis, is yet an additional desecration of Christianity,” PMW underscored.
Finally, Shtayyeh’s reference to Jesus as “a Palestinian” is “an insult to Christianity, as the Christian Bible clearly presents Jesus as a Jew living and interacting with other Jews in the nation of Judea,” PMW added.
PMW noted that especially around Christmas time, but not exclusively, PA leaders repeatedly publicize their false narrative that Jesus was a “Palestinian.”
PMW has documented the PA’ historical revision and anachronism. which falsely connects the Palestinian Authority’s population to a fabricated ancient Palestinian nation.
While Christian tradition and the historical writings of the period portray Jesus as a Jewish rabbi living in the land of Judea in Israel, the PA consistently claims that Jesus was “the first Palestinian.”