Elizabeth the Palestinian?

Last updated on: September 9, 2022 at 5:55 pm by James F. McGrath

Elizabeth the Palestinian? 2022-09-09T17:55:46-04:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Palestinian-American comedian tweeted and then shared on Facebook this statement: “Elizabeth was a pious Palestinian woman who lived in Ein Karem, a village south of Jerusalem. She was the mother of John the Baptist, a Palestinian. And the cousin of Mary and Jesus, also Palestinians. Subsequently, some white people named their queens after her.”

Before proceeding, let me mention that Palestinian did indeed have an equivalent in that era as a geographic term, Philistine Syria, that part of the region thought of as Syria that had been a center of Philistine civilization. That term in and of itself is not the issue. Here’s what is: I left a comment indicating that using only “Palestinian” was misleading for two reasons. On the one hand they have identities as Israelites within the diversity of peoples in the region, which using only the broad geographic label obliterates. On the other hand, the term Palestinian today denotes the Arab Christians and Muslims who have historically inhabited the region. All terminology is of course potentially misleading. Before they were “Arabs” the Christians in this region spoke Aramaic (sometimes referred to using the term Syriac, which is yet another matter). Arabic became dominant after the arrival of Arab rule. History, language, and identity are messy. The issue is not the claim that Elizabeth and John, Mary and Jesus were Palestinians. They were, geographically speaking. You may have heard the term “Palestinian Judaism” used to denote the Judaism practiced in this part of the world. It is the use of the term Palestinian on its own that is the problem. It sounds like, and from the responses to my comment I gather it was indeed intended as, an attempt to obliterate the Jewish identity of some or all of these individuals. Anti-Israeli sentiment among Palestinians is perfectly understandable. Israel occupied land and continues to do so without integrating its inhabitants as citizens or taking any number of other possible courses of actions that might be deemed just. We presumably all understand why Israel is concerned not to lose its identity as a homeland for the Jewish people. But in my view past atrocities never justify present and future ones. The gas chambers of the Holocaust do not justify the graffiti I saw in Hebron that said “Gas the Arabs.” “Never Again” should mean working to ensure that atrocities never happen again to anyone, not perpetrating atrocities in an ethnocentric effort to prevent them from being done to one’s own people group. Violence begets violence.

Some might say that I should have held my tongue. Some will be unsurprised that I oppose pseudohistory about the Jewish people and their temple with the same insistence that I do pseudohistory about Jesus. My view is that we cannot give in to bullies, which includes not just those who engage in physical violence but also the stereotypical angry racist uncle who will ratchet up the rhetoric and the volume until everyone cowers in fear or simply prefers peace and quiet. My credentials as someone who has taken Jewish students to hear from Palestinians and visit Bethlehem and other places in the West Bank, and has taken Palestinian-American students to Israel as well as Palestine including to the Holocaust museum, hopefully speak for themselves. Trying to rewrite history will not do anything of benefit to the cause of the Palestinians, just as denying the historicity of Jesus doesn’t benefit atheism. When Yasser Arafat spouted laughable claims about the Jewish temple having been in Yemen rather than Jerusalem, it became difficult for anyone to take him seriously. If you spout nonsense about science or medicine I probably won’t be inclined to consider you credible even when talking about something else.

How do you respond to false claims about history?

The connection of this with the death of Queen Elizabeth II makes this topic still more complex. A tweet by Uju Anya drew lots of attention after she wished suffering on the Queen as she died. This was later explained in terms of Anya being the descendent of Nigerians who survived a genocide that was supported by Britain.

Violence begets violence, and violence in most cases undermines the claim to be different from one’s opponents. Atrocities in the present cannot be supported effectively either by wishing reciprocal atrocities or by doing violence to history. There are better ways. It is precisely because I care about genocide, because I care about justice for Palestinians as well as Jews, that I write what I do and dare to wander into the midst of ideological bubbles on Facebook and Twitter.

Amer Zahr unfriended me (at least, I think we were friends, since I saw the Facebook post in question which otherwise I would not have). If he and others like him unfriend everyone who challenges him, he risks ending up like the Germans in Hitler’s time who listened only to antisemitic pseudohistory and expressions of hate. Doing that while appealing to Jesus and other New Testament characters is ironic and sad, given Jesus’ teaching on love for enemies and on using means other than violence to respond to oppression.

Of course, the social media post probably also grabbed my attention since it assumed the historicity of many things that are late traditions, such as the connection of Elizabeth and John with Ein Karem, which I blogged about recently. Hopefully my work in the coming months will bring the historical John the Baptist, as well as those around him, into clearer focus.

Jewish

Muslim

History and Religion

Politics and Religion

Previous Post

September 8, 2022

The End of an Era: Queen Elizabeth II Has Died, Charles Becomes King

Next Post

September 13, 2022 Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers Digitized!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz