Christian Zionists ignore reality of West Bank living, Palestinian Christian leaders say

Palestinian Christian leaders criticized US Christian Zionists in a CNN interview, saying they ignore the experiences of Palestinian Christians and fund West Bank settlements. Father Munther Isaac said theology has been weaponized, while Mike Huckabee defended evangelical support for Israel, saying evangelicals believe the entire Bible.

Palestinian Christian leaders criticized American Christian Zionists in an interview with CNN on Sunday, saying they ignore the experiences of Palestinian Christians and fund West Bank settlements. Father Munther Isaac, director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, said that when pastors and lay people visit Palestine and see the walls, settlements, and struggling families, their eyes are opened. He said Christians are under attack daily in Jerusalem and that Christian Zionists render their experiences invisible by insisting Israel belongs to the Jewish people. "Theology has been weaponized," he said, adding that these Christians fund and support the major threat to their existence. Father Bashar Fawadleh of Taybeh, the last fully Christian town in the West Bank, said his congregants are afraid to harvest olive groves due to settler violence. One parishioner said they would leave if they had the opportunity. The leaders are concerned about funding from groups like Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC), which urge donations to support Israeli communities in the West Bank. Kimberly Troup of CFOIC said being a Christian Zionist means following God's word that He gave the Land of Israel to the Jewish people. Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, responded to Isaac's jab that he is "living in the 7th Century BCE," denying that evangelicals overlook Palestinian Christians and saying they believe the entire Bible. The article notes that Christian Zionism is broadly defined as a theological and political movement supporting the return of Jewish people to a Jewish homeland.