IsraHell embassy’s Xmas message of hate: Bethlehem Palestinians would lynch Jesus and Mary as Jews

That message was on the official Facebook page of the Israeli Embassy in Dublin. The message drew immediate criticism from Gary Spedding, an activist with the cross-community Alliance Party in Northern Ireland, and a student at Queens University Belfast, who wrote:

Spedding offers further analysis of the posting on his personal blog. The offensiveness of the message needs no further elaboration, but Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem will find it particularly galling given that it is Israel, with its wall surrounding their city, and other violent manifestations of the occupation, which has done most to strangle the home of the Nativity. Recently, Israeli settlers, with the collusion of Israeli authorities, have stepped up so-called “price tag” attacks on Christian holy sites. Palestinian Christians living under Israeli rule also face widespread discrimination. The idea of the modern Israeli settler-state providing “security” to Jesus is even more absurd and offensive given the contempt in which Christianity is held by some Israeli officials. Earlier this year, MK Michael Ben-Ari tore up a copy of the New Testament and, throwing it in the trash, claimed:

For several years, Shimon Gapso, the notoriously racist mayor of the Israeli settlement of “Upper Nazareth” in the Galilee, has banned Xmas trees, calling them a provocation. Gapso said:

Finally, the notion that Palestinians would “lynch” Jesus is also a disturbing echo of the anti-Semitic “Jews killed Jesus” canard. This is not the first time the Israeli embassy in Dublin has been responsible for messages that are even more unhinged than typical Israeli government propaganda. In June, Nurit Tinari-Modai, the deputy ambassador, made headlines when she proposed a plan to personally smear Palestine solidarity activists, especially Israelis, to “humiliate and shame them” as suffering from psychological and sexual problems and imply that they work for Mossad.

Following the outrcy over its hateful Xmas message (see above), the Israeli embassy in Dublin has deleted the message from its Facebook page and posted an apology claiming it was unauthorized:

There’s something disingenuous and unbelievable about this. First of all, how did someone unauthorized get hold of the password or Facebook account of notoriously “security-conscious” Israeli officials? Perhaps there should be an investigation. Early comments under the “apology” post indicated skepticism about the explanation. Facebook user Zeeshan Shahid wrote:

But of course the other reason the “apology” lacks credibility is that the social media accounts of the Israeli embassy in Ireland have a history of posting bigoted material. Earlier this year, for example, the @israelinireland Twitter account made an Islamophobic comment suggesting that real Irish citizens could not be Muslims. The embassy tweeted to Irish Times journalist Mary Fitzgerald, who had just published a story on “the fighters from Ireland who have joined the Syrian uprising”:

And, as mentioned earlier, there is the bizarre plot by deputy ambassador Nurit Tinari-Modai to malign Palestine solidarity activists as sexual deviants. If today’s Xmas message was unauthorized, what about all the rest of the hate being spewed by Israel’s representatives in Dublin?

Posted by Nysoulcontrolla aka Ali