Mike Huckabee - the former governor of Arkansas - recently blasted U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for the Christmas message that she posted on social media.
In case you missed it, Ocasio-Cortez posted the message on Christmas Eve, and it has garnered a lot of criticism.
Take a look:
AOC describes Israel as a ‘violent right wing occupying force’ in Christmas post. No mention of Hamas terror, the victims of Oct. 7 attack. pic.twitter.com/oajJnYLAOF
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) December 24, 2023
In the above message, Ocasio-Cortez attempts to make a comparison between the situation that Jesus found himself in at the time of his birth and the current Israel-Palestine war.
The congresswoman wrote:
In the story of Christmas, Christ was born in modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre of innocents. He was part of a targeted population being indiscriminately killed to protect an unjust leader’s power. Mary and Joseph, displaced by violence and forced to flee, became refugees in Egypt with a newborn 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
There is little doubt that the "right-wing forces" Ocasio-Cortez is referring to are the people of Israel.
The congresswoman added, "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 whole point of Ocasio-Cortez's message is to try to make an argument that Americans ought to support Palestinians in their war with Israel - a war, it has to be remembered, that began when Hamas launched a deadly terrorist attack on the people of Israel.
Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, is among countless individuals who have pointed out the numerous flaws with Ocasio-Cortez's analogy. He did so during an appearance on the Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends First on Tuesday.
There, the former Arkansas governor asked, "Is she not aware that the whole term 'Palestinian' meant 'Jewish people' until 1962, when Yasser Arafat coopted the term and created a nation and made up a people and called them the Palestinians, who previously were Jordanian?"
Huckabee went on to point out that, although Bethlehem used to be a city of Christians, it is now being run by radicalized Muslims.
"The Christians were pretty much burned out and shut down by the radical Muslims who took it over back during the intifada," Huckabee said.
He concluded by telling Ocasio-Cortez "to stick to something she knows like bartending, because for gosh sake, she has no clue about the history of the Middle East, Jesus, the Jewish people, the state of Israel or virtually anything else she talked about in her post."
