Thread by @joelpollak

Allow me to respond to @TuckerCarlson's interview here with @MuntherIsaac by talking about the facts, rather than speculating about whether Tucker hates Israel, or is an antisemite. He says he is concerned about Christians; I'll accept that. But there's no excuse for this. (1/nn)

First, a fact about Bethlehem. Christians used to be a majority there; they are now a minority. The Palestinian Authority has been Islamizing the city since taking control of Bethlehem 30 years ago. Israeli "occupation" is hardly the primary issue. (2/10)jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm

Another fact: Bethlehem has become an antisemitic city under Palestinian control, far worse to Jews than even to Christians. In 2007, I was told not to speak Hebrew there; in 2023, I was told to remove my yarmulke, or cover it with a hat. In the birthplace of Jesus, a Jew. (3/10)

Rev. Isaac does not believe Israel should exist, a fact Tucker does not discuss. He also repeats many false claims about Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, like the claim Israeli snipers killed 2 civilians in a church, which the IDF (which admits other mistakes) refuted. (4/10)

Remarkably, Rev. Isaac criticizes the Abraham Accords, a peace agreement between Israel and several Arab states. One who is truly interested in peace should welcome that development. For Rev. Isaac, that peace deal is bad because it distracts from the Palestinian struggle. (5/10)

Rev. Isaac is an activist who campaigns worldwide against evangelical Christian support for Israel. He tells Carlson evangelicals should not use the Bible as a basis for supporting Israel. He is entitled to these beliefs but they are not authoritative in any broader sense. (6/10)

Rev. Isaac says Israel is "not as free as people say" for Christians, claiming it is tough to register conversions. (Bureaucracy is tough for everyone in Israel, due to laws dating to the Ottoman era.) Tucker extrapolates, falsely, Christians have "fewer rights" in Israel. (7/10)

Carlson adds some of the interview's most incendiary comments, suggesting that the U.S. should not give Israel aid if one Christian is killed and should not support a foreign government that he says is guilty of "blowing up churches and killing Christians," which is false. (8/10)

One suspects Carlson's real target is Republican foreign policy. He mocks "self-professed Christians" in the U.S. whom he says are "sending money to oppress Christians," another false and inflammatory statement. He attacks evangelical @SpeakerJohnson for supporting Israel. (9/10)

There are many pro-Israel Christian Arabs (tak to @YosephHaddad). Concern about Christians would suggest backing Israel against Islamist Hamas and opposing Palestinian Authority policies. Tucker has taken his opposition to a U.S. role in foreign wars to an absurd extreme. (10/10)

@YosephHaddad Apologies for typos; I'm on a flight to Israel.