The game-show “Jeopardy!” scored big points in the truth department when it refused to let a contestant rewrite history.
The popular US game-show “Jeopardy!” on Friday identified the Church of Nativity as located in Israel, rather than “Palestine,” as a contestant erroneously answered. The church is located in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, in the Palestinian Authority-controlled region of Judea, the ancient homeland of the Jewish People.
Between 1948 and 1967 it was occupied by Jordan. Israel liberated eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War, when the tiny Jewish state was under attack by the surrounding Arab countries, including Jordan
Jeopardy!, which has aired on and off since 1964, provides three competitors with answers for which they need to provide questions. Under the category, “Where’s that Church?” host Alex Trebek gave the clue, “Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity.”
Returning contestant Katie Needle was the first to buzz in. She replied, “What is Palestine?” to which Trebek responded, “Nope.”
Contestant Jack McGuire, who was in last-place, then correctly answered, “What is Israel?”
As for the first contestant’s answer, never in history was there a ‘State of Palestine.,
Unfortunately, following the commercial break, points were unceremoniously returned to Needle and taken away from McGuire.
False Palestinian Narrative
While the church has only been under Palestinian Authority control since the 1993 Oslo Accords, Palestinian leaders frequently promote the historically impossible narrative that Jesus was a “Palestinian,” with some even going so far as to claim Jesus was a Muslim.
In reality, the religion of Islam wasn’t invented until over 600 years after the lifetime of Jesus, whom historians and Christian theologians believe was a Jew living in Judea.
Predictably, deputy director for the Arab American Institute, Omar Baddar tweeted Saturday:
Unacceptable!! Bethlehem is in the Palestinian territories which Israel illegally occupies (Katie Needle got the correct answer & was robbed). @Jeopardy owes an apology for endorsing Israel’s universally-condemned illegal takeover of Palestinian lands.pic.twitter.com/Ym99YziM4k
— Omar Baddar (@OmarBaddar) January 11, 2020
The Truth About Bethlehem
“Historically, Bethlehem, biblically called Beit Lechem in Hebrew, means ‘House of Bread. This refers to the grain grown there. Bread is the ‘staff of life.’” Avi Dobuler, veteran Israel tour guide, told United With Israel. “It is first mentioned as the burial place of one of the mother’s of the Jewish people, Rachel and the birth place of King David. In Genesis 35:19 it says, ‘Rachel died. She was buried on the road to Efrat, that is Beit Lechem.”
Beit Lechem is also mentioned in the Book of Ruth, the Book of Samuel, the Book of Micah and the Book of Psalms.
Dobuler noted that due to Arab pronunciation, they call the city “Bayta Lahm” which means “House of Meat.” He said, “The 1993 Oslo Accords led to tremendous amounts of terror and Jewish blood shed. Calling Bethlehem ‘House of Meat’ pretty much defines the Palestinian Authority, which has demonstrated a penchant for bloodshed by terrorist gangs such as the PLO, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Fatah.
“When Jordan conquered Bethlehem, in 1948, Jews were forbidden to live in the biblical heartland,” Dobuler continued. “In 1988, Jordan’s King Hussein relinquished his illegitimate right to Judea and Samaria, as well as parts of Jerusalem. In 1994, following strong international pressure, the ‘Palestinian Authority’ [PA] was formed. Palestinian arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat claimed Bethlehem as a PA Arab city, intimidating most of its Christians to flee.”
Israel has maintained military control of the area since defeating Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Christians believe the church is the birthplace of Jesus.
