New Times Square Billboard Declares ‘Jesus Is Palestinian’

Instagram/ADC

A new billboard declaring, “Jesus is Palestinian. Merry Christmas,” is lighting up New York City’s Times Square in an attempt to “Reclaim the truth” about the “genocide” in Gaza.

Funded by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the digital ad is designed to spark debate and conversations to “reclaim a fundamental truth” regarding Jesus’s birthplace, according to the ADC’s Instagram page. Bethlehem is located in the contested territory of the West Bank.

“As Gaza endures genocide, and the birthplace of Jesus is under siege and occupation, we reclaim a fundamental truth in the heart of Times Square,” the post that strives to explain the controversial ad reads. “In a season of peace we speak to those who have been denied peace. Using these billboards, we: Reclaim the truth, honoring the Palestinian refugee born in Bethlehem; challenge the ongoing erasure of Palestinian identity, culture and rootedness to the land; highlight the reverence for Jesus in Islam, fostering interfaith understanding against forces that seek to divide us; and proudly assert our truth in the most visible public space, refusing silence.”

The ad contains a second featured passage, which is a line from the Quran, announcing the birth of Jesus in both English and Arabic.

“Remember when the angels proclaimed, ‘O Mary! Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him, his name will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; honored in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be one of those nearest to Allah,'” the advertised verse reads. The phrase ‘Merry Christmas’ was alongside the passage in both Arabic and English.”

Amid backlash from passersby and on social media, Abed Ayoub, National Executive Director of the ADC, told The New York Post that the billboard’s underlying theme is one of unification and “America First.”

“There’s a lot more similarities between Arabs and Muslims and Christians in this country than others want to allow us to believe, and there are similarities and there is a fear of culture, shared religion,” Ayoub said in his interview with The Post. “Most of the Americans in this country are Christian and the birthplace of Christianity is Palestine. If people wanna go back and forth and debate it, then great, the billboard sparked debate. At least you’re having a conversation about it. Otherwise, we’re silenced and our voices and positions don’t come out.”