Jeopardy Slammed for Judging Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity as Part of Israel, Not Palestine

Beloved game show Jeopardy, in the midst of blockbuster ratings for its GOAT tournament, took a night off from its all-star victory lap on Friday and promptly made news is much less auspicious manner—by getting slammed online for confusing Israel and Palestine.

At the end of Friday’s round one, only a single, $200 question remained on the board, under the category “Where’s that Church?” The clue was “Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity.”

Returning champion and scoreboard leader Katie Needle of Brooklyn, N.Y. quickly rang in and answered “What is Palestine,” but her answer was deemed incorrect as host Alex Trebek added “Nope.” Her game total then dropped from $4,800 to $4,600.

Last-place contestant Jack McGuire, from San Antonio, TX, followed up with the answer “What is Israel” and was ruled correct. Accordingly, his total rose from $2,000 to $2,200 right before the game show took a commercial break.

But in fact, the Church of the Nativity, as well as Bethlehem are under control of the Palestine Authority, and have been since 1995, per the Oslo II Accords signed by Israel and Palestine. The United Nations also lists the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as part of Palestine. And the US State Department clearly defines Bethlehem as inside occupied Palestinian territory (see map).

This erasure of Palestinian sovereignty did not sit well with geopolitically and geographically astute viewers of the game show, however, and they immediately began to vent online.

Katie is right, Alex.
pic.twitter.com/kkfJv06Ln7

— Imraan Siddiqi (@imraansiddiqi) January 11, 2020

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

Hey @Jeopardy – the Church of Nativity is in Bethlehem, which is located in the West Bank which – under international law – is occupied by Israel.

The occupied land is also known, under international law, as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

pic.twitter.com/oMZ2YDOgoQ

— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) January 11, 2020

Apparently @Jeopardy had a question today on The Church of the Nativity and when the contestant answered “Palestine,” it was deemed incorrect and the next contestant said “Israel” and it was counted as correct. @Jeopardy please explain.

— Deanna ديانا (@deannaothman) January 10, 2020

Hey @Jeopardy, The Church of Nativity is in #Palestine ?? –
How was her answer wrong? You should correct this or make a statement. Embarrassing and wrong on many levels. https://t.co/NRTNkU4q2T

— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) January 11, 2020

This is outrageous. The Church of the Nativity is in Bethlehem, #Palestine, which was occupied by Israel in 1967. @Jeopardy screwed up geography and history. Fix it. https://t.co/xm81b5sLiw

— Hisham Melhem (@hisham_melhem) January 11, 2020

Omg fuck you @Jeopardy. The Church of the Nativity is in Bethlehem, which is Palestine, NOT Israel. The woman answered Palestine and you ruled her wrong.

— Scott Roth (@scottroth76) January 11, 2020

So @Jeopardy decided it’s the new Skyes-Picot and can just rename countries on a whim. #Palestine #BethlehemIsInPalestine @AmerZahr pic.twitter.com/OY1QkDUebP

— Chris Whitman (@ChrisWhitman11) January 11, 2020

While Jeopardy judges got this one wrong, Needle, who gave the actual, right answer, still ended up winning the game handily, bringing her two-day winnings total to $53,602.

Watch the above video, via KNSD-TV, NBC’s San Diego affiliate. 

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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