Cardinal David hits Israel, says Jesus would have been born in Gaza

MANILA, Philippines – Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, criticized the state of Israel on Christmas Eve for its relentless attacks on Gaza that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

“I can’t think of any other people in the world who live in darkness and are always in the shadow of death than them,” David said in Filipino during the last Simbang Gabi Mass on Tuesday, December 24.

David, 65, connected this to the Christmas message by leading churchgoers to reimagine Jesus’ birth. A biblical scholar educated at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, David has often emphasized “the role of imagination” in interpreting the Bible. 

David, known for his defense of human rights especially during Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, said Catholics should not “romanticize” the manger at Bethlehem.

“I think that if the Holy Family were to look for an inn today, they would not stay in Bethlehem but in the Gaza Strip and find a collapsed house in which to give birth to the Son of God,” the cardinal said.

David said he understands that many Filipinos show great sympathy toward Israel because the Philippines is a Christian-majority country. In addition, many Filipinos work in Israel under Jewish employers. “So it is but natural that many Filipinos would feel greater affinity with the Israelis,” he said.

David said, however, that Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza should not be condoned. He echoed Pope Francis who recently said that Israel’s bombing of Palestinians, including children, “is cruelty.”

The Israel in the Bible is a far cry from the state of Israel, he added.

“It is no longer an Israel that is disadvantaged and defenseless and oppressed by the powerful, but an Israel that is aggressive, at an advantage in war, and supported by world powers,” David said.

Israel, he explained, should learn from the biblical experience of David, who mistakenly thought he only needed to build God a temple to attain elusive peace. 

It is the other way around, he said, and God is the one who will build a temple for David.

“That will not happen as long as we treat each other as enemies,” said David.

“No matter our religion, culture, or race, we all come from the same God — a God of love, a God who humbles, a God who does not call for revenge or exacts punishment but a God who forgives,” the cardinal added.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ Ocober 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins. – with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com