Tourists walk in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Dec. 2, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Mussa Qawasma.

Once again, it’s that time of the year. But we won’t repeat the obvious: the media love blaming Israel for ruining Christmas in Bethlehem.

We will, however, point at the strategy they use to achieve this.

Here is the issue: The media need to cover what they see. And in Bethlehem, they see a baby Jesus doll placed in rubble; no foreign tourists; and protests in solidarity with Gaza. It is undoubtedly a somber Christmas in Jesus’ traditional birthplace, and it should be reported.

But the media should and can apply critical thinking in their choice of interviewees and background material. And they are not doing so.

The Only Priest in Bethlehem?

The media star of the season, except for Jesus, was (again) Munther Isaac, a pastor at Bethlehem’s Lutheran Church.

Outlets like Reuters, BBC, ABC News, and NBC News were happy to quote Isaac for a simple reason: His church was responsible for the media stunt showing baby Jesus as a Palestinian child amid Gaza rubble.

Fair enough. But nowhere did these outlets mention that Isaac has also justified the October 7 massacre, and has been described as “the high priest of antisemitic Christianity.”

Respected news outlets should not fall prey to the manipulations of one priest. Professional coverage should have bothered to contrast his view with that of other voices in the local Christian community.

But the problem runs deeper. These media outlets rely on Palestinian producers in Bethlehem who would never undermine — out of fear or bias — this anti-Israeli narrative. And their foreign bosses would not dare question their work, because they need their connections.

Selective Background

More proof of the media’s seasonal bias against Israel can be gleaned from the background information provided in certain stories.

Instead of reminding news consumers about the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility for the dwindling numbers of local Christians, many outlets include lengthy background paragraphs about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

In Reuters‘ story, for example, a whole section is dedicated to Israel’s settlement activity. One exceptionally irrelevant passage reads:

Israel has built Jewish settlements, deemed illegal by most countries, across the territory. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Several of its ministers live in settlements and favour their expansion.

Similarly, the AP’s “Christmas in Bethlehem” photo collection includes a picture of the security barrier that partially surrounds the city, as a man just happens to walk past graffiti that reads: “Walls are meant for bombing.” Never mind that this wall stood there when Bethlehem enjoyed crowded and celebratory holiday seasons.

And let’s not forget that this bias is not limited to the Christian holidays. Every holiday celebrated by Palestinians in the region — from Ramadan to Easter — gets automatically evaluated based on Israel’s actions.

It never works the other way around, making it seem that Palestinians bear no responsibility whatsoever. For example, the media never outright blamed Hamas for ruining the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which was deliberately chosen as the date for the October 7 massacre.

For the media, it seems, the “oppressed” Palestinians are granted automatic virtue, while the Israeli “oppressors” are seen as innately evil. The holiday season is just another opportunity to show it.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post How the Media Blamed Israel for Ruining Bethlehem’s Christmas (Again) first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Marc Summers and the stars of “Hanukkah on the Rocks.” Photo: Hallmark.

I have fond memories of watching Marc Summers host the show Double Dare.

Unfortunately, nobody dared the Hallmark Channel to write a good Hanukkah movie. To be sure, credit must go to the network for opting to make Hanukkah movies in the first place. I’ve seen them all in recent years, and some have had some panache and sizzle.

It’s painful, however, to watch the new film, Hanukkah on the Rocks. It is so riddled with cliches, that even if the writers were drunk, that wouldn’t be a good enough excuse.

Summers, who is Jewish, stars as a man living in Chicago. His grandson, a handsome radiologist named Jay, is trying to convince him to move to Florida to be with him and the rest of the family. When Jay’s love interest Tory is let go from her job as a lawyer, she says she used to bartend and she helps out at the local bar where they make Hanukkah drinks and celebrate there. (The film is shot in Canada for some reason, but whatever. Maybe Chicago was too expensive.)

The film’s strength is the two leads. Stacey Farber (Tory) and Daren Kagasoff (Jay) both bring charm to their roles, and there’s some chemistry between the two. And there’s a good obligatory kiss at the end.

The problem is the script is dreadful to the point of being offensive. Throwing Yiddish words out randomly doesn’t make a good film. Characters say “bubbie” a few times, and the word “shmendrick” is said by someone who isn’t religious. That would never happen in real life. It would be nice to see an Orthodox person or even a yarmulke on somebody, but I get that the makers of these films don’t want it to be *too* Jewish. I wonder if the makers of Christmas movies are afraid of making it too Christian.

I also get that the film doesn’t care about the food being kosher, but is it necessary to have crème fresh (dairy) on the same plate as short rib? That’s slightly better than lighting the menorah over cheeseburgers.

Jay is supposedly awesome because he helps a young Jewish boy named Parker, who is about eight, with how to pronounce the word “Maccabee.” Of course, there is no explanation of what the word means for the viewing audience.  I almost cried at this part of the film, not only because it was so terrible, but because I realized that many Jewish children likely don’t know what the word Maccabee refers to.

Farber and Kagasoff have talent, but even Judah Macabee couldn’t do anything with this script. There is one cute scene where the two play cornhole and are verbally feisty. Why not more scenes like that?

A character says a drink should be called “He-Brew.” Get it? So original, if not for the fact that it already exists, made by Schmaltz Brewing Company. He’Brew is the flagship brand.

It’s nice that they show the blessings over the candles. But that should be the floor of what we expect, not the ceiling.

There was not a single funny line of dialogue in the entire film. I did laugh at one part that was unintentionally funny. How long was Tory out of work? She almost cries as she says she hasn’t been working — for one week. One week! But she says she has a good severance package. I can’t imagine what viewers who have family members who have been unemployed for a year or more think of someone about to shed tears from being out of work for seven days.

Then there’s the big “twist” at the end, which ends up being meaningless.

With movies this bad, Hanukkah is indeed on the rocks.

The author is a writer based in New York.

The post Hallmark’s Hanukkah Film Is No Miracle first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

People with Israeli flags attend the International March of the Living at the former Auschwitz Nazi German death camp, in Brzezinka near Oswiecim, Poland, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki

Imagine the scene: dignitaries from around the globe gather at the site of Auschwitz Concentration Camp to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation. It’s a solemn event marking the end of one of history’s darkest chapters. Yet, conspicuously absent is the Prime Minister of Israel, the nation born from the ashes of the Holocaust.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, that’s precisely what will happen on January 27, 2025, if Poland gets its way. On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz — the most notorious killing ground of the Holocaust — the Prime Minister of Israel, leader of the nation resurrected from the ashes of that genocide, will be absent. 

Not because he refuses to attend but because Poland has threatened to arrest him under a grotesque and politically motivated International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant. So, while Netanyahu — the democratically elected of the world’s only Jewish state — is deliberately sidelined, leaders from countries that gladly collaborated with the Nazis, or turned away Jewish refugees, or stood idly by as millions were slaughtered, will gather to wring their hands, pose for photos, and make pious speeches. It’s not just surreal; it’s obscene.

Think about it. The leader of Israel — whose very existence is a defiant rebuke to the forces that tried to erase the Jewish people — barred from entering the gates of Auschwitz to honor the memory of the six million victims of the Holocaust. 

Meanwhile, diplomats from nations complicit in the Holocaust, and others whose modern policies enable rising antisemitism, will sit comfortably in the front rows. And the Jewish state? Silenced and snubbed. This isn’t just absurd — it’s an insult to history, to the victims of the Holocaust, and to every Jew alive today.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, this is not just an affront to you personally — it’s an affront to all Jews, past and present. It is a grotesque humiliation aimed at undermining Israel’s legitimacy and moral authority. It is a slap in the face of every Holocaust survivor who rebuilt their lives in the Jewish state and every descendant of those who perished, whose very existence today stands as a defiant testament to Jewish resilience. Don’t let them get away with it.

The ancient Greeks didn’t get away with it. At the time of the Chanukah story, Antiochus IV Epiphanes — a ruthless tyrant whose family inherited a province of the Greek empire from Alexander the Great — stormed into Jerusalem with military force and desecrated the Holy Temple. He erected idols, installed Greek gods, and ordered the Jews to bow and sacrifice to them. Some Jews complied, hoping that submission might preserve peace.

But Matityahu the High Priest and his sons, led by Judah Maccabee, refused to surrender. They wouldn’t allow humiliation to become the new normal. Outnumbered and outmatched, they stood tall, fought back, and prevailed. Their first act upon reclaiming the Temple was to light the menorah. That flame has burned ever since — a testimony that Jews will not be cowed. Not then. Not now.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, you must be Judah Maccabee — strong, proud, and unafraid. Go to Poland. Stand where millions of our people perished and declare, without hesitation, that the Jewish people are still here, still standing, and will never be silenced again. Dare them to arrest you — dare them to drag the Prime Minister of Israel, the representative of Holocaust survivors and their descendants, into custody, on the very soil that drank their blood. 

Let the cameras roll and let the world see the true face of modern antisemitism — the kind that hides behind international law and hollow platitudes. And if they try? Let them face the global outrage that will follow, the fury of Jews and non-Jews alike who still have a moral conscience. Go to Auschwitz, Prime Minister Netanyahu, not just as a leader but as a symbol. Show them that we are no longer victims, no longer voiceless. Show them that we are the Maccabees, and we do not bow.

And to those in Washington, D.C., who still understand right from wrong: remember that Israel is not just your closest ally in the Middle East — it’s the only democracy in the region, standing firm and holding the line in an increasingly unstable world. 

Every enemy of the West has tried to bring Israel down, but Israel has done what others were too afraid to do. Hamas is crippled. Hezbollah is reeling. Assad’s Syria has collapsed into irrelevance. And the Houthis, along with their Iranian backers, are next. Israel is fighting the battles the West refuses to fight, defending not just itself but the values and security of the free world.

The United States has long opposed the ICC’s outrageous overreach and its obsession with targeting Israel. That opposition must not waver now. This is not just an attack on Israel — it is an attack on the moral foundations of America’s closest ally and, by extension, on America itself. 

To allow Benjamin Netanyahu — the elected leader of the Jewish state — to be barred from a Holocaust memorial is to embolden those who seek to delegitimize Israel and the West. Now is the time to act. Diplomatic channels must be mobilized immediately to ensure Netanyahu can attend this memorial unimpeded and unmolested. To do anything less is to send a message that antisemitic agendas dressed up as international law can go unchallenged — and that message must never be sent.

If Netanyahu does not attend, history will record a disgraceful spectacle — the leader of the Jewish state, the only Jewish country in the world, absent from Auschwitz while nations that turned their backs on the Jews, or worse, actively aided their murder, take center stage with sanctimonious speeches and hollow gestures. The optics are not just nauseating — they are a betrayal of memory and truth.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, ignore the threats. Defy the antisemitism masquerading as justice. Show the world that Jews will never again be humiliated — not by violence, not by persecution, and certainly not by the hypocrisy of international institutions hiding behind the veil of legality. Let your presence at Auschwitz declare that the Jewish people have endured, they have survived, they have rebuilt — and they will never be erased.

Light the menorah. Be Judah Maccabee — bold, unyielding, and fearless. The Jewish people — and history — demand nothing less.

The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.

The post Why Benjamin Netanyahu Must Go to Poland first appeared on Algemeiner.com.