Israeli embassy’s Xmas message of hate:
Bethlehem Palestinians would lynch Jesus and Mary as Jews
Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada, Dec 17 2012

Screenshot from official Facebook page of Israeli embassy in Dublin

That message was on the official Facebook page of the Israeli Embassy in Dublin. The message drew immediate criticism from Gary Spedding, an activist with the cross-community Alliance Party in Northern Ireland, and a student at Queens University Belfast, whowrote:

I believe @IsraelinIreland should apologize for this vile Xmas message of hate and sectarianism.

Spedding offers further analysis of the posting on his personal blog. The offensiveness of the message needs no further elaboration, but Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem will find it particularly galling given that it is Israel, with its wall surrounding their city, and other violent manifestations of the occupation, which has done most to strangle the home of the Nativity. Recently, Israeli settlers, with the collusion of Israeli authorities, have stepped up so-called “price tag” attacks on Christian holy sites. Palestinian Christians living under Israeli rule also face widespread discrimination. The idea of the modern Israeli settler-state providing “security” to Jesus is even more absurd and offensive given the contempt in which Christianity is held by some Israeli officials. Earlier this year, MK Michael Ben-Ari tore up a copy of the New Testament and, throwing it in the trash, claimed:

This abominable book brought about the murder of millions of Jews.

For several years, Shimon Gapso, the notoriously racist mayor of the Israeli settlement of “Upper Nazareth” in the Galilee, has banned Xmas trees, calling them a provocation. Gapso said:

Nazareth Illit is a Jewish city and it will not happen, not this year and not next year, so long as I am a mayor.

Finally, the notion that Palestinians would “lynch” Jesus is also a disturbing echo of the anti-Semitic “Jews killed Jesus” canard. This is not the first time the Israeli embassy in Dublin has been responsible for messages that are even more unhinged than typical Israeli government propaganda. In June, Nurit Tinari-Modai, the deputy ambassador, made headlines when she proposed a plan to personally smear Palestine solidarity activists, especially Israelis, to “humiliate and shame them” as suffering from psychological and sexual problems and imply that they work for Mossad.

[ed notes:click link for whole expose..