In a recent episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, Tucker addressed the viral image of an IDF soldier taking a sledgehammer to the face of the crucified Jesus in Lebanon and the response from Christians in the United States.
Pointing out that at first, Tucker himself thought the image to be AI because it was so callous and figured it was meant to be anti-Israel propaganda, he was troubled when he realized the picture was authentic. Even more troubling was the response – or lack thereof – of Christians in America.
Tucker aired a segment from the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in which a pundit described the incident this way:
This is not a good look. A, let’s start there. I mean, it’s disturbing and it feeds into narratives that people have been creating around Israel that may not be accurate, right? And that’s that’s the problem.
You have people saying things about Israel and the way that Israelis and and you know, the government is allegedly treating Christians and other religious groups. And then you see an image like that and it’s very easy to assume, oh look, all of those people who are spewing conspiracy theories or other ideas, they may be telling the truth.
But what we have to be careful of, and I think we’ve seen this a lot in American culture, in cancel culture…actually, when you look at police officers in this country, right? That one act is somehow emblematic of how every police officer acts. It’s the same thing here. One act that one soldier does is somehow emblematic in people’s minds of what every IDF soldier is doing.
Well, there’s no evidence that that is the case, right? So, we have to be really careful as Christians and as human beings, as human beings and then as Christians in particular, to not assume that there’s a widespread problem simply because we’re seeing one photo of it.
“It’s a lot like attacking white cops after the George Floyd hoax. It means you’re part of the problem. And as Christians, we need to be very careful not to jump to conclusions,” Tucker interpreted.
He then outlined how this is not an isolated incident; Israeli desecration of Christian churches and symbols and harassment of Christians themselves is actually a common occurrence. Previous guests of his, including an Anglican bishop, have testified to being regularly spat upon in Jerusalem or their churches vandalized with graffiti. These harassers also urinate on church entrances on camera.
And within the war since October 7, 2023, many Christian churches, including the only Catholic parish in Gaza, were bombed by Israel. A mother and daughter were murdered by an IDF sniper in a courtyard. Tucker aired footage of an Israeli tank in 2024 bulldozing a statue of St. George slaying a dragon in Lebanon. He aired another clip from 2024 of about a dozen IDF soldiers in a church in Lebanon mocking Christian rites.
“How could this happen?” Tucker asked. “Well, because for some Israelis, a significant number of Israelis, Christian iconography is considered deeply offensive…so offensive that in some Israeli religious schools the plus sign is not used in math. The plus sign, you know, that connotes addition. Why? Because it looks like a cross and that’s considered too offensive for the eyes of school children. And so an inverted T is used. That’s a fact.”
And as Tucker pointed out, the United States funds this: from the uniforms that the IDF soldiers wear, to their tanks, to the free abortion provided in Israel, to the massive upcoming Pride Festival promoted by the government.
Why are we aiding countries involved with spreading evil ideologies?
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Following this monologue was an interview with Alice Kisiya, an Arab Christian and lifelong resident of the West Bank right outside of Bethlehem. Her family has been fighting for their rights against Jewish settlers for decades; their home has been bulldozed multiple times, and their family restaurant was destroyed and never reopened. Trees were uprooted from their property. Images of the Virgin Mary and a cross outside their home were vandalized, and settlers were caught on camera stealing the family dog. The police did nothing.
There’s photo evidence of Alice being grabbed by a settler; it’s unclear if this was the same incident when a settler tried to choke both Alice and her mother, and they were put in jail overnight while the settler went free. These settlers are from around the world, including the United States and Ukraine.
Private companies have been caught forging documents to try and claim that the land Alice and her family has dwelt upon for generations is actually theirs so they could develop it for settlements.
The only reason Alice has been able to fight back even incrementally is because she happens to hold Israeli citizenship.
According to Alice, the help offered from Christian Zionists has been limited to trying to get them to just abandon the land. The Christian population in the West Bank is about 1%, but they hold a disproportionately large amount of land compared to other demographics. Since October 7, 2023, however, at least 200 Christian families have left the area, often convinced by these overseas groups encouraging emigration. She refers to this as ethnic cleansing.
When Tucker asked her about her reaction to the image of the IDF soldier using a sledgehammer on a statue of Jesus, she was not surprised. Attacks on Christianity are a regular occurrence. “They don’t like Christians. They hate us,” she stated plainly.
Alice indicated that Israel relies on propaganda to keep American Christians from understanding the reality of the situation on the ground.
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