3 things to know about Israel's relationship with Christians

3. Arab Christian warns of 'brainwash,' criticizes Tucker Carlson

During the briefing, Elias Zarina, the Arab and minority affairs research associate at JCAP, criticized images that have emerged online showing Jesus holding the Palestinian flag and wearing a keffiyeh.

Zarina, born and raised in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, responded to American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, who has garnered attention in recent years for his negative commentary about Israel. Zarina stated that people like Carlson are using those images to share something that is “not the truth.” 

He said that such images are part of the “brainwash” that he and other Christian teens have faced. 

"It's a brainwash, totally brainwashed from a young age, starting from grade one up to grade 12,” he said. “It's a brainwash that we've faced from a young age at the educational institutions." 

When he was a teenager, Zarina said he was involved with the student movement of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), whose political and military wings have been deemed a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. 

“They are so liberal. So, for me, at that time, at that age, I was 19 years old. It was the best solution,” he said. 

In addition to Carlson, Avi Zimmerman noted that commentator Candace Owens’ references to Israel through her online platform are “largely negative.” 

“But it's not only largely negative, but it is a methodology of taking this Christian story, distorting and misrepresenting, and then sharing it en masse with very large audiences that, again, aren't apparently very discerning,” Zimmerman said.