Disagreement over the Gaza war among evangelicals is no surprise given the complicated history in Israel/Palestine and Christians’ deep engagement with the Holy Land.
Christianity Today, a flagship evangelical publication, has covered the situation in the Holy Land since its founding in the 1950s from various perspectives. But some concerned evangelical leaders believe the magazine’s coverage has taken a turn in the war on Gaza toward a decidedly “pro-Israel stance in a way that is anti-Palestinian.”
They reference misleading or inaccurate statements about the war, a bias poorly reflecting the perspectives of Palestinian Christians, platforming extremists and stoking tensions and stereotypes.
Scott Gustafson
Since more than 1,100 Israelis and internationals were killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Christianity Today has covered various aspects of the war and its effects on the region’s Christians. Russell Moore, editor in chief, weighed in immediately offering “moral clarity,” entreating Christians to “stand with Israel” and promoting the “justice of a forceful response to terrorism” because Jews are Christians’ “extended family.”
Other articles since have offered more nuance, covering the plight of Palestinian and Gazan Christians and perspectives of some voices advocating for peace.
Ben Norquist, director of the Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East says: “Bias comes through more strongly in some CT projects than others. Some at CT don’t seem to be wholly against Palestinian Arab Christians as believers, per se, but as Palestinian Arabs.”
Mike Cosper, director of CT media, visited the Holy Land in the fall of 2023 and recorded interviews with some in the Christian community, Jewish settler community, Israeli government and a smaller number of Palestinians (only four of the 16 or 17 interviews, according to Norquist). Cosper’s resulting podcast, “Promised Land” and cover story “The Evil Ideas Behind October 7” created controversy with many who were surprised by the ardent pro-Israel stance and even pro-settler and Zionist tilt presented in the language of “unflinching moral judgement.”
Ben Norquist
A group of concerned evangelicals hosted a public webinar Sept 3, convened by NEME critiquing CT’s coverage. They aimed to “‘take a stand for the sake of the marginalized… and lovingly identify where (CT’s) understanding may be lacking” on the issues. They pleaded for CT to return to its historical mission and refrain from misleading statements and the obfuscation of Palestinian Christian voices.
In the webinar, Norquist moderated a conversation with author and podcast host Preston Sprinkle, missiologist Beth Seversen, Palestinian Christian theologian Daniel Bannoura, and historian Daniel Hummel, as they responded to CT’s body of work on the Holy Land. Seversen pointed out there have been “countless gaps” in CT’s coverage. While fanatical settlers and Jewish rabbis and Zionists are featured, voices of key Christian leaders, such as prominent pastors and heads of colleges and traditional churches in Jerusalem, have been under-represented. Events portraying the suffering of Palestinians, settler violence or high-level visits by Christian delegations in solidarity also were left un-reported.
Panelists expressed a desire for clarity and fairness in media coverage they said was sorely lacking after Oct 7. Sprinkle was frustrated at the general levels of misinformation in the media and that CT did not provide a less-biased voice. After deeper study of several issues, he said, “How many times when I chased down sources did I find that things were either misrepresented or distorted and one-sided?”
CT has narrowed its range of aired viewpoints and altered course in their coverage of the Holy Land, said Hummel, a historian of evangelicalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “In the past, CT gave voice to those critical of Zionism but has changed in its perspective on the conflict over time.”
Seversen gave examples of what he called misleading inaccuracies in Cosper’s article where he wrongly labels Christian Palestinians as antisemitic and the Arab keffiyeh as a symbol of terrorism and antisemitism. “This demonstrates a lack of unbiased research,” she said. The keffiyeh, a functional garment of the Arab Bedouin, long predates the state of Israel and is used by Palestinian Christians as a symbol of identity and solidarity.
Mike Cosper
While some Palestinian theologians and leaders were interviewed in Cosper’s podcast, they frequently were challenged directly or dismissed in the commentary afterward. Norquist points out in contrast, Cosper gave “chummy” and friendly responses to Zionist voices or far-right settlers. In one interview, Cosper platforms an angry settler who expresses racist hatred and an eagerness for mass violence: “I hate Hamas and I want to slaughter every single one of them and I would love the opportunity to do it.”
Another panelist compares CT’s position toward Palestinians to racist postures by Bible-believing Christians justifying slavery and segregation in the U.S.
Daniel Bannoura, a Palestinian Christian and Ph.D. candidate at University of Notre Dame, said: “I appreciate Russell Moore and Mike Cosper and their commendable stances on abuse in the church and racism. … Heartbreaking that they have not been as courageous against a culture of violence and exclusion (in the Holy Land).”
He judged their coverage so far as “naive and distorted analysis and an unwillingness to be fair minded and morally clear.”
Panelists expressed their hope for the day when CT would stop reinforcing the false choice between “Israel as the good guys and Palestinians as the bad guys” and appeal to the case for justice. The concluding sentiment was expressed directly to CT by Norquist: “We hope for conversation, and hope, like us, that you’ll take on a learning posture.”
Norquist said his hope for this webinar is to encourage a broader conversation and an acknowledgement that many evangelicals are deeply concerned about the way Israel has waged this war.
“We have dialogued for months in the background with CT editors and reporters and I am aware of eight cases where leading voices tried submitting articles or personally engaging and were turned down,” he said. “It was time to publicly plead with CT to remember the Palestinian Christians who have been present since the time of Christ and that their witness and even their very lives are at stake.”
Scott Gustafson serves as the Ambassador Warren Clark Fellow at Churches for Middle East Peace and a researcher with the Extreme Beliefs Group at Vrije Universteit in Amsterdam.
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