CORRECTION

‘Please consider my sentence last week an honest mistake’

A Union-tribune reader emailed last week about a religion commentary published in the Arts+culture section on Dec. 18. The article, by local pastor Colby Martin, was headlined “Advent is a reminder that hope is all around us.”

In it, Martin wrote: “Jesus was born to a powerless family in a powerless Palestinian people whose necks were pinned by the boot of Rome, not in a mansion with unfettered access to all the world offered.”

“Your article calls Jesus a Palestinian and that is factually incorrect,” the reader wrote. “Not only does this diminish the Palestinian people’s plight of today, but it deprives the whole Jewish people of their history.”

On Monday, after receiving the email, Martin shared this with the Union-tribune:

“Let’s cut straight to the chase, shall we? Jesus was Jewish. Of the many things people contest about the life and identity of Jesus, that he was Jewish ought not be one. Mind if I offer a brief explanation, correction and retraction?

“The point of the article was to show how the Christmas story, for me, is an annual reminder to not invest our hopes into powerful people, corporations or political parties.

“The powerful story of the birth of Jesus helps teach that movements for change often start from the bottom, by those whose voices historically haven’t mattered.

“Why did I write the disputed sentence? First, the area including and surrounding where Jesus was born into was historically referred to as Palestine. So I’m sure that’s why it was in my head when I wrote that sentence.

“And then second, as a preacher for 20 years, I have a penchant for alliteration. I’m sure I wrote that sentence because I enjoyed the way the p’s all flowed together.

“To the extent that calling the people who lived in and around the areas of Galilee, Nazareth and Jerusalem ‘Palestinians’ is a mistake (because they are first and foremost Jewish), then please consider my sentence last week an honest mistake.

“I did not at all intend to convey that Jesus was Palestinian, and especially not in a way that denies or tries to forget or erase his (or any) Jewish history. Furthermore, knowing the climate of increased antisemitism in society right now, I regret how my illwritten sentence last week poked at the tender spots for those in the Jewish community. Suggesting that Jesus was not Jewish certainly was not and could not have been my intent, nor do I harbor any desire or inclination to erase Jewish history or identity. Since the point of my article last week was ‘hope,’ I can only hope that anyone who was offended or angered or wounded by my oversight might see this correction and trust that neither myself nor the editors at the Union-tribune meant any harm or ill intent. May this holiday season — Advent, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa — be filled with hope and peace for all.”