The Check-in: Huckabee, Christian Zionism, and the Future of the West Bank

We have a new ambassador in town. Earlier this month, the US Senate confirmed former Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, as US Ambassador to Israel. 

As Ambassador, Huckabee is expected to endorse policies that forcibly promote Israeli government priorities. He has been quoted saying, “there is no such thing as a Palestinian” and that the West Bank is “Judea and Samaria,” a term used by Israeli settlers (and increasingly American Christian leaders) who claim ownership of the land based on their Biblical interpretations.

Huckabee, and millions of American Christians like him, champion a theology of Christian Zionism, which prioritizes Jewish ownership of the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea by any means necessary.

This week, we discuss what that means, especially for the future of the millions of Palestinian in the West Bank, who are facing the most extreme circumstances of violence and displacement seen for decades. And we hear a special, bittersweet update from our colleague Sarah Sturm at the end of the show.  

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Read Greg’s op-ed on the embassy move to Jerusalem circa 2016