Pastor Munther Isaac hosts Palestinian theologians, clergy, and leaders for conversations that highlight and empower the voice of Palestinian Christians. Conversations range from discussing the life of Palestinian Christians under occupation, and their perspectives and theological reflections about the Palestine question.
The Breakdown of International Law with Francesca Albanese
Host Munther Isaac interviews UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese about her book, exploring how international law applies to Palestinian life and the urgent need for its enforcement.
1 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Horrific Reality of the Israeli Settlement Complex with Dalia Qumsieh
Reverend Munther Isaac and human rights lawyer Dalia Qumsieh expose the Israeli settlement complex's oppressive reality and its impact on Palestinian communities.
9 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Church, Israel, and the Jewish people - part 2
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac distinguishes antisemitism from criticism of Israeli policy, urging the Church to embrace justice and love over politically driven theology.
25 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Church, Israel, and the Jewish people
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac offers a Palestinian theologian's perspective on antisemitism, encouraging humility and honesty to reframe Christian views of Jewish neighbors.
29 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
A Palestinian Pastor Breaks Down Land & Covenant in Scripture
Pastor Munther Isaac explains how biblical land and covenant concepts are misused to justify violence and deny Palestinian rights in this interview.
26 May 2026TRANSCRIPT
Pope Leo's Prophetic Words – My response
Pastor Munther Isaac, founding director of Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice, analyzes Pope Leo XIV's encyclical challenging theological justifications for war.
11 May 2026
A Nun is Attacked in Jerusalem
Pastor Munther Isaac responds to the recent attack on a nun in Jerusalem. Israel claims that it's a safe haven for Christians in the Middle East. We all know that's not true.
Munther is the founding director of Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice. For more, visit https://bipj.org (https://bipj.org).
21 Mar 2026
Pastor Munther Isaac Responds to Russell Moore
Over the last 3 years, renowned Evangelical ethicist and author Russell Moore has written multiple articles that reveal glaring disregard to the lives and dignity of the Palestinians, and ignorance about the situation in Palestine/Israel. Palestinian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac responds!Support the work we're doing here by becoming a monthly supporter of Across the Divide on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide For more responses about Palestinian Christians, see www.bipj.info#israel #palestine #gaza #christianity #bible #faith #zionism #evangelicals
3 Mar 2026
Our Reflection on the US-Israeli War with Iran
Palestinian pastor and Theologian Munther Isaac offers some reflections on the on-going US-Israeli war on Iran, and offers a historical and Biblical alternative grounded in faith and peacemaking.
✨Join Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and attend the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. For information and to register, visit christatthecheckpoint.com. When registering use the coupon code ATD25 to get a 25% discount.✨
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#israel #palestine #iran #USA #holyland #christianity #bible #faith #zionism #justice #faith
2 Mar 2026
Palestinian Christians Respond to Mike Huckabee!
Daniel Bannoura, PhD, is joined by Palestinian pastor and theologian Munther Isaac and Palestinian theologian Dr. Tony Deik to respond to the controversial conversation between Tucker Carlson and the U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.✨Join Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and attend the Christ at the Checkpoint conference. For information and to register, visit christatthecheckpoint.com. When registering use the coupon code ATD25 to get a 25% discount.✨Become a monthly supporter of Across the Divide on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide Follow Across the Divide for more on Instagram @AcrosstheDividePodcast#israel #palestine #gaza #bethlehem #holyland #christianity #bible #faith #zionism #tuckercarlson #christianzionism
24 Jan 2026
Netanyahu claims Israel protects Christians. Rev Munther Isaac Responds
Israeli prime minister Netanyahu keeps claiming that Israel is a safe-haven for Christians. Is that true? Palestinian Christian theologian and pastor Munther Isaac responds to these claims.Rev. Munther Isaac is the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope in Ramallah, Palestine. He is also the director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice. Check out www.new.bipj.org for more.If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting our work on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide Follow Across the Divide on YouTube and Instagram @AcrosstheDividePodcast
20 Aug 2025
The Gospel Coalition is WRONG about Palestinian Christians! Rev. Munther Isaac and friends respond
Rev. Munther Isaac is joined by Daniel Bannoura and Tony Deik to discuss a problematic recent article published at The Gospel Coalition. The article titled "Beyond Slogans: A Christian Perspective on Gaza" peddles in distortions and harmful rhetoric that obfuscates the situation in Palestine and the experience of Palestinian Christians. To read the article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christian-perspective-gaza (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/christian-perspective-gaza)If you enjoy Across the Divide, consider supporting our work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/AcrosstheDivide)Follow Across the Divide for more on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@AcrosstheDividePodcast?sub_confirmation=1) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/acrossthedividepodcast/) @AcrosstheDividePodcast
Across the Divide partners with Peace Catalyst International (https://www.peacecatalyst.org/) to amplify the pursuit of peace and explore the vital intersection of Christian faith and social justice in Palestine-Israel.
23 Jun 2025
Are Christians Supposed to Support Israel? with Tony Deik
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Pastor Munther Isaac and Palestinian theologian Tony Deik discuss the controversial interview between Tucker Carlson and US senator Ted Cruz where Cruz argued that Christians are commanded, based on Genesis 12:3, to support and “bless” the political state of Israel. Munther and Tony respond to Cruz’s claims and give a proper explanation of Genesis 12:3, the meaning of blessing, and how it applies to us today.
Tony Deik is a Palestinian biblical scholar and theologian from Bethlehem, Palestine. He is a member of the leadership team of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation, lecturer in Biblical Studies at Bethlehem Bible College, and research associate at the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence. Tony’s research interest revolves around the biblical text, its ancient meaning, and its modern relevance especially in contexts of oppression and marginalization.
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7 Jun 2025
Palestinian Evangelicals and Christian Zionism with Rev. Jack Sara
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Rev. Dr. Jack Sara gives a Palestinian evangelical leader responds to statements made by prominent American evangelical leaders and gives a strong rebuke to American Christian Zionism.
Rev. Dr. Jack Sara is the President of Bethlehem Bible College. Born and raised in the Old City of Jerusalem, Jack studied at Bethlehem Bible College after committing his life to Christ and his teachings. He soon became a member and leader in the ministry of the Jerusalem Alliance Church who in turn recognized his gifts and calling and encouraged him to go and study further for the work of the Gospel. Acting upon this directive, Jack went to the Philippines to study at the Alliance Biblical Seminary where he earned his M.Div degree.
He then returned to Jerusalem and began ministering in full-time capacity with his church and teaching part-time at BBC. After serving and leading the church for 13 years as a senior pastor, he and other like-minded leaders, saw the Alliance church become a church planting movement and a catalyst church in reaching out to the Palestinian people and Arabs with the love of Christ through a variety of means. Rev. Jack holds a doctorate degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Missions and Cross-Cultural Studies. Rev. Jack travels around the globe, teaching about Missions and Cross-Cultural work in the Middle East. Dr. Jack also is a consultant for the World Evangelical Alliance for the Middle East & North Africa.
Rev. Jack is an ordained minister with Evangelical Alliance Church in the Holy Land where he still maintains an overseeing role with the leadership of the churches. He has also worked extensively in the areas of peace & reconciliation.
Here are the references to the statements quoted in this episode:
https://m.jpost.com/christianworld/article-845212 (https://m.jpost.com/christianworld/article-845212)
https://www.jns.org/us-christians-reaffirm-israels-right-to-biblical-heartland-ahead-of-trumps-decision-on-annexation/ (https://www.jns.org/us-christians-reaffirm-israels-right-to-biblical-heartland-ahead-of-trumps-decision-on-annexation/)
https://www.foxnews.com/world/leading-evangelicals-push-have-president-trump-recognize-israeli-sovereignty-over-biblical-heartland (https://www.foxnews.com/world/leading-evangelicals-push-have-president-trump-recognize-israeli-sovereignty-over-biblical-heartland)
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/mike-huckabee-palestinian-comments-trump-israel-ambassador?cid=ios_app (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/mike-huckabee-palestinian-comments-trump-israel-ambassador?cid=ios_app)
https://www.jns.org/in-historic-first-huckabee-prays-in-shiloh-as-part-of-official-visit-to-samaria/ (https://www.jns.org/in-historic-first-huckabee-prays-in-shiloh-as-part-of-official-visit-to-samaria/)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-rep-tim-walberg-suggests-gaza-handled-nagasaki-hiroshima-rcna145752 (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-rep-tim-walberg-suggests-gaza-handled-nagasaki-hiroshima-rcna145752)
https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-pastor-hopes-israel-war-sparks-jesus-return-1833972 (https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-pastor-hopes-israel-war-sparks-jesus-return-1833972)
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25 May 2025
The Nakba and Palestinian Christians with Xavier Abu Eid
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Xavier Abu Eid discuss explains the Nakba, and its impact on Palestinians Christians past and present. Xavier Abu Eid, Palestinian Christian political analyst and historian. He is the author of Rooted in Palestine. Palestinian Christians and the Struggle for National Liberation 1917 to 2004. Currently writing his PhD thesis on Palestinianization of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem. Xavier is also a former member of the Palestinian negotiation team. He is a regular at Al-Jazeera English.
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11 Apr 2025
Kairos Palestine
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Rev. Munther Isaac and Rifat Kassis discuss the story of the Kairos Palestine document, the kairos movement, and theology of Kairos Palestine, and its relevance And importance today after the Gaza genocide.
Rifat Kassis is the General Coordinator of Kairos Palestine (https://www.kairospalestine.ps/) and Global Kairos for Justice (https://www.kairospalestine.ps/index.php/about-kairos/global-kairos), being one of its founding members.
In 1991, he founded the first child rights organisation in Palestine and was the elected President of the International Executive Council of Defence for Children International (https://defenceforchildren.org/) in Geneva for seven years. For eight years he ran the Palestinian section of DCI (https://www.dci-palestine.org/) and during this period he founded the DCI movement in the Arab World.
Rifat Kassis has over 35 years of experience working in different countries and different fields. He was Director of YMCA Rehabilitation Program (https://www.ej-ymca.org/rehab/en/) and later Programs director of YMCA. He worked in Kyrgyzstan representing 3 European donor agencies. He initiated YMCA/YWCA Joint Advocacy Initiative (https://www.jai-pal.org/en/). He worked in Geneva at WCC as manager of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (https://eappi.org/en) EAPPI (https://eappi.org/en). He co-founded international consulting agency “Alternatives” to support global civil society. He was Lutheran World Federation (https://www.lutheranworld.org/) Representative in Jordan, running their program dedicated to Syrian refugees.
In 1995, he co-founded Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) (http://atg.ps/), on justice tourism. Same year, he helped establish ARD/Denal in Chechnya provides rehabilitation services to children. He served as member of Advisory Group to ICCO, Dutch and from 2001 to 2008, he was member of Advisory Group for DanChurch Aid. He was member of World Economic Forum Global Agenda on child welfare from 2008 to 2010.kairospalestine.ps
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28 Mar 2025
Palestinian Christians: reality and challenges from a human rights perspective with Dalia Qumsieh
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Rev. Munther Isaac and Dalia Qumsieh discuss the ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights, the current situation in the West Bank, and the impact of the military occupation on Palestinian Christians. They tackle the pressing issue: why are Palestinian Christians leaving the West Bank?
Dalia Qumsieh is a human rights lawyer, specializing in legal human rights advocacy (Palestinian bar, 2013), and the Founder and Director of the Balasan Initiative for Human Rights - Palestine. She is a graduate of Birzeit University School of Law (LL.B), Ramallah- Palestine (2009). She obtained her graduate degree in International Law (2009), and International Administration (2010), from the Law School of the University of Paris 1- Pantheon – Sorbonne, Paris, France. Prior to establishing BIHR, she worked in various Palestinian human rights organizations as senior legal advocacy consultant.
https://balasan.org/
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14 Mar 2025
Reconciling Justice with Salim Munayer
In this episode of the Christ at the checkpoint podcast, Rev. Munther and Salim Munayer discuss Salim’s latest book Reconciling Justice: Concepts of Justice in the Multi-religious contexts of Palestine/Israel, and the notion of justice and reconciliation in the midst of genocide and ethnic cleansing from a biblical perspective.
Salim Munayer is the founder and president emeritus of Musalaha, a faith-based ministry of Reconciliation. He has spent more than 30 years in active ministry of reconciliation. He is now the Regional Hub Coordinator of the Middle East and North Africa region for the Peace and Reconciliation Network (PRN) of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).
He is the author of many books and articles on issues related to reconciliation and peacemaking in the Palestinian context. He taught and served for many years as academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College. His latest book is Reconciling Justice: Concepts of Justice in the Multi-religious contexts of Palestine/Israel.
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28 Feb 2025
The Land of Christ with Rev. Yohanna Katanacho
In the inaugural episode of the "Christ the Checkpoint Podcast", Rev. Munther Isaac sits down with Palestinian theologian Yohanna Katanacho to discuss the biblical Christ-centered understanding of the land. Katanacho emphatically argues that Christ is the center of God's work with humanity, including the land.
Rev. Yohanna Katanacho is a Palestinian Israeli evangelical professor of Biblical Studies and academic dean at Nazareth Evangelical College. He received his Theology M.A. degree at Wheaton College and both M.Div. and Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of, or contributor to, dozens of books in English and Arabic including "The Land of Christ: A Palestinian Cry" and "Praying through the Psalms", and also one of the authors of the Palestinian Kairos Document.
"The Land of Christ" by Yohanna Katanacho: https://www.amazon.com/Land-Christ-Palestinian-Cry/dp/1620326647
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Inside a recent episode
The Breakdown of International Law with Francesca Albanese
Published 3 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Why did I speak of unchilding? Why did I take this word from a Palestinian scholar, Nadira, Professor Nadira Shahoub Kevorkian? Because this is what Israel does, depriving children of its lightness. For Palestinians, life is a heavy place, even if they might find the lightness in that heaviness. because they're wonderful children and they want to study. And even under the bombs, what an average Palestinian child or an average Palestinian father or mother think of is to make study accessible, study possible. But otherwise, what the constellation of a Palestinian average Palestinian child, the story is losing parents either to jails or to Israeli bullets, being humiliated, being dispostessed, having the possibility of his home or village destroyed and the school destroyed or raided. […]
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