The Woke Right’s Hypocrisy on Display: Outrage at Two Churches, Silence on 500

Tucker Carlson and Ana Kasparian accused Israel of intentionally targeting two Christian churches in Gaza and Taybeh. An errant tank shell struck and damaged the roof of the Holy Family Church in Gaza, while in Taybeh a purported “arson” attempt did not even singe the Church of St. George. Carlson and Kasparian seized on these incidents to vilify the Jewish State. Not to be outdone, former congressman Matt Gaetz piled on, declaring, “You can’t call yourself a moral superpower and bomb churches.” Steven K. Bannon, mistaking the 21st century for the 12th, then suggested resurrecting the failed Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem to “protect” Christian holy sites. Taken together, their reactions might suggest a deep concern for Christian heritage worldwide. They suggest no such thing.

A mere 165 miles west of Israel lies the divided island of Cyprus. In 1974, Turkey invaded and has occupied the northern part of the island ever since. By all credible accounts, Ankara, directly or indirectly, embarked on a program to destroy, via various means, churches throughout northern Cyprus. For example, 16 Medieval churches stand within Famagusta’s Venetian-walled city, once nicknamed the “City of 365 Churches.” Under Turkish control, the city has been a closed military zone, and 10 of those churches were destroyed or desecrated. In addition, the Crusader Church of Agios Nicolaos was converted into a mosque. Outside the Old City, in the modern city of Famagusta, there was a chapel and twelve additional churches. Following Ankara’s seizure of modern Famagusta, the chapel and five of those churches were destroyed or desecrated. The Church of Panagia Chrysospiliotissa was converted into a mosque.

Aside from the destruction and desecration of churches, these religious structures were essentially harvested for icons to sell on the international antiquities market. Prior to the Turkish invasion, the 18th-century Monastery of Agios Spyridon in Tremetoushia housed 150 Byzantine icons, all of them disappeared after the Turkish takeover. In total, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 icons were looted from churches and monasteries in northern Cyprus. The record of Turkish conduct also includes vandalism of non-Muslim cemeteries and the neglect and looting of archaeological sites, but I digress.

Given the scale of this destruction, you’d imagine that Steven K. Bannon would be calling for a renewed Crusader foothold at Saint Hilarion Castle to defend Christian heritage. Alas, he has not. Former congressman Matt Gaetz—himself the subject of a House Ethics Committee inquiry into his own “moral” conduct—declared that Israel “can’t call itself a moral superpower and bomb churches,” yet he remains silent about the devastation of Christian heritage in Turkish-occupied Cyprus. Tucker Carlson, who has been in media for “35” years, has expressed no concern for the fate of the churches, monasteries, and icons in northern Cyprus—a mere 165 miles west of Israel. Nor has Ana Kasparian.

Their outrage is performative. It surfaces only when it can be weaponized against Israel, and it vanishes when confronted with the far greater destruction of Christian heritage in Turkish-occupied Cyprus. These talking heads are not champions of Christian heritage; they are opportunists. If the perpetrators are Turkish forces, they look away. If they can blame Israel, they howl. Their silence on Cyprus exposes the entire charade.