“What Is Palestine?” Bizarre ‘Jeopardy!’ Moment Sparks Israel-Palestine Storm

The Associated Press reported on possibly the most bizarre and egregious “Jeopardy!” geopolitical gaffe in the game show’s history this week:

Producers of the game show “Jeopardy!” have apologized for a clue that waded into political hot water involving Israeli control of the West Bank, saying an incorrect version of the show was sent to television stations.

The show aired last Friday. Contestants were being asked about the location of well-known churches, and when the clue “Built in 300s AD, the Church of the Nativity” was offered, Katie Needle answered, “What is Palestine?” Without hesitation Alex Trebek said she was incorrect with her opponent being awarded $200 for his ‘correct’ answer of “what is Israel?”

So @Jeopardy decided it’s the new Skyes-Picot and can just rename countries on a whim. #Palestine #BethlehemIsInPalestine @AmerZahr pic.twitter.com/OY1QkDUebP

— Chris Whitman (@ChrisWhitman11) January 11, 2020

The show immediately faced backlash and controversy given the ancient Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, site of Jesus’ birthplace, is located in the West Bank. The AP reports:

“Jeopardy!” producers, in a statement on the show’s website Monday, said they realized the question was problematic and replaced it with another. The outcome of the game was not affected.

However, due to what “Jeopardy!” called human error, the uncorrected version of the pre-taped show was sent to television stations by mistake.

“We regret the error and we will make sure this never happens again,” the statement said.

Upon being told she was flat out wrong, the woman’s face appeared shocked and dismayed, but she seemed to immediately grasp that the show came firmly down on the ‘pro-Israel’ side of the question. 

Though internationally the West Bank is considered “occupied Palestinian territory,” it remains that the ancient city of Bethlehem itself is self-administered under the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its mayor and top local government officials are traditionally Palestinian Christians. 

Hey @Jeopardy – the Church of Nativity is in Bethlehem, which is located in the West Bank which – under international law – is occupied by Israel.

The occupied land is also known, under international law, as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

pic.twitter.com/oMZ2YDOgoQ

— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) January 11, 2020

The city itself is not necessarily even directly occupied by Israeli troops on a regular basis (as East Jerusalem is for example), but is cut off from other West Bank settlements by a massive Israeli security checkpoint along the main road leading into Bethlehem, so that Palestinians often can’t even travel to nearby Jerusalem or other places. 

The clip showing the question immediately went viral on social media, with pro-Palestinian activist groups slamming the overt bias to the charged and controversial question. 

“In accordance with our rules and in the interest of fairness, we voided the clue and threw it out. We restored Katie’s and Jack’s scores to what they were prior to the clue. The outcome of the game was not affected. We then continued the game with this replacement clue,” the Jeopardy statement added.

Speaking more broadly of US foreign policy, President Trump in 2018 added fresh fuel to the Israeli-Palestine conflict by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and by formally recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.