Dear influencers, the Christian thing to do is visit Gaza, not Israel

Displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, in the southern part of Gaza City, on November 29, 2025. [AFP]

What does it mean for a country at war to go out of its way to invite influencers to sanitise its image? And what, in this scenario, does it mean for the influencers to say yes to this sanitization project? These questions were at the forefront of many minds over the past week, when a number of Kenyan influencers took a trip to Israel, ostensibly to promote it. Among the group were notable faces in the gospel music industry, and other creators who have professed their Christian faith loudly online. The timing could not have been worse, coming at a moment when a ceasefire has been declared over the bombing of Palestine, and yet Palestinians have not known a single day of peace since. Worsening the optics was the fact that, whilst American influencers on similar recent trips were paid in the thousands of dollars, Kenyans were paid absolutely nothing.

Reactions to these influencers posting about their trip online were mixed, with many supporting the decision and wishing that it was them on the trip. Overwhelmingly, however, the sentiment online was that accepting to go on the trip was a terrible idea, especially owing to the fact that we have witnessed, on these same online spaces, two years of genocide by the government of Israel against innocent Palestinians. Perhaps the focus on Palestine is too linear, others opine, considering that many still travel to places like the United Arab Emirates and the US, countries similarly accused of financing senseless wars.

But the more important question is how it can be that these influencers, upon also witnessing with the rest of the world the ongoing genocide, still had the conviction to travel to Israel. In fact, not only were they happy to go, but they have been gleefully singing gospel songs in the streets of Tel Aviv throughout their visit. How were they so easily able to divorce what they see going on from their faith?

Kenya has a large Christian population, and a significant number of these Christians are evangelical. Christianity hinges itself on the belief of the Israelites as a people chosen by God, and Jesus himself was a Jew. This connection between the Judeo-Christian religions provides a starting point for the support of Jewish liberation and dominion over promised lands. However, it can be nothing but blatant ignorance that leads Christians to connect the Israelites of the past to modern day occupants of Israel. In the present day, geopolitical decisions have influenced the position of Israel in the Middle East. Indeed, many Kenyans are unaware that before the settling of the State of Israel in its current location of Palestine, Kenya was one of the locations considered as an option to relocate Jewish populations. Additionally, if the protection of the Biblical Jewish people was truly the motivation behind the creation of the State of Israel, then the world would not have witnessed as Black Jews, many of whom migrated from Ethiopia to Israel to have the Biblical prophecy fulfilled, were sterilised to prevent them from reproducing in their purported predestined land.

Another blind spot exists in the reported treatment of Christians within the State of Israel. Israel has a small population of Christians, at just under two per cent, and many have documented the assault that they face in living within this chosen Jewish State. By contrast, one of the oldest churches still standing is in Gaza, and the late Pope Francis, in showing his allegiance to peace and doing what’s right, famously telephoned the congregants of this church everyday during the genocide to check on them. If our Kenyan Christian influencers wanted to stand for their faith, perhaps they should have attempted to visit this church in Gaza.

It is clear that a great deal of propaganda is at play not only within geopolitical spaces, but also within the Church. Many Christians today wholly support the violence that Israel continues, decades on, to mete out on Palestine. However, if they attempted to critically think about why they support this violence, their logic would surely crumble.

For now, as Kenyans, we can only hope for the public humiliation rituals to end. We are forced to watch daily as some among us align themselves with fascism, from supporting the sending of troops to recolonize Haiti, to hosting the RSF while they actively destroy Sudan, and even to dancing for white people in Tel Aviv while just across the wall, so many are dying and being killed. Political education is sorely needed for Kenyans to learn to distinguish between what is just and what is political optics. Until then, we will continue to denigrate ourselves on the global stage.

The writer is an international lawyer