Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Berri: It is our fate every Eid al-Adha to offer sacrifices in defense of Lebanon and its sovereignty, and the aggression will not prevent us from celebrating our holidays
Berri: Our positions must be unifying for all Lebanese in confronting the Israeli aggressiveness, which does not target a specific sect or region, but rather all of Lebanon and the Lebanese, and even Arabs and Muslims in their holiest sanctities
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon Nabih Berri: Our position regarding the continuous Israeli violation of Lebanon is identical to and adopts the position of the President of the Republic in all national and sovereign dimensions
Israeli raids strike eight residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs; shelling reported in Ain Qana, southern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Another Israeli airstrike targets Beirut’s southern suburb
Saree: The operation comes in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people and in response to the aggression against Beirut’s southern suburb
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson: The operation successfully achieved its objective, forcing millions of Israeli settlers to flee into shelters
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree: We targeted Lod Airport (Ben Gurion Airport) in the occupied Yafa area with a hypersonic ballistic missile, the “Palestine 2” type
Salam: We call on the international community to hold "Israel" accountable, halt its attacks, and ensure full withdrawal from Lebanese territory
Salam: These attacks constitute a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and UN Security Council Resolution 1701

Efforts to counter Israeli false narratives bearing fruit in Zimbabwe

  • Cyril Zenda Cyril Zenda
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 4 Jun 2025 14:44
7 Min Read

Bishop Makururu's relationship with the Palestinians is a result of the years-long investment by the Palestine Embassy in Zimbabwe to improve understanding by locals of the nature of this protracted Palestine-"Israel" struggle.

Listen
  • x
  • Efforts to counter Israeli false narratives bearing fruit in Zimbabwe
    Archbishop Dr. Andby Makururu receives the Palestinian Solidarity Award for his unwavering support of Palestine (Illustrated by Batoul Chamas; Al Mayadeen English)

On Sunday, May 18, thousands of members of Johane the 5th of Africa International Church gathered in Bindura, a mining town some 60 miles north of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, for a special service that celebrated the honoring of their leader, Archbishop Dr. Andby Makururu, with the Palestinian Solidarity Award. 

The award, given on May 7 by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, is in recognition of the African religious leader’s unwavering support for the people of Palestine. Bishop Makururu’s mega church, which has over three million followers in more than a dozen African countries, has taken a position to stand with the people of Palestine, which the leader says means standing on the side of the truth.

“I am humbled by the fact that even in these difficult times they are facing as a result of the ongoing genocide by ‘Israel’, the people of Palestine were able to take time to acknowledge the support that we, their friends, have been giving them. It is really encouraging,” Bishop Makururu told Al Mayadeen English in an interview. 

“As Christian leaders in Africa, we are saying Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and Bethlehem is in Palestine… if ‘Israel’ wants anything in Palestine, there should always be dialogue, not violence like we are seeing at the moment, that is not a Godly way of resolving differences,” Bishop Makururu added. “The fact that ‘Israel’ is resorting to the use of power, money and violence raises questions about their belief in God because God does not allow the slaughter of innocent people like we are seeing there.”

The award plaque, which is inscribed with: “Holy Land of Palestine Solidarity Award Presented to Commander Bishop Andby Makururu of the Republic of Zimbabwe… Issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine on the occasion of the 77th Anniversary of Alnakba," was handed to Bishop Makururu by the Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Dr. Tamer Almassri. This is the highest order of award given to religious leaders and at the order of the president of Palestine. Bishop Makururu is the second religious leader in Africa to receive this award. This is because he is one of the few Christian leaders on the continent to openly come out in full support of the people of Palestine against the Israeli apartheid occupation.

Years of effort bearing fruit

Related News

Why I hate Zionism and will never forgive its disciples

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Bishop Makururu's relationship with the Palestinians is a result of the years-long investment by the Palestine Embassy in Zimbabwe to improve understanding by locals of the nature of this protracted Palestine-"Israel" struggle by reaching out to churches, educational institutions, the media, political parties, civic society organizations and many other influential groups. 

The local understanding of the Palestine-"Israel" struggle has not been helped by the fact that some 90 percent of Zimbabweans are Christians, making them easily susceptible to Israeli propaganda that seeks to equate the modern "Zionist state" to the Biblical Israel, a twisted narrative that Palestine’s man in Harare, Dr. Almassri, is determined to straighten. For him, when the struggle is making global news headlines, it is also time to educate locals on what exactly is taking place. 

“Unfortunately there is a huge misunderstanding of the reality by people in some (local) churches because Israeli propaganda tries to mislead the world on purpose… to give a false impression that the Israel in the Bible is the same as the ‘Israel’ that was created in 1948… actually it’s a myth,” Dr. Almassri told Al Mayadeen English. “We should understand that the founders of ‘Israel’, the founders of Zionism, the first Prime Minister of ‘Israel’ David Ben-Gurion, the first President of ‘Israel’ Chaim Weizmann and even the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, they were atheists, they didn’t believe in God, but they believe that God gave them Palestine… very strange… they don’t believe in God, they don’t think there is any God, yet they believe that God gave them Palestine, the Holy Land as their Promised Land.. It’s totally a myth and we should understand that as a result of this, the people of Palestine are suffering from Israeli apartheid occupation,” added Dr. Almassri, whose mother was killed in Gaza in December 2023, weeks after the start of the current round of violence. 

Most African Christians take the current political "state of Israel" to be the same as the biblical religious nation of Israel, resulting in them siding with the administration in Tel Aviv even in the face of gross injustices against the Palestinian people, believing it to be an expression of their faith.

To counter this and other false narratives pushed by "Israel", Dr. Almassri regularly holds special lectures in local schools, colleges, and other public forums. The Embassy also has a special relationship with local journalists and has established Palestine Press Clubs at some universities and colleges as part of its outreach efforts to improve local understanding of the conflict in the Middle East. 

“I want to thank the churches in Zimbabwe for supporting the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause,” Dr. Almassri said as an increasing number of church leaders start to appreciate the position and plight of the people of Palestine. “You know that Palestine is a Holy Land, is the birth place of Jesus Christ and we are proud of the Christian legacy that Palestine has and we are proud of the peaceful environment between regions in Palestine that is reflected mainly between Muslims and Christians.”

‘No to theological deception’

Mafa Kwanisai Mafa, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council, who works closely with the Palestine Embassy in these outreaches, says it is important to expose the Zionist manipulation of Christianity and the Bible to justify their settler-colonial project. 

“Let us be clear: there is no biblical justification for genocide. There is no divine mandate for ethnic cleansing, apartheid walls, or starving children,” Mafa told Al Mayadeen English. “The Zionist regime hijacks sacred texts to validate its inhuman policies, trying to paint the coloniser as the victim and the resistance fighter as the terrorist. This is theological deception—an insult not only to Palestinians but to the true teachings of Christianity, which preach justice, mercy, and liberation for the oppressed. We call on Christian churches across Africa and the world: Where are your voices? The Gospel does not permit neutrality in the face of injustice. Jesus himself stood with the poor, the occupied, and the condemned. You cannot claim to follow Christ while remaining silent as the children of Gaza cry out for bread and life.”

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Gaza Strip
  • Palestine
  • Zimbabwe
  • Africa
  • Andby Makururu
  • Gaza genocide
  • Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council
  • Gaza
  • Palestinian Solidarity Award
Cyril Zenda

Cyril Zenda

African freelance journalist based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Most Read

All
It may well be due to the longstanding relationship between MI6 and HTS, via Inter Mediate, that Britain was the first Western country to recognise their assumption of government in Syria. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

How MI6 helped HTS seize Syria

  • Opinion
  • 31 May 2025
The two countries need to sit down and resolve the crisis with maturity, to consider carefully that they could be being manipulated to be easily dominated. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Algeria and Mali, divided and almost conquered

  • Opinion
  • 25 May 2025
Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

Trump and Biden both pretended to be fighting Netanyahu

  • Analysis
  • 28 May 2025
Eurovision: NATO Psychological Warfare Tool

Eurovision: NATO Psychological Warfare Tool

  • Analysis
  • 24 May 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

More from this writer

All
Reluctant to be refugees in the US, some Afrikaners demand their own two-state ‘solution’

Reluctant to be refugees in the US, some Afrikaners demand their own two-state ‘solution’

Zimbabwe is one of the countries with a vibrant pro-Palestine movement. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

We too are Hamas: Zimbabwean Friends of Palestine

Analysts say the ripple effects of US tariff policies are weighing heavily on African markets, especially for countries that have long relied on preferential access through AGOA. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Hopes that Trump’s tariff tantrum quickens African Continental Free Trade Area dream

African countries scramble to stop the hemorrhaging triggered by Trump’s ‘ruthless’ health aid cut

African countries scramble to stop the hemorrhaging triggered by Trump’s ‘ruthless’ health aid cut

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS