As we reported earlier, the day before Christmas, prominent TV outdoorsman Bear Grylls jumped to his X account to falsely claim that Jesus’ mother Mary was a “Palestinian” and that she and Joseph were “refugees” when they traveled to Bethlehem, where Christ was born. “In these next few days billions of us around the world celebrate the birth of a Middle Eastern refugee who, 2,000 years ago, changed the course of the world forever,” he said.
In the extended post he said, “In these next few days billions of us around the world celebrate the birth of a Middle Eastern refugee who, 2,000 years ago, changed the course of the world forever.” Social media users slammed the TV star for his inaccurate and biased post. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Mary “was a Jewish woman from Judea, under Roman rule.”
“A lot of people over the millennia since have believed his propaganda. While Mary’s family fled to Egypt to escape King Herod’s persecution, calling her a ‘Palestinian refugee‘ not only imposes modern terminology on ancient history but completely eradicates her Jewish identity. It’s historical nonsense, with an agenda. If you want to honor her story, tell it properly.”
The group went on to say that “The region wasn’t called ‘Palestine‘ until 100 years later when the Judeans (Jews) were exiled and Emperor Hadrian renamed it Syria Palaestina after the Bar Kokhba Revolt to try to sever the Jewish connection to the land,” on their X account. George Chesterton wrote a piece for the Telegraph, where he addressed the issue.
“If you leave aside the theological and historical absurdity — equating a Jewish man from 2000 years ago with a political identity that didn’t exist — this is the nub of the problem. It promotes the idea that Jews are systematic baby killers. This is the sort of thing that is screamed at elderly people on the streets of London, Glasgow, and Brighton. That’s not something Jesus would have approved of. He was Jewish, after all,” he wrote.
“Let me tell you some of his story. This is just a short extract from near the beginning of the adventure. When Maryam, a young, poor, and no doubt terrified Palestinian girl, gives birth in a run-down animal pen, to a baby who was foretold for hundreds of years. Yet she was not alone. And she never would be. Because this was the moment that God Almighty broke into our fallen world in person. … To many of us, it is undoubtedly: The Greatest Story Ever Told.”
He added that” Palestine” was a Roman term used after Jewish rebellions, and Jesus was born in Judea during a Roman census, not as a refugee. Chesterton went on to say that claims like this are dangerous” and part of a trend to politicize Jesus and undermine Jewish historical ties to Israel. The CEO of Total Politics, Mike Wallace, added his thoughts to the conversation.
He asked: “In what sense — historical, archaeological, political, religious, geographic, ethnic, literally any sense at all — would Mary have regarded herself as a Palestinian?” A community note on X further demolished the initial post “They were not refugees. Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken. Joseph and Mary traveled to Judea, to the town of Bethlehem (the town of David) because Joseph belonged to the house and line of David.”