The adventurer and broadcaster Bear Grylls has withdrawn a reference to Mary, mother of Jesus, as a “Palestinian” girl on social media after the post prompted strong criticism.
In a post on X about Christmas, Grylls tweeted that Jesus was an “impoverished Middle Eastern refugee who, 2,000 years ago, changed the course of the world forever”.
He described Maryam [Mary] as a “young, poor and no doubt terrified Palestinian girl”.
But reacting to the remarks, the Campaign Against Antisemitism complained that “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.”
Hi @BearGrylls,
A quick historical note: ‘Maryam’ (Mary) was a Jewish woman from Judea, under Roman rule.
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… https://t.co/br5iqkyGLr
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) December 24, 2024
Comedian and TV presenter Josh Howie similarly took Grylls to task, saying that Miriam — as she would have been called in Hebrew in ancient Judea — “wasn’t Palestinian”.
The region, he said, was “renamed Syria-Palestina over 100 years after Jesus’s death by the Roman Empire empire in an effort to erase Jews, just as you are doing now.’
Grylls subsequently revised his tweet, dropping the word “Palestinian” from his reference to Mary.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Over the next few days, billions of us around the world celebrate God come to earth as a baby, born to live amongst us. He grew up as an impoverished Middle Eastern refugee some 2,000 years ago, yet this Jesus (Yeshua) changed the course of the world forever.… pic.twitter.com/dyjK1EpJIl— Bear Grylls OBE (@BearGrylls) December 25, 2024
But explaining his original wording in a follow-up post on Boxing Day, the explorer said he had referred to the area as Palestine “as per the maps you will find in most Bibles”.
Just as way of a response to all the argument going on here about the area of the world Mary lived in. I referred to this area as Palestine as per the maps you will find in most Bibles. Scholars will always go and back forward debating the technicality of exact dates that various…
— Bear Grylls OBE (@BearGrylls) December 26, 2024
He was, he said, “simply setting the scene for the Greatest Story Ever Told. I refer to Palestine as the general area that Mary lived in. I am not referring to her nationality or ethnicity. She was clearly Jewish.”
