‘New level of stupid!’ Bear Grylls blasted after ‘nonsense’ Christmas reading labels Jesus as a ‘Palestinian refugee’

Former SAS trooper Bear Grylls has sparked a social media backlash after appearing to insinuate Jesus was a “Palestinian refugee”.

Grylls, 50, who is a Christian, shared a reading of the ‘Greatest Story Ever Told’ ahead of Christmas Day.

However, Grylls faced fury after reading the first-person account from Jesus’s mother Mary.

In a post accompanying the reading, Grylls 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.

“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.”

However, a community note highlighting Mary was actually Jewish was quickly attached to the video by disgruntled X users.

Another community note described Grylls’s post as a “falsification of history”, adding: “He [Jesus] was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world.”

A third community note said: “Mary and Joseph were both Jews from Judea. Jesus, King of the Jews, was born 135 years before the region was renamed Syria-Palestina by the conquering Romans.”

Several high-profile X users shared the post, later lamenting Grylls for overlooking Mary’s Jewish identity.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “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 to try to sever the Jewish connection to the land.

“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 honour her story, tell it properly.”

Former Foreign Minister Zac Goldsmith added: “He thought he was being edgy but it’s so stupid even stupid people are wincing. He has taken stupid to a whole new level.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Steve Barrett also wrote: “This is complete nonsense. What on earth poses people to type this rubbish?”

Grylls’s detractors highlight how Jesus was born in Bethlehem, attended synagogue on Shabbat and celebrated Passover in Jerusalem.

They also add that the term Palestine did not exist during Jesus’s lifetime, with the name only being introduced after Rome crushed the Jewish revolt of 135 CE.

However, critics claim Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who spoke Aramaic, a language in the same family as Hebrew and Arabic.

They also claim that the Son of God came from the same prophetic tradition as Prophets Moses and Mohammad.

The same school of thought even dismiss depictions of Jesus as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white man as outlandish.