Bear Grylls has been labelled ’embarrassing’ after saying Mary was a Palestinian refugee in a Christmas message to his followers.
The 50-year-old explorer took to social media to share ‘a quick historical note’ about ‘Maryam (Mary)’.
On X, he expressed, ‘In the coming days, an immense number of individuals worldwide will honor the arrival of a Middle Eastern refugee who, two millennia ago, altered the course of history permanently.’
‘Let me tell you some of his story. This is just a short extract from near the beginning of the adventure.
He reflects on the scene where a young, impoverished, and likely frightened Palestinian girl named Maryam delivers a baby in a shabby animal shelter, fulfilling a prophecy that had been anticipated for centuries.
‘However, she was not solitary in this momentous occasion. She would never be, for this marked the instant when the divine Almighty entered our flawed world in human form… For many, this is unequivocally: The Greatest Story Ever Told.’
His message sparked a series of angry responses from people across social media, with some saying it was ‘disappointing’
One person wrote: ‘In what sense – historical, archaeological, political, religious, geographic, ethnic, literally any sense at all – would Mary have regarded herself as a Palestinian?’
Bear Grylls has been labelled ’embarrassing’ after saying Mary was a Palestinian refugee in a Christmas message
Many angry people took to social media to share their views, while a community note was posted underneath what Grylls wrote
The Campaign Against Antisemitism then 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.’
Another person added: ‘This is so massively disappointing. How could she be Palestinian when Palestine did not exist? Mary was a Jew.’
A third person commented: ‘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.’
To add to this, a community note on X was added to beneath the post, which reads: ‘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.’
This comes after Grylls previously said doctors told him he has the ‘heart of a warrior’ – after revealing his wife was so worried about his daily diet of ‘six eggs and a steak’ that she asked him to have a full coronary MOT.
The 50-year-old took to social media to share ‘a quick historical note’ about ‘Maryam (Mary)’
The 50-year-old explorer, who once evangelised about the vegan diet and even wrote a cookbook including his favourite plant-based recipes, follows a ‘butter and beef’ diet that sees him enjoying red meat daily.
He then told his 8 million followers on Instagram, that he’d decided to have a full health check.
He wrote: ‘I had a full coronary CT scan recently as Shara was worried my cholesterol was so high and that I must have furred arteries as I eat so much grass fed salted butter and saturated beef fat.
The former Scout Leader and father-of-three continued: ‘The result was shocking and good (a relief!): zero inflammation and zero calcium score and the doctor telling me I had the heart of a warrior. So relieved but so happy too.’
After turning his back on his former plant-based diet, Grylls has since admitted that he’s now ’embarrassed’ to have once promoted to his fans.
Inspired by how our ancestors survived for millennia, he now eats red meat, blood, bone marrow, as well as salted butter, eggs, fruit and honey. As well as veg, he avoids processed foods, bread and pasta.
