Thursday, December 26, 2024

12/26 Links Pt1: The terrorist who shattered the Oslo myth; Israel Is Doing Everyone a Favor By Hitting the Houthis Harder; IAF targets PIJ terrorists posing as journalists

From Ian:

The terrorist who shattered the Oslo myth
If there was one terrorist whose life epitomized the Arab war against Israel and shattered the illusions fostered by the Oslo Accords, it was Fuad Shubaki, who died this week at the age of 83.

Shubaki was born in Gaza in 1940. Note that the Jews didn’t rule Gaza in those days (the British did), so Gazans didn’t demand a Palestinian state and didn’t organize any movement for independence. The next occupier was Egypt. The Egyptians illegally occupied Gaza in 1948 and ruled it for the next 19 years—yet still, there was no uprising against an occupation.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news agency, Shubaki “was one of the first to join the Palestinian fedayeen movement in the mid-1960s.” Remember, there were no settlements or Israeli-occupied territories in those days. The territory that Shubaki and his fellow terrorists were trying to “liberate” was pre-1967 Israel.

The exact extent of Shubaki’s personal involvement in terrorism may never be known, but it is clear from his Wafa obituary that he was involved in many attacks. The news outlet put it this way: “He underwent training in the camps of the Palestinian revolution and participated in its battles.”

Shubaki gradually rose through the terrorist ranks. He was invited to serve on both the Palestinian National Council and Fatah’s Revolutionary Council. He became a senior aide to PLO chief Yasser Arafat, and Arafat appointed him to manage Fatah’s “military financial administration,” Wafa’s euphemism for arranging the financing to murder Israeli Jews.

When Arafat tried to take over Jordan, Shubaki was by his side. When Arafat and his guerrillas were expelled by Jordan and tried to take over Lebanon, Shubaki was there, too. When Israel succumbed to U.S. pressure to let Arafat and his senior terrorists escape Beirut in 1982 and set up bases in Tunis, Shubaki was among them.

From Gaza to Jordan to Lebanon to Tunisia, Shubaki devoted his life to financing the bombers, snipers, grenade-hurlers, stabbers and rock-throwers waging nonstop jihad against Israel.

Then came Oslo. Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, Shubaki and their colleagues announced they would live in peace with Israel. They signed the first Oslo agreement in 1993. They signed Oslo II in 1995. They promised to give up terrorism, to arrest and extradite terrorists, and to stop teaching anti-Jewish hatred in their schools.

The Jewish world was deeply divided. Optimists insisted that Arafat could be trusted; he was laying down his arms. Others said he couldn’t be trusted; he would use front groups to continue terrorism and would never keep his Oslo obligations.

As the months passed, the pessimists’ worst fears began coming true. Terrorism resumed. Arafat refused to use his new Palestinian Authority security forces to take action against Hamas. Arafat’s Fatah set up thinly disguised front groups, such as the “Fatah Hawks” and the “Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade” to carry out attacks. Israel’s requests to extradite terrorists were ignored. A revolving-door “prison” was used by the P.A. when it wanted to pretend it was “detaining suspects” but really setting them free.

Arafat’s incitement also continued unabated. There was the infamous “jihad speech” (there were actually many). There was the “Abir and Dalal speech” (there were many of those, too), in which he presented Arab women terrorists as role models for Palestinian Arab girls to emulate. Another generation of young Arabs was being raised to hate and kill Jews, Oslo or no Oslo.

At the center of it all was Fuad Shubaki, the master financier who made sure that funds were always available to keep terrorizing Israel.
Caroline Glick: The battle for Jerusalem
Israel’s ruling elites—from the IDF General Staff to Shin Bet leadership, from the media to the legal system to academia—have refused to admit this state of affairs. Instead, they have insisted on an artificial distinction between the “moderate” P.A. and the “radical” Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces. In their efforts, they have been supported by successive U.S. administrations. The unbridled hostility of the European Union, the United Nations and other international actors towards Israel as a whole has been used by Israel’s leftist ruling class and Washington as a means to coerce successive governments and the unwilling public to maintain faith with the fiction that the P.A. is a stabilizing force, whether in Judea and Samaria or in the Gaza Strip.

Most of their efforts across the years were directed not against the Palestinians calling for the conquest of Jerusalem. Their chief foe (and the focus of their anger) has always been the Israelis—IDF officers, politicians, journalists, academics and regular citizens who have insisted on listening to the Palestinians and acting accordingly.

If the war is to end, Israel must win this battle in a manner that is not open to question. To win this war, Israel needs to dismantle not only Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but the governing body that has cultivated and grown these forces. To win the battle for Jerusalem, Israel must dismantle the P.A.’s security forces and the notion that they are moderates, or that they aren’t fighting for Jerusalem.

The presence of advanced weapons and tens of thousands of men under arms supported by a society mobilized to use them to kill thousands of Israelis at the first opportunity has made the situation untenable. The government is well-advised to delay the reckoning until after Donald Trump becomes president in January and until after Halevi’s expected resignation in February. It is clear that the battle cannot be won so long as the IDF is led by a man who refuses to abandon the strategic conception that the P.A. is Israel’s partner, not its enemy.

In the past year and three months of war, the overwhelming sense has been that we are fighting for the survival not only of Israel but of the Jewish people. There is poetic justice, then, in the fact that the approaching battle for Jerusalem has come into view just as we celebrate the festival of Chanukah, the time when the Jews fought both their enemies and their internal demons to secure their religious freedom and restore Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem.
Khaled Abu Toameh: How Israeli Arab Leaders Betray Their Own People
"For the longest time, I struggled with my identity. A Palestinian kid born inside Israel. Like...wtf. Many of my friends refuse to this day to say the word 'Israel' and call themselves 'Palestinian' only. But since I was 12, that did not make sense to me. So, I decided to mix the two and become a 'Palestinian-Israeli.' I thought this term reflected who I was. Palestinian first. Israeli second. But after recent events, I started to think. And think. And think. And then my thoughts turned to anger. I realized that if Israel were to be 'invaded' like that again, we would not be safe. To a terrorist invading Israel, all citizens are targets.... And I do not want to live under a Palestinian government. Which means I only have one home, even if I'm not Jewish: Israel." — Nuseir Yassin ("Nas Daily"), Israeli Arab blogger, the day after October 8, 2023.

These [Arab Israeli] leaders will do anything to grab the attention of the media – even if that means inciting against Israel. They know that when they deal with the real problems facing their Arab constituents – such as unemployment and poverty – no one will write about them in the media. Yet, when these leaders make fiery statements against Israel, they often win headlines and front-page stories. As far as they are concerned, "I don't care what you write about me as long as you spell my name right."

By engaging in anti-Israel incitement, these Israeli Arab leaders are causing huge damage to their own constituents. These leaders make the Israeli Arabs look as if they are a "Fifth Column" -- an enemy within. These leaders are stoking fear and mistrust between Jews and Arabs inside Israel, while ignoring that most Israeli Arabs say they feel comfortable living in the Jewish state.

If Israeli Arabs want to secure a prosperous future for themselves and their children, they need to get rid of extremist Arab leaders who speak and act against the interests of the Arab community inside Israel. If these Arab leaders are unhappy living in Israel, they are welcome to move to the West Bank, Gaza Strip or any Arab country -- where they will quickly miss Israel's democracy and freedom of speech.


Seth Mandel: Israel Is Doing Everyone a Favor By Hitting the Houthis Harder
Israel’s retaliatory strikes have increased because Houthi attacks on Israel have increased. The Houthis are the only Iranian proxy currently able to stand on two feet: Israel’s retaliatory actions against Hamas and Hezbollah have flattened them. (Picking a fight with Israel has been a losing proposition, and the Houthis are unlikely to buck the trend.) Ballistic missiles from Yemen have been fired at densely populated residential areas in Tel Aviv several times over the past week or so.

One problem for both the West and the Houthis is that the terror group depends on Iran for military supplies but not necessarily funding, which means it often makes its own decisions. As the Times of Israel notes, “Unlike many proxies, they don’t rely on Iran for money, instead raising funds from taxes and smuggling networks. The Houthis also practice a different strain of Shiite Islam from Iran, and make decisions independently of Iran and its Revolutionary Guards. For example, Iran reportedly urged the Houthis not to take the capital of Sana’a in 2014, advice the group promptly ignored.”

Iran could, of course, rein in the Houthis by not supplying them with the weapons they know will be fired at Israeli towns, Western naval vessels, and civilian cargo ships.

But Iran does not want the Houthis to stop firing. Which means the only method left to prevent more Houthi-caused bloodshed is for the West to take away the group’s freedom of action.

Until this point, the West has relied on Israel to do so, and that looks to be the case for the foreseeable future. It is not only Israeli civilians who stand to benefit from the corking of Houthi launchers, but so far they are the only civilians whose government considers their safety important enough to defend. (An occasional token U.S. strike adds some loud bangs but not much else.)

Strange as it may sound, that is because the West tends to accept the narratives crafted by its enemies. In the case of the Houthis, that narrative is the one mentioned at the beginning of this post. Namely, that by engaging with the Houthis, Western armies are legitimizing the terror group in the eyes of “the resistance.”

That is, by retaliating, we would be giving the Houthis what they want.

Well, good. To borrow from H.L. Mencken, the Houthis believe they know what they want—and they deserve to get it good and hard.
Israel considers opening gates of hell to bring hostages home
From Jan. 20 onward, Netanyahu would no longer need to justify measures such as providing fuel and dual-use materials to Gaza under U.S. pressure. Instead, he would have Trump’s support to halt these supplies entirely. Drastic measures from the war’s early days, such as limiting electricity and water, could be reinstated.

If no agreement is reached in the coming weeks, Israel could intensify alternative approaches, such as offering financial rewards or exile deals. While the IDF and Shin Bet have so far pursued this strategy cautiously, posters have been distributed across Gaza, and messages dictated by Hamas in hostage videos suggest that the offer has reached them.

However, deeper and more sophisticated efforts in this direction remain possible.

Israeli officials believe Hamas understands what may happen on Jan. 20, and this recognition has influenced its recent willingness to negotiate. Nonetheless, the organization’s recurring inflexibility may leave Jerusalem with no choice but to fulfill Trump’s expectations, opening the gates of hell on Hamas to bring the hostages home.
Hamas: Full list of living captives only after ceasefire in force
A senior Hamas official has denied reports that the Gaza-based terrorist group is refusing to provide a full list of the living hostages, according to Qatar’s Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet.

The official explained that Hamas has already provided a partial list but is facing difficulties in contacting other terrorist groups responsible for holding the captives.

Israeli estimates indicate there are 100 hostages in Gaza, 64 of whom are believed to be alive.

The official rejected earlier Israeli reports claiming that Mohammed Sinwar, the de facto leader of Hamas’s “military wing” in Gaza and brother of the slain leader Yahya Sinwar, is being inflexible and unwilling to provide a complete list of the living hostages.

“Hamas has engaged in talks with the other factions holding the hostages, but due to the situation in Gaza, it is impossible to contact all the organizations. Hamas has confirmed that it will provide a full list of the living hostages once the situation stabilizes and after a ceasefire,” the official stated, as translated by Ynet.

The senior Hamas official claimed that the “military” wing operates in full coordination with its political leadership, with complete alignment between the two. He added that the “military” wing has authorized Khalil al-Hayya, acting chairman of the Hamas political bureau, to lead the negotiating delegation, granting him the power to make decisions as he sees fit.
Burned, beaten, starved: Health Ministry compiles hostage testimonies to submit to UN
The Health Ministry has completed a draft report on the abuse that Israeli hostages suffered while held in the Gaza Strip, cataloging the physical and mental suffering they experienced and the lasting effects it has had on them, some of whom are children. Israel plans to submit the report to the United Nations.

Compiled from the testimonies of hostages who were released in a November 2023 deal and those who were later rescued by Israeli forces, it details how they were burned and beaten, starved and humiliated, as well as how the abuse impacted their mental and physical health, even long after they were freed.

Channel 12 and the Ynet news outlet reported details from the brief on Thursday.

It marks the first formal report by the Health Ministry about the hostages’ experiences. Compiled by the health and welfare ministries, the final report is to be presented to the United Nations committee that deals with cases of torture.

Health Minister Uriel Buso said in a statement it is “a significant report that depicts the atrocities that hostages suffered and reveals to the world the cruelty of the enemies we are dealing with.”

The report says that hostages were kept for days in darkness, with their hands and feet bound, and received little food or water. They were beaten all over their bodies, some had hair pulled out, and in some cases were burned and branded with metal heated over an open flame. Others, including children, were subjected to sexual assaults.

Injured hostages said they were not given painkillers and described agonizing pain during medical treatments that, in some cases, included surgical procedures.


IDF loosened rules of engagement after Oct. 7, allowing more civilian deaths – NY Times
The Israeli military significantly loosened its rules of engagement in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, letting officers approve striking targets in the Gaza Strip that had been low-priority or off-limits in earlier wars, and allowing strikes that endangered more civilians than had previously been tolerated for similar targets, according to an investigation published Thursday in The New York Times.

The investigation, which cited more than 100 soldiers and officials, including some 25 who helped plan, vet, or approve strikes, echoed some previous reports alleging widespread use of artificial intelligence software to select targets, as well as claims that a few strikes that targeted Hamas leaders endangered more than 100 noncombatants each.

The Israel Defense Forces, responding to the article, confirmed that its rules of engagement had changed when the war broke out, but maintained that all practices remained consistent with international law.

The military also emphasized the unique nature of the fighting in Gaza, where terror operatives fight from within populated areas and exploit an extensive tunnel system beneath the enclave. The fighting also occurred as Hamas held some 251 hostages, 100 of whom remain in captivity.

According to The New York Times, Israeli military leadership issued an order at 1 p.m. on Oct. 7 — as the Hamas invasion was ongoing — that granted mid-ranking officers authority to target low-ranking Hamas fighters, and allowed them to risk killing up to 20 civilians in each strike. These were far looser rules of engagement than had been the policy during previous rounds of fighting against the terror group, The Times reported.

In previous wars against Hamas, many strikes were only approved once it was concluded that no civilians at all would be harmed, while other strikes endangered up to five, the report said. Ten or more civilians would be endangered for the sake of killing a combatant only on rare occasions, according to the report.

The newspaper said that after the initial loosening of the rules of engagement, Israel tightened them again on November 5, 2023, requiring officers to seek special permission to endanger more than 10 civilians when striking low-ranking terror operatives who did not pose an imminent threat to Israeli troops. By late January, the report said, officers needed special permission “for nearly all such deadly strikes, except for those targeting the most senior Hamas commanders.”

The report also said that whereas previous wars saw the military target enemy fighters and sites that had been researched and selected far in advance, the pace of Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the wake of its cross-border onslaught meant the existing target banks were quickly depleted after October 7, and many new targets were selected with comparatively little research beforehand, sometimes with the aid of artificial intelligence programs.
Col. Richard Kemp: '10/7 attack required far more extensive, aggressive military policy'
Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British military forces in Afghanistan, spoke to Israel National News - Arutz Sheva about the report published by the New York Times today (Thursday) that the IDF adopted less restrictive rules of engagement following the outbreak of the war with the October 7 massacre by the Hamas terrorist organization.

Col. Kemp said the New York Times report may "tells us nothing new but it is clearly slanted to imply that the IDF is operating outside the laws of war. It suggests that Israel has adopted a different and less restrictive policy than in previous Gaza conflicts. That is almost certainly true. Previous conflicts were far more limited in their nature, intended to respond to attacks from Gaza that were far more limited in their effects on Israel. After 7th October Israel had no option other than to destroy Hamas rather than inflict limited damage especially on key commanders and military assets as had occurred previously. That has required a far more extensive and aggressive military policy."

He further stated that "the Times report suggests standardised 'quotas' on potential civilian harm. If these exist then they are likely to be guidelines for operational planning policies. But strikes are not authorised by such guidelines. Each strike is launched according to a proportionality assessment with legal advice. That will depend on the threat posed by individuals, groups or assets at the time the assessment is made."

He emphasized, "It’s important to note that whether a strike was or was not legally proportional does not depend on the outcome of the attack but the prior assessment of potential civilian harm. Hence for example an unknown Hamas explosives dump could intensify the harm caused by the strike, perhaps killing many more civilians than expected, as may have been the case in at least one of the examples given by the Times. That would not mean that the strike was disproportionate or unlawful. The IDF’s policies in this area are similar to those of other Western countries. Of course in some military campaigns, including Afghanistan and Iraq, restrictions will be tighter than required by the laws of war, reflecting prevailing political policies."

"Like other countries, the IDF place restrictions on their rules of engagement according to the laws of war and political, moral and humanitarian considerations. They also vary according to the place, time and circumstances and the weapons platforms used for an attack. The only overriding consideration is that they must always conform to the laws of armed conflict," he said.

When asked about his assessment of the IDF's conduct in the war against Hamas, he responded, "In my experience of observing the IDF in action they scrupulously stick to the laws of war in their targeting policies and actions. Of course errors will be made and lessons learnt and procedures modified accordingly. The Times is critical of the IDF’s intelligence and civilian harm mitigation measures. They don’t seem to understand that intelligence can rarely be 100% and nor can assessments of population levels in a given area. I doubt however that any army has ever had the quality of intelligence the IDF has in Gaza and I know that no other army has had such sophisticated or effective means of mitigating harm to civilians."

"However war is always going to result in civilian casualties, especially in Gaza where Hamas has a deliberate policy of using human shields and wants to compel the IDF to inflict the maximum number of civilian casualties in order to isolate and vilify Israel and force them to cease their attacks," Col. Kemp concluded.


Caroline Glick: The IDF Soldier Who Led the Fight Against Hezbollah
JNS senior contributing editor Caroline Glick sits down with Udi Oster, the brother of Eitan Oster who fell in the first battle against Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon on Oct. 2.

Eitan, 22, was a commander in the Israel Defense Forces' elite Egoz unit and was determined to lead the way in several crucial operations that would lay the ground for Jerusalem's ground invasion of Southern Lebanon. Watch as a story of heroism, courage, and tragedy unfolds!


IAF hits Houthi terror sites across Yemen, including airport in Sanaa
The Israeli Air Force conducted strikes on the western coast of and deep inside Yemen on Thursday evening, including Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-controlled capital, the IDF said.

The targets included the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, in addition to terror infrastructure in the Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib ports.

“These military targets were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials. This is a further example of the Houthis’ exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes,” the IDF said.

“The Houthi terrorist regime is a central part of the Iranian axis of terror, and their attacks on international shipping vessels and routes continue to destabilize the region and the wider world. … The IDF will not hesitate to operate at any distance against any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” added the statement.

The strikes came during a televised address by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

“Israel’s deterrence has failed against our country,” al-Houthi reportedly said. “The Israeli enemy knows that our operations continue, they are effective and influential. Our missiles, which the [Israeli] defense systems did not succeed in intercepting, have caused great frustration in Israel and the U.S.,” he added.

Speaking from the Israeli Air Force headquarters after the strike on the second night of Chanukah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is engaged in a modern-day Maccabean struggle.

“We are determined to cut off this terrorist arm of Iran’s axis of evil,” Netanyahu said. “We will persist in this until we complete the task.”


IDF announces fallen soldier Captain (res.) Amit Levi, killed in Gaza
Captain (res.) Amit Levi, 35, from kibbutz Shomria, was killed during combat in Gaza, the IDF announced on Thursday.

Levi was a fighter in the 6551st Patrol Battalion of the 551st Brigade. He fell in central Gaza.

The IDF added that his funeral would be held on Thursday at the Mount Herzl military cemetery.

IDF tally
According to the IDF's tally, a total of 822 soldiers have been killed on or since October 7 of last year.

Some 390 of this number were killed since the start of the military's ground operations in Gaza on October 27.


IAF targets Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists posing as journalists
An Israeli airstrike overnight Wednesday targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside a vehicle in the area of Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip that included five operatives “posing as journalists,” the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday afternoon.

The IDF identified the PIJ members killed in the attack as follows:
Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali: An operations and combat propaganda operative;
Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qaman: Head of security for Islamic Jihad in Nuseirat;
Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Lada’a: A combat propagandist;
Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi: A combat propagandist and former PIJ naval operative; and
Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna: A combat propagandist in Nuseirat.

Intelligence from multiple sources confirmed these men were Islamic Jihad operatives masquerading as journalists, the IDF said.

“One source was a list of Islamic Jihad operatives discovered during operations in Gaza, which explicitly identified four of the individuals eliminated as members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” the statement added.

The IDF stressed that extensive measures were taken to minimize civilian casualties during the strike.

Earlier, the Palestinian news agency Shahab reported that five journalists from Al-Quds Today Television were killed in an attack near Al-Awda Hospital. The outlet is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.


The Israel Guys: This Hanukkah Prayer on the Temple Mount Just Shook the Status Quo
The Houthis in Yemen are escalating their attacks on Israel, launching yet another ballistic missile, bringing millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.

Meanwhile, the complex hostage negotiations are faltering, as Yahya Sinwar’s brother, Mohamed, is accused of sabotaging the talks.

And in a move that has shocked the nation, MK Itamar Ben-Gvir prayed on the Temple Mount during Hanukkah, reigniting long-standing debates about Jewish prayer rights at this holy site.


Antisemitism is 'destroying the fabric of Australian society'
Former Labor MP Michael Danby claims antisemitism is "destroying the fabric of Australian society".

"I was in the Adass synagogue today and it is worse than you think," Mr Danby told Sky News host Caroline Marcus.

"The question is, will all Australians and not just Jewish Australians rise up and tell the federal and state governments that this is not good enough? It is destroying the fabric of Australian society."


‘Weak leadership’: Australia ‘lacking in law and order’ over rising antisemitism
Australia is “lacking” in law and order enforcement, claims Sky News host Caroline Marcus.

“And a very weak leadership,” Ms Marcus said.

Her remarks come as the Albanese Labor government struggles to tackle the nation’s rising antisemitism.


Mum about Chanukah, United Nations posts twice about Christmas
At 6:03 p.m. in New York on Tuesday, the United Nations wrote “Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating” to its 16.4 million followers on social media. Fourteen hours and five minutes later, on Wednesday morning, the official U.N. account again noted the Christian holiday, this time writing “from our U.N. family, to yours—sending everyone our warmest seasons [sic] greetings. Wishing all all who celebrate a happy and healthy Christmas.”

Although Chanukah began on the same day as Christmas this year, on Dec. 25, the official United Nations handle did not mention the Jewish holiday.

JNS reported last year that the United Nations wished Christians a happy Christmas in 2023 but ignored Chanukah, which a JNS review suggested is a broader approach by the global body, which often recognizes holidays of other faiths but not Jewish ones.

The lone prior instance that JNS found was of a U.N. reference to a Jewish holiday within a month that included other holidays—the coinciding of Ramadan, Easter, Passover and the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi. But the global body ignored Chanukah this year even as it occurred on the same day as Christmas.

When JNS pressed the United Nations in October about its lack of public statements about Jewish holidays, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told JNS that “Well, if—I would actually like to, to do that, uh, today in advance, and I’d like to wish all of, uh, all of the—the Jewish communities around the world to have a happy, uh, and peaceful Yom Kippur.”


Watch: Bear Grylls under fire for branding Mary a ‘Palestinian refugee’ in Christmas message
His message prompted some angry responses from people across social media, with people saying it was “disappointing” and “embarrassing”.

Mark Wallace, chief executive of Total Politics and former Conservative Home boss, said: “In what sense - historical, archaeological, political, religious, geographic, ethnic, literally any sense at all - would Mary have regarded herself as a Palestinian?”.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism responded by saying 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,” the group wrote.

“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.”

‘Massively disappointing’
Another person wrote: “This is so massively disappointing. How could she be Palestinian when Palestine did not exist? Mary was a Jew.”

A third person said: “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.”

A community note on X, which allows readers to clarify the factual accuracy of posts, was added to Grylls’ post, which read: “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.”


'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.”




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