Anti-Semitism on the BBC? “Jesus was ‘Palestinian'”

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Was Jesus “Palestinian”? Depends on who you ask. In a BBC radio program called “Heart and Soul”, titled “The Black Jesus”, the presenter, Robert Beckford, claimed that Jesus was “Palestinian”, even though the term came into use more than a century after Jesus’ death.
During the show, Buckford rightly noted that Jesus’ common artistic depiction of a blond man with European features is historically inaccurate, but when discussing the national identity of the Messiah from Nazareth, the presenter repeatedly described him as “Palestinian Jew of the first century,” despite the term “Palestinian.” Entered into use only following the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman Empire, which took place many years after the crucifixion of Christ. Further references to Jesus as a “Palestinian” were also on another BBC radio program in Scotland, this time without an explicit mention of Jesus’ Jewish identity.

“The term ‘Palestine’ was completely fictional at the time”

This is not the first time that an international media outlet has made a mistake. A report by the American media audit organization CAMERA, which was published earlier this year and criticized the New York Times, stated that “in the time of Jesus, Bethlehem and Jerusalem were part of the area usually called ‘Judea’, while Nazareth was in the area usually called ‘Galilee’ . The land where Jesus lived did not receive the name ‘Palestine’ until the middle of the second century, many years after his death. Therefore, the term “Palestine of the first century” is a completely fictional term. “

The invention of the name “Palestinian” can be dated to 135 AD, more than a century after the crucifixion of Christ. So, as punishment for the Bar Kochba revolt, the Romans officially changed the name of Palestine to “Syria-Palestine”, in order to harm the Jewish people and cut off its connection to the land of its ancestors, choosing for Judah an alternative name derived from the Philistine people, , And lived in Philistia in the Ashkelon and Gaza area.

Historians note that this decree of the Romans has had a far-reaching effect to this day, as the Arab nationalist movement is based on the name “Palestine”, claiming that the Arabs of Israel are in fact “Palestinians” and owners of this region.

CAMERA reports that it intends to demand from the BBC to clarify the historical inaccuracies.

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