Palestinian protesters dressed as Santa clash with Israeli army
- 9 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Tens of Palestinian protesters, some of them festively dressed as Santa Claus, clashed on Tuesday (December 23) with Israeli security forces in Bethlehem, a day before the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city revered as the birthplace of Jesus.
The demonstrators gathered at Bethlehem checkpoint to protest against "an occupation that controls our lives, and surrounding us with the apartheid wall," a press release by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said.
Israel started building the barrier, a mix of metal fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls, in 2002 in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. It says the barrier keeps its citizens safe from militants.
Around 50,000 Palestinian Christians, including 17,000 Catholics, live among 4 million Muslims in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza. They say Israel's checkpoints and separation barrier cut them off from their neighbors and hol
Tens of Palestinian protesters, some of them festively dressed as Santa Claus, clashed on Tuesday (December 23) with Israeli security forces in Bethlehem, a day before the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city revered as the birthplace of Jesus.
The demonstrators gathered at Bethlehem checkpoint to protest against "an occupation that controls our lives, and surrounding us with the apartheid wall," a press release by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said.
Israel started building the barrier, a mix of metal fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls, in 2002 in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings. It says the barrier keeps its citizens safe from militants.
Around 50,000 Palestinian Christians, including 17,000 Catholics, live among 4 million Muslims in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Gaza. They say Israel's checkpoints and separation barrier cut them off from their neighbors and hol