WEST BANK-CHRISTMAS/CLASHES Palestinian protesters dressed as Santa clash with Israeli army

Record ID: 565711

  • Title: WEST BANK-CHRISTMAS/CLASHES Palestinian protesters dressed as Santa clash with Israeli army
  • Date: 23rd December 2014
  • Summary: BETHLEHEM CHECKPOINT, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 23, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES PUSHING PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS DRESSED AS SANTA ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES DROPPING CANISTER NEAR PROTESTERS REPORTERS GATHERING AROUND ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES PROTESTER DRESSED AS SANTA RINGING BELL TEAR GAS CANISTERS EXPLODING AT SCENE VARIOUS OF TEAR GAS CANISTER BILLOWING SMOKE ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES SCUFFLING WITH PROTESTERS ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES PUSHING PROTESTERS AWAY TEAR GAS CANISTER EXPLODING AT SCENE ISRAELI SOLDIER THROWING TEAR GAS CANISTER ON PROTEST BETHLEHEM CHECKPOINT GATE CLOSING
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9DONU7A885TBJVXWE4TAOPV2N
  • Story Text: 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.
    The Israeli army spokesperson unit said that approximately 80 protesters hurled rocks at security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means.
    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 holy places in Jerusalem.
    The issue of Palestinian movement restrictions comes to the fore every year in the run-up to Christmas, when tens of thousands of religious tourists make their way to Bethlehem, other parts of the West Bank and Jerusalem to celebrate the birth, life and death of Jesus.
    When it comes to Bethlehem, a city of 25,000 just eight kilometres (five miles) south of Jerusalem, the critical issue is getting foreign tourists past Israel's separation wall and checkpoints and convincing them to stay the night.
    Many now choose to stay in Jerusalem and make a day trip. Palestinian officials say the growth of Israeli settlements - there are now 22 around Bethlehem - is steadily strangling access, prompting tourists to stay away.
    On the morning of Christmas Eve (December 24), the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal, will leave Jerusalem in the head of a festive motorcade towards Bethlehem, where he will lead Christmas eve mass in the Church of Nativity.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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