Israeli police arrest Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus at Christmas social gathering

[ad_1] Israeli police arrested a Palestinian man dressed as Santa Claus throughout a raid on a Christmas social gathering in Haifa, a civil rights monitor has mentioned.

Israeli officers closed an occasion celebrating Christmas on Sunday, confiscating gear, and arresting the Palestinian Santa Claus, in addition to a DJ and a road vendor. In a video, police will be seen pushing the lads to the bottom and handcuffing them as bystanders watched.

The Israeli police mentioned in a press release that the person sporting the Santa Claus costume resisted arrest and assaulted an officer.

The Mossawa Middle, a rights teams that advocates for Palestinian residents of Israel, mentioned police used extra drive on the lads and that the raid on the music corridor was executed with out authorized authority.

The arrests got here as Palestinians rejoice Christmas throughout the occupied West Financial institution and Gaza amid continuous restrictions on day by day life by Israeli forces.

Celebrations have been held for the primary time in Bethlehem because the conflict in Gaza began, with marching bands blowing bagpipes by the streets of the birthplace of Jesus. Worshippers attended mass on the church of nativity and youngsters sang carols as the town lit up with celebrations.

In war-torn Gaza, the place greater than 70,000 folks have been killed and far of the infrastructure has been destroyed by Israeli bombs, a small Christian group celebrated its first Christmas since a shaky ceasefire started. Christmas timber and glitter introduced splashes of color to the rubble that's strewn throughout the Gaza strip.

Israeli assaults continued regardless of the vacation. Israeli settlers uprooted olive groves within the city of Turmus Ayya, exterior Ramallah, whereas Israeli troopers stormed houses and confiscated automobiles close to Hebron, based on the WAFA, the Palestinian information company.

Assaults by Israelis concentrating on Christians have been on the rise, with a March report documenting 32 assaults on church properties and 45 bodily assaults concentrating on Christians.

In his first Christmas handle as pontiff, Pope Leo condemned the abysmal humanitarian scenario in Gaza, the place a whole bunch of hundreds dwell in tents and substandard dwellings within the biting chilly and rain. He referenced the story of Jesus being born in a steady, and mentioned that it confirmed that God had “pitched his fragile tent” among the many folks of the world.

“How, then, can we not consider the tents in Gaza, uncovered for weeks to rain, wind and chilly,” he mentioned, lamenting “the defenceless populations, tried by so many wars”.