NATIVITY GETS RESTLESS: Palestinian police finally restore order over the dispute at the church built above the sacred site where Jesus was born. (AP)
Dozens of Christian monks armed with brooms brawled at the sacred site of Jesus’ birth yesterday when an annual cleanup turned into a turf war.
Palestinian riot police had to storm the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and use batons and shields to break up the fight between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics.
The Greeks and Armenians, along with Roman Catholics, share the 1,500-year-old church, which, according to Christian tradition, was built over the cave where Jesus was born.
Each group regards specific areas of the West Bank compound as theirs to administer.
The brawl began as monks were carrying out the annual routine of cleaning up the church following Christmas Day celebrations, when western Christian tourists fill Manger Square outside the church and sing carols.
The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic clerics were readying their sections in preparation for Orthodox Christmas, which is observed on Jan. 7.
But this year’s cleanup was marred when some monks began arguing over what they regarded as trespassing on their turf.
As shocked tourists looked on, the dispute grew into a shouting, broom-wielding fight involving about 100 clerics, witnesses said.
Palestinian police had to squeeze themselves past the low-hanging “Door of Humility” to hurry inside and restore order.
Two Palestinian Authority officials received minor injuries, officials said.
“No one was arrested because all of those involved were men of God,” Bethlehem Police Lt. Col. Khaled al-Tamimi said.
He shrugged off the incident. “Everything is all right, and things have returned to normal,” he said. “It was a trivial problem that . . . occurs every year.”