Dozens of demonstrators rally at the future site of the construction of Israel’s barrier wall near the West Bank village of Bil’in every week. Regularly, those protesters are met with Israeli soldiers who violently disperse their rallies. Yet every week the protesters are there, and the soldiers are there.
That gets a bit monotonous after awhile, so the protesters decided to shake things up this week. Dozens of the protesters dressed up as Santa Claus and held their usual rally, reportedly bolstered by international and Israeli activists.
And as is so often the case, the Israeli military was there. A clash broke out, the keffiyeh-clad Santas are reported to have thrown stones at the troops, and the troops fired into the crowd with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets.