Bickering at Bethlehem

December 27th, 2007 ~ Current events

Ugh. Wouldn’t you know it? This is what it takes for Orthodox to show up in the news (via Drudge Report):
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Priests brawl at Bethlehem birthplace of Jesus

Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Following the Christmas celebrations, Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church, which is built over the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born.

But the ladders encroached on space controlled by Armenian priests, according to photographers who said angry words ensued and blows quickly followed.

For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into each other with fists, brooms and iron rods while the photographers who had come to take pictures of the annual cleaning ceremony recorded the whole event.

2 Responses to “Bickering at Bethlehem”

  1. s-p Said:

    In the Middle East it is not as much about “Faith” as it is about “land”/territory.
    Its been like that since Abraham and Lot parted ways. sigh….

  2. Grace Said:

    So probably a case where we don’t understand them and they don’t understand us. Oh well.

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