Over 100 rival priests and monks chose an odd place to engage in a mass brawl, the birthplace of Jesus Christ himself.
Palestinian police were forced to storm the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem after a row broke out between Orthodox and Armenian clerics over the boundaries of their respective ancient jurisdictions inside the historic church, the site on which the baby Jesus is said to have been born.
The priests were participating in the annual Christmas clean-up at the church, which is jointly looked after by the Latin, Orthodox and Armenian churches, each of which controls a section of the holy site.
Obviously thinking that the other group was invading their turf, the Orthodox and Armenian clerics waged war inside and the situation quickly escalated before the police were called and order was restored.
The fact that priests engaged in a mass brawl was strange enough, but to add to the ridiculousness of the situation, rival priests flung brooms at one another, while one brave soul put his safety at risk while filming the whole episode on his mobile phone.
A member of the Bethlehem police, Khaled al-Tamimi, said of the somewhat crazy episode: “No one was arrested because all those involved were men of God.”
Speculation that he added: “This sh*t just got religious,” has yet to be confirmed.
