Bethlehem, West Bank (dpa) – Dozens of Christian clergy clashed during the annual cleaning of the Church of Nativity in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem Wednesday, witnesses and Palestinian police said. Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergy fought with the broom sticks they were using to clean the church in preparation for the Orthodox Christmas next week. Palestinian police armed with clubs entered and intervened to stop the fight, forcibly pushing the two sides apart. There were no reports of injuries from the fight. Three different Christian dominations govern the church, believed to mark the location where Jesus Christ was born – Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian. They follow strict status quo rules to avoid tensions. Each has a spot in the church, which they are responsible for cleaning during holidays. However, when some clergy step into the space of the other, a fight often breaks out. The most serious fights between denominations normally occur during Orthodox Easter celebrations at the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/zNDgE Tags: Brooms, Christians, Church of Nativity, Fight, West Bank Section: Latest News, Palestine
