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VIDEO: Monks Brawl With Brooms In Bethlehem's Church Of The Nativity

Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergymen scuffled inside Bethlehem's Church of Nativity today.
Bernat Armangue
/
AP
Armenian and Greek Orthodox clergymen scuffled inside Bethlehem's Church of Nativity today.

There was a brawl today inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

A brawl between, of all things, "dozens of monks feuding over sacred space," The Associated Press says.

The traditional site of Jesus' birth, the church is shared by Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodoz parishioners. According to the AP, today's dispute between Greek and Armenian monks began when they accused each other "of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim."

The monks were cleaning the church at the time. One thing led to another and soon brooms were being swung and thrown. Palestinian security forces had to break up the brouhaha. No serious injuries were reported.

This video from ITN News shows what happened.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.