After footage circulated online of police officers arresting individuals at a Christmas event in Haifa, the Israel Police on Thursday responded to claims that its officers raided the event, labeling the accusations as “false.”
“Contrary to false claims circulating online, Israel Police did not raid a Christmas event in Haifa,” the Israel Police stated on X/Twitter.
The Israel Police’s statement comes after outlets, including the Qatar state-run Al Jazeera, Turkish state-run TRT, and Middle East Eye, shared footage of the arrests, claiming the police had “stormed” the Christmas event.
Al Jazeera claimed that the police had introduced “chaos” to the celebrations and that the police had engaged in “arresting and beating Christians in the area.”
Far-right conspiracy theorist and antisemitic social media personality Stew Peters also shared the footage on X/Twitter, asserting that Israel was "tossing [Christians] in jail."
In response to the reports, Israel Police asserted the truth was “quite the opposite,” adding “while keeping the event safe, officers stopped three individuals acting disorderly, allowing the festive celebration to conclude without further disruption.”
Christians in Israel, who are predominantly Arab, make up 6.8% of the country’s Arab population.
Second only to Nazareth, Haifa has one of Israel’s largest Christian populations, with 18,800 living in the city. Just shy of 15% of all Christian Israelis live in the Haifa District.
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After footage circulated online of police officers arresting individuals at a Christmas event in Haifa, the Israel Police on Thursday responded to claims that its officers raided the event, labeli...