Christmas fervor hits Jerusalem

Municipality hands out free Christmas trees in Old City; chaos breaks out as people grab for free trees.

Christmas tree giveaway in J'lem 311 (photo credit: Ben Spier)
Christmas tree giveaway in J'lem 311
(photo credit: Ben Spier)
It's Christmas time in Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem Municipality gave out free Christmas trees last Wednesday by the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, to celebrate the upcoming holiday. However, the holiday spirit of giving quickly gave way to a chaotic dash by local residents to grab as many free trees as possible.
Nina Asbeck, who recently moved to Jerusalem from Germany with her husband and three children for business reasons, was surprised by the chaos.
Despite failing to grab a tree during the chaos, Nina was luckily given one later, by a man dressed as Santa for the occasion.
The municipality expressed its apologies over the incident, and stated that it had given out about 100 fir trees over the course of the morning.