Palestinian gunmen on Monday opened fire on a hotel in Bethlehem that was at the time hosting a group of tourists from the Philippines.

The reason for the shooting was that the tourists had used Jewish symbols in a holiday celebration they held in the hotel’s conference hall.

The tourists, presumably Christians touring the country during the Sukkot holiday, had asked the management of The Bethlehem Hotel for permission to use the conference room, but had failed to specify that it would be a Jewish-themed event.

The Palestinians by-and-large reject all evidence and recognition of the Jewish people’s long history in this land.

“A group of 300 Filipinos came to the hotel for an 8-day stay and asked on Thursday to put on a party,” hotel manager Ilyas al-A’rja told Palestinian media. “After the hall had been prepped for the party, I was surprised by the presence of the Star of David and the Menorah. I opposed that completely and asked them to remove them, which is in fact what happened.”

But before the Jewish symbols were removed, another Arab guest at the hotel happened upon the conference hall and filmed a short clip of the “offensive” display. That clip was posted to social media, were it generated a fierce response and incited the shooting attack.

تحت رعاية سلطة الجواسيس

فندق في مدينة بيت لحم عاملين تجهيزات للإحتفال بعيد العرش "عيد الصهاينة" !!#ابن_الخليل pic.twitter.com/7KBADvEyL3

— ابن الخليل (@abn_alkhalil) October 10, 2022

No one was injured by the gunfire, but there was damage to the upper floors of the hotel.