Tourists, political leaders, activists and residents of Bethlehem gathered right in front of the Nativity Church Thursday night with an unusual message. With Christmas just days away, the city of Bethlehem erected what they call a “Resistance Tree” — an olive tree which was recently uprooted by Israeli forces from a nearby neighborhood, was placed in the center of the main square, overlooking the towering Christmas tree and historical Nativity church. Instead of baubles and tinsel, the Resistance Tree was decorated with tear gas canisters clinking together like bells, photos of Palestinians recently killed or detained, Palestinian national scarves and sling shots.

Over the weekend in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, men dressed as Santa Claus marched to the towering separation wall on a mission — to bring candy and gifts to Jerusalem. As marchers reached the wall, they were blocked by fully armed Israeli soldiers who know well that cameras from agencies around the world were pointed at them. Eventually, Israeli forces retreated behind the wall, shooting tear gas at the Santas from concrete towers. “We knew this would happen,” one of the Santas told Mondoweiss. “We didn’t expect to be allowed through, but it’s important we do something to show the world what’s happening here while people are looking our city. This is Bethlehem, tear gas and soldiers and walls and occupation. This is the holy land.”

Every morning, hours before dawn, around 30,000 Palestinian laborers make their way from the occupied West Bank, where they live, and enter Israel. These workers, desperate to keep their jobs, arrive at the checkpoints in the middle of the night to make it through in time. Abed Abu Shierra knows the men who cross through the Bethlehem 300 checkpoint well, as he serves them coffee on their way through every morning. “It started to get worse for people being stuck like this at the start of this new Intifada,” Abu Shierra says.

Mutaz Zawahra was having the time of his life in France on a youth program with two other friends when he got the news that his oldest brother had fallen dangerously ill. His brother, Ghassan, was on hunger strike in Israeli prison protesting his internment without trial or charge, and family members told Mutaz that his older brother may not make it through his strike alive. Mutaz returned home immediately to be with his family in Bethlehem, just in time for the start of the unrest that was about to erupt across the West Bank. Israeli forces shot and killed Mutaz during a particularly intense bout of clashes coined “A Day of Rage,” he was the 30th Palestinian killed in October. Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi report from the family’s commemoration ceremony for Mutaz, which was delayed so that Ghassan could have the honor of paying his respects to his brother after being released from Israeli prison.

Baharka IDP camp, Iraq, holds over 1,000 displaced Iraqi families. However in one small section, 18 Palestinian refugee families currently reside. Their displacement began 67 years ago with the Nakba, and has continued to 2015 – all the families have fled from ISIS within the last year. For some of the older Palestinian refugees this is their fifth refugee camp in their lifetime, for the younger generation it is their first. For all however, the plight of being a Palestinian refugee doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.