Jerusalem (TPS) – Every year, Issa Kassissieh, a Christian Arab from Jerusalem’s Old City, distributes free Christmas trees on behalf of the Jerusalem Municipality to the capital’s Christians before the Christmas holiday. Ringing his golden bell and humming the seasonal ‘Jingle Bells’, Issa has become a well-known holiday figure, for both the local residents and visiting Christians who come to get their cypress trees.

“I’ve been the Jerusalem Santa for 12 years,” Kassissieh told Tazpit Press Service. This year, Kassissieh distributed around 230 Christmas trees at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. “The trees have been great this year, better than last,” he noted.