Ken Dorph, a consultant who has played Santa for the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, was fired from his job as jolly Saint Nick for criticizing Israel's war on Gaza during a lecture at a local synagogue.

WATCH:

[Note: the interview is in English.]

From CNN, "I criticized the war in Gaza. Then I was fired from my job as Santa":

After the horrific Hamas attack and the devastating Israeli response, several friends and neighbors asked what I thought. On October 28th, I gave a talk at a local church in Sag Harbor entitled, "Palestine / Israel: What Gives?" to a full house. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

About a month later, I was invited to attend a lecture at the local synagogue — this time as an audience member — on the topic of "Answering the Tough Questions" about Israel. Given the intriguing title, I perceived the invitation as an olive branch. I thought, perhaps narcissistically, that I was specifically invited for my unique Middle East expertise.

I could not have been more wrong. The talk seemed intended to offer instruction on how to deflect tough questions challenging the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and its violence against the Palestinians, rather than inform. I confronted the speaker to counter what I considered inaccuracies in the presentation and when it was over, I shared how disappointing I found it. The talk was unhelpful and sounded to my ears like a propaganda session. [Ed note: the talk was given by Belle Yoeli, a "chief advocacy officer" for the American Jewish Committee.]

@afeefnessouli BRING BACK OUR ANTI-PROPAGANDA SANTA! When I asked Ken Dorph what we should call this headline he said: “How about simply, ‘We need a Santa who loves everyone, including Palestinians!’” Ken has extensive expertise in the Middle East. His Arabic is amazing and he has lived in several Arabic speaking countries. So in late October, he was invited to speak about the Middle East. His talk- which largely focuses on peace building and history- rubbed some community members the wrong way. In response, they invited him to their own talk. Before he knew it, he was a canceled Santa! Thanks to @alexandra_talty for putting me in touch with @kjdorph so he could tell me his story on camera, and for Finny Dianora-Brondal on