A spray in a manger: Banksy at Christmas

Street artist Banksy likes to create a stir at Christmas - be it the annual underground art show Santa's Ghetto, or the 'Christmas card' which inevitably goes viral.

Santa's Ghetto was an initiative that brought together a group of street artists to sell their work at a pop-up gallery, usually somewhere in London.

Banksy's soldier and girl painting in Bethlehem (Image Broker/REX)

It began in 2002 in Shoreditch in response to what Banksy felt was a move away from the sentiments of the season, as he joked: "I felt the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised and more and more to do with religion, so we decided to open our own shop and sell pointless stuff you didn't need."

Not one to miss the opportunity for a little social commentary, in 2007 Banksy took Santa's Ghetto to Bethlehem to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinians surrounded by the 425-mile wall built by the Israelis.

He drew over 30 artists to the gallery, as well as adding new stencils around Bethlehem, including iconic images of a dove wearing a flak jacket and a young girl frisking a soldier. The Banksy art trail still boosts the tourist economy and proceeds from the sales of the artwork were given to a local children’s charity.

Banksy revisited the theme of the wall in a 2005 painting that's now rumoured to be owned by Robbie Williams, which depicts Joseph and Mary making their way back to Bethlehem for the census, but with their route blocked by a large concrete wall.

It re-appears frequently online, described as Banksy's 'Christmas card' - forums buzz about its content and it goes viral again. This year it’s been picked up by the organisation If Americans Knew, whose goal is to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It appears in large advertising hoardings across America.