Throughout Gaza conflict, regular crowds of worldwide worshippers are absent, and Palestinians face ‘unprecedented’ restrictions.
As Christians all over the world put together to rejoice Easter, Palestinians within the land that birthed the faith are going through extreme restrictions on coming into Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis to mark the event.
Whereas a minimum of 200 leaders from the occupied West Financial institution have been given permits to enter the world, their congregations will not be being allowed entry to take part within the providers, mentioned Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
The restrictions are “unprecedented”, Khan mentioned as a procession of worshippers, far smaller than the standard Good Friday crowds, walked the Through Dolorosa – the trail Jesus is claimed to have adopted on the best way to his crucifixion greater than 2,000 years in the past.
The Outdated Metropolis is unusually empty owing to the conflict in Gaza, however Palestinian Christians have been “desperate” to go to their locations of worship, Khan mentioned.
“Palestinian Christians from the occupied West Bank – not the international tourists who are staying away because of the war on Gaza – these are people who actually want to come to the Old City and celebrate Easter, but they’re not being allowed to.”
Christians are often granted entry to East Jerusalem, he mentioned, though Palestinian Muslims routinely face restrictions. Entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque has been denied to males underneath the age of 65 and girls underneath the age of fifty on the third Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
‘Dark days’
“These are very dark days, very difficult days,” the Reverend Munther Isaac mentioned, chatting with Al Jazeera from Bethlehem within the West Financial institution. “I think the restrictions this year have definitely increased. Even for us here in Bethlehem – and Jerusalem is literally 20 minutes away from here – we don’t have access.”
“Jerusalem is very important for us, especially at Easter. We’re accustomed to … praying in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” he mentioned.
“This is part of our daily life under occupation. The war has added to our pain because of the magnitude of death and killing.”
Fayaz Dakkak, the proprietor of a household retailer promoting spiritual souvenirs, mentioned he was not anticipating to make any gross sales. Because the conflict rages on, the standard crowds from all over the world haven’t descended on the town to go to the Twelfth-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the location the place Jesus is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected.
“We’ve been feeling a lot more uncomfortable this time because there’s profiling. If you’re passing by any gate, whether it’s the Damascus Gate, New Gate, Jaffa Gate, and the police officer or the soldier feels you are not Israeli, you’re stopped, you’re checked,” he mentioned.
“Most of the time, it’s not very pleasant,” he added. Whereas some members of the safety forces perform simple ID checks, others are extra “violent”, he mentioned.
Rafi, a Christian youth coordinator, mentioned Israeli settlers had made the Outdated Metropolis an nearly no-go zone. “Even before the war started, we saw the settlers attacking the churches and even the Christian cemeteries,” he mentioned.
“They were attacking any priest or any nun walking inside Jerusalem. Even the pilgrims walking the Way of the Cross [Via Dolorosa] were under attack.”
Many Palestinian Christians from the occupied West Financial institution have been disadvantaged of strolling the Through Dolorosa this 12 months.
Even earlier than the conflict, Palestinian Christian needed to request permission to go to the Outdated Metropolis properly upfront of celebrations. Final 12 months, the Greek Orthodox Church slammed what it referred to as Israel’s “heavy-handed restrictions” on freedom of worship throughout Easter.
Israeli police had mentioned limits have been wanted for security in the course of the “Holy Fire” celebration on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, throughout which a flame taken from Jesus’s tomb within the church is used to gentle the candles of worshippers. Christian leaders mentioned there was no want to change a ceremony that had been held for hundreds of years they usually believed it was a part of an ongoing Israeli coverage to push Palestinians out of their homeland.
