Christians for ending Israeli violations to worship Easter
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/2/2007

The Palestinian Christian Community called upon their fellow Christians and the Heads of Churches to put an end to Israeli violations of the right to worship freely in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

In a statement today, Palestinian Christian NGOs said that stopping Israeli violations will enable Christians to enter the Church to pray.

According to the statement, Easter celebrations are hostage to the whims of the Israeli Occupation authorities, as part of policies that are racist and that aim to push Christians to immigrate.

The Christian Community revealed that the occupation authorities are preventing worshipers from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher or celebrating in the yard on the roof top of the Church, and are preventing the traditional joyful celebration march and the procession of the banners.

"The occupation authorities are imposing strict restrictions on the movement of Christians during Easter week, and are preventing Christians from reaching the churches, and are adopting a policy that prevents Palestinian Christians from other parts of the West Bank from reaching Jerusalem to celebrate Easter," the statement added.

It pointed out that barriers also are put near the gates of the old city of Jerusalem, especially in the area leading to the Christian quarter, Herod's Gate, and the roads leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in order to deny worshipers their right to pray freely.

"A new phenomenon now, is the huge presence of Israeli police inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher with their weapons, which violates the sanctity of the Church and religious traditions," the statement concluded.

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