The Roman Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia in Jerusalem Atallah Hanna condemned the Israeli soldiers’ attacks on unarmed Muslim worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque rejecting the Israeli attempts to impose spatial and temporal division on the holy site.
Archbishop Hanna confirmed in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli flagrant violations of Palestinian rights especially the freedom of worship constitute a threat to all Jerusalemites including Muslim and Christian worshippers calling on the Palestinian people to confront the Israeli attacks and protect their holy sites to celebrate their holy days freely.
“Our Palestinian unity is the means by which we will continue defending our holy sites until Muslim and Christian Palestinians get the freedom of worship” the Archbishop said warning that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA)’s restrictions in Jerusalem are unprecedented.
Earlier on Saturday the IOA closed the New Gate of Jerusalem and attacked Christian Palestinian worshippers preventing them from entering the Old City of Jerusalem to participate in the Holy Saturday at the Church of Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
