The Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine has denounced Israeli violations against Christian worshipers in the Holy Saturday celebrations and the police restrictions on their access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Head of the committee Ramzi Khoury warned that the already tense situation in Occupied Jerusalem would escalate as a result of Israel’s provocations against Palestinian citizens and its persistent violations against the sanctity of their Islamic and Christian holy sites and their right to practice their religions freely at the Aqsa Mosque and the Sepulcher Church.
Khoury accused the Israeli occupation government of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic during the previous period and the absence of Christian worshipers from the holy city for two years due to the preventive measures to impose a new fait accompli in Jerusalem through determining the number of worshipers participating in religious occasions.
He affirmed that this matter had been rejected by the Churches which urged Christian worshipers not to submit to such arbitrary decisions that are part of the Israeli plan to Judaize Jerusalem and empty it of its native population.
The Christian official called on the international community and human rights groups to take action against such Israeli practices and stand by the Palestinian people who are exposed to restrictions on their most basic religious rights.
“What is happening is because of the absence of any deterrent to the apartheid government to prevent it from violating the sanctity of Churches and Mosques and assaulting Christian and Muslim citizens and religious figures” he said.
