The Islamic Christian Authority for Patronizing Jerusalem and holy sites has strongly denounced the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for banning Palestinian Christian citizens in the Gaza Strip from visiting their holy sites in Jerusalem the West Bank and the 1948 occupied lands.
Hanna Issa secretary-general of the authority said in a statement on Saturday that such Israeli measure against Gaza Christians constitutes a grave violation of the freedoms of movement and worship enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Issa also said that such Israeli practices violate the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilian persons and the first protocol attached to the Geneva Conventions with regard to freedom of worship.
He stressed that Israel as an occupying power must facilitate the access of worshipers to their holy sites in compliance with the international law.
“We as Palestinian Christians affirm our right to practice our acts of worship like other peoples who perform their religious rituals freely pursuant to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights” the Palestinian official said.
Last Thursday the Israeli occupation authority said Christians in Gaza would not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year.
