Jerusalem/PNN / 

The Jerusalem churches today rejected restrictions to be imposed by the Israeli police during the Holy Light ceremony at the Holy Sepulcher Church in Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. The ceremony is part of the orthodox churches Easter celebrations this week according to the Julian calendar.

The Status Quo Committee of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land, and the Armenian Patriarchate rejected in a statement what they described as the “unreasonable restrictions” by Israeli police for the Holy Light ceremony.

“The celebration of the Holy Light Ceremony is a great moment that ties the faithful to the light of Jesus Christ. The ceremony has been faithfully taking place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for nearly 2000 years attracting Christians from around the world,” they said.

“This year, after many attempts made in goodwill, we are not able to coordinate with the Israeli authorities, as they are enforcing unreasonable, and unprecedented, restrictions on access to the Holy Sepulcher, more so than last year. These heavy-handed restrictions will limit access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Holy Light Ceremony. Police are unfairly and inappropriately placing the burden on the churches to issue invitations while tying the churches' hands with unreasonable restrictions that will prevent worshippers from attending particularly our local community. This makes difficult our coordination with the police.”

Last year, police placed barriers throughout the Old City that made it impossible for the local Christian communities to attend the Holy Light Ceremony in the Holy Sepulcher, “impeding their freedom to worship and witness the miracle of the resurrection,” said the statement, despite the churches coordinating with the Israeli authorities to ensure this ceremony can take place without an incident.

The churches stressed that “we shall continue to uphold the status quo customs, and the ceremony will be held as customary for two millennia and all who wish to worship with us are invited to attend. With that made clear, we will leave the authorities to act as they will. The churches will freely worship and do so in peace.”

The police insist on limiting the number of worshipers in the church to 1800 (1000 Orthodox, 600 Armenians, and 200 police) at a time when normally thousands attend the Holy Light ceremony as they wait for the light to come out from the tomb of Jesus Christ.

For its part The Palestinian Higher Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Church Affairs in Palestine today called on the Palestinian Christians to participate in large numbers in the Holy Light activities on Saturday in Jerusalem despite the Israeli occupation measures.

It condemned in a statement issued by its chairman, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ramzi Khoury, the obstacles and restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation government on the Holy City with the approach of Holy Light events, saying that freedom of worship is a right and no one must wait for permission from anyone to practice their religious rituals in the mosques and churches and in the capital of Palestine, occupied Jerusalem.

It expressed its support for the position of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and Patriarch Theophilos III, as well as representatives of the Status Quo Committee of the churches for rejecting the decision by the Israeli police to place barriers throughout the Old City of Jerusalem to prevent Christian pilgrims from attending the Holy Light ceremonies in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The Committee stressed that the Israeli repressive policies against the Palestinians and restricting their freedom of worship is a flagrant violation of international laws and covenants that guarantee the practice of religious rituals without any restrictions, pointing out that the Israeli occupation authorities impose unreasonable, unjustified and unprecedented restrictions on access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

It pointed out that Israel has imposed restrictions on the entry of worshipers to Al-Aqsa Mosque since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, and has reduced the number of permits for people in the West Bank and canceled others for residents of the Gaza Strip wishing to participate in the holidays, in addition to the procedures imposed on Holy Light Saturday in the Holy City, obstructing the access of worshipers to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher while providing protection for settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque and perform religious rituals.

The committee called on the local churches to expose all Israeli practices and the restrictions they are subjected to and called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for the crimes it is committing against the Palestinian people, especially its transgression of international norms and legitimacy.

Also Jordan today rejected and condemned Israeli restrictions on the access of Christians to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in occupied East Jerusalem for the celebration of the Holy Light ceremony on Saturday.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sinan Majali said Jordan rejects and condemns all Israeli measures aimed at restricting the right of Christians to access the Holy Sepulcher to perform their religious rituals.

He stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, must respect the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy places and stop restrictive measures against the Christians of occupied Jerusalem, and refrain from any measures that prejudice the freedom of worship in the holy places in the city.