Israeli police checkpoints at the gates leading to Jerusalem’s Old City this morning obstructed access of Palestinian Christians and other pilgrims to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to take part in the Holy Fire ceremony of the Orthodox churches as part of the Easter holiday. The police decided last week to limit the number of people who can be at the church to around 2000, including police officers, a decision strongly rejected by the Orthodox churches and the Palestinian Christian community in general who say that the number of visitors of the Holy Sepulcher every year is normally ten times this number and demanded freedom of access to the religious sites to all who want to be there. Large crowds were seen since the morning hours waiting outside the New Gate, one of the gates leading to the Old City, hoping to be able to cross the police checkpoints and take part in the Holy Light ceremony when the light comes out of the Holy Sepulcher in the early afternoon and is taken to churches around the occupied territories and the world in general. Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza have difficulty reaching Jerusalem without a permit issued by the Israeli military government, which is rarely issued primarily for the young.

Source: Palestine News & Information Agency (WAFA)