The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates slammed Israel’s aggression and attacks against worshippers and holy sites in Jerusalem, including preventing Christian pilgrims from access to the Church of Holy Sepulcher during Easter celebrations, as a grave violation of international law and the legal and historical status quo of the city. ‘Israel, the occupying Power, has no authority or sovereignty over Jerusalem and its Holy Sites. Its illegal practices, criminal behavior, and deliberate provocations must be confronted and halted,’ said the ministry in a statement. Palestinian Christians, the oldest Christian community in the world, face an existential threat to its presence and longevity in the Holy Land because of such racist and oppressive policies and measures that deny their most basic right to freedom of worship, added the statement. These escalating attacks against Christian and Muslim Palestinian worshippers and Holy Sites are intended to escalate tensions and provoke religious sentiments in Palestine and the region, said the ministry, demanding Israel, the occupying Power, be held responsible for its aggression and provocations against Palestinian Christian and Muslim worshippers. Israel’s declared plan is clear illegal and systematic Judaization of Jerusalem, by way of manipulating the Status Quo, displacing the Palestinian people, militarizing Holy Sites, and enacting discriminatory laws to restrict worshippers, while inflicting brutal violence on them, it said In this connection, the State of Palestine supports the decision by the Status Quo Committee of the Churches and religious leaders to reject Israel’s punitive and racist measures and determination to continue 2000 years of Christian traditions, said the ministry. We call on the international community to urgently provide protection for worshippers, and act individually and collectively to complement relevant United Nations resolutions and uphold the legal, historic, and special character of Jerusalem, the statement concluded.
Source: Palestine News & Information Agency (WAFA)