Archbishop Atallah Hanna: Racist Israeli occupation doesn’t differentiate between a Church or a Mosque

 Archbishop Atallah Hanna of Sebastia for the Greek orthodox has stressed that the Israeli occupation’s act of preventing the Palestinians from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Al-Quds is a blatant violation of international laws and the freedom of worshipping.

The occupation forces have turned the Old City into a military barracks, attacked Christian clergymen, and prevented worshipers from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in an unprecedented targeting of the Christian presence in the city and in a blatant violation of the Palestinian sanctities, the archbishop said in a statement on Saturday.

 He clarified that the racist Israeli occupation, in its violations, doesn’t differentiate between a Moslem or a Christian or between a church or a mosque, because, the time this occupation storms into Al-Aqsa Mosque and attack Moslem worshippers, it attacks worshippers in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Hanna stressed that despite strict Israeli restrictions, the Palestinians, as all pilgrims from all parts of the world, insist on celebrating their holy occasions inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

He called on all freedom-loving people to back the Palestinian people in their struggle against occupation and to work for stopping the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.

The Occupation prevents thousands of Christians from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Earlier, the occupation forces prevented thousands of Christians from freely reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate the Holy Saturday.

Maan News Agency reported that since the morning, the occupation forces have intensified their military checkpoints in Al-Quds old city, in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and in the roads leading to the church.

Only a few number of Christians were allowed to reach the church, while thousands are waiting at the checkpoints, the agency said.      

The occupation authorities declared earlier that they will allow only 1000 worshippers to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the Holy Saturday occasion and only 500 others to enter the old city of Al-Quds and reach the squares and the roofs of the church.

Hamda Mustafa