AL-QUDS (Dispatches) –
Palestinian resistance groups have spoken up in support of Christians’ religious freedom, condemning the occupying regime’s new restrictions on the number of Christians wishing to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the Holy Fire ceremony.
In a statement, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said the interference of Zionist courts in the religious affairs of Palestinians exposes the “racist nature” of the regime and refutes its “allegations regarding the freedom of worship for everyone.”
“We condemn the Israeli occupation court’s ruling to limit the number of Christians allowed to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre” for the Holy Fire ceremony, the statement said.
“We stress that the Palestinian people have the right and willpower to defend their sacred Muslim and Christian sites. No Israeli schemes will deter our people from doing so at any cost,” it added.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another major Gaza-based resistance movement, also denounced the restrictions by the occupying regime as a “blatant violation” of freedom of worship and an attack on Islamic and Christian sanctities in occupied Al-Quds.
In a statement, the group also called for the unity of all Palestinians to confront the Tel Aviv regime’s continued aggression and to “defend the right of our people” to worship and exercise their religious freedom, Palestine Today reported.
These practices will not affect the steadfastness and determination of the Palestinian people and their adherence to their land, it added.
Earlier this month, the Greek Patriarchate said it was “fed up with [Zionist] police restrictions on freedom to worship” and that it “has decided, by the power of the Lord, that it will not compromise its right to provide spiritual services in all churches and squares.”
With processions, chants and ululations, thousands of Christian Palestinians and pilgrims celebrated the Holy Fire ceremony at Al-Quds’ Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the first to be held since the Zionist regime imposed new restrictions on attendance.
Zionist regime authorities sought to limit participation to 1,700 worshippers, a move criticized by church leaders as an infringement of the right to freedom of worship. It was subsequently increased to 4,000.