Ministry of Foreign Affairs Condemns the Occupation’s Measures Denying Thousands of Christian Citizens the Right to Celebrate Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemns the restrictions and arbitrary measures imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on the freedom of movement and access to Jerusalem. These measures have resulted in the denial of entry to thousands of Christian citizens from the occupied West Bank who wished to participate in Palm Sunday celebrations, through the military checkpoints spread around Jerusalem and its Old City, in addition to imposing complex and inhumane conditions on citizens seeking permits.

As the Ministry extends its warmest greetings to Palestinian Christians and Christians around the world on the occasion of Easter, it calls for serious international pressure on the Israeli occupation to compel it to fulfill its obligations toward the Palestinian people and their rights under International Law and the Geneva Conventions; most notably the right to freedom of worship and access to holy sites.