Dr. Ramzi Khoury, President of the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs and Director General of the Palestinian National Fund, condemned the unjust decision issued by the occupations’ authorities to prevent Palestinian Christian citizens in the Gaza Strip, to participate in the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, In addition to denying permits to Christians in the West Bank related to Christians who moved from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, visiting occupied Jerusalem, as a kind of sanctions imposed by the occupation on the Palestinian people.
Dr.Khoury said that this and other decisions are a flagrant violation under international law, which guarantee freedom of worship and movement, and added, “Christians have the right to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, the city of birth and cradle of Christ.” This is our right, not a demand or a favor from anyone”
This is one of the Israeli occupations’ many discriminatory measures to prevent Palestinian Muslims and Christians from celebrating religious occasions in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, last year Israel prevented nearly 400 Christians from Gaza from entering Jerusalem to participate in Christmas celebrations.
The Israeli occupation is granting permits to Christians from Gaza to travel abroad but denying them to visit the West Bank or the occupied Jerusalem, which is a clear strategy to empty Palestine from its Christian presence.
The Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs is working in cooperation with the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs to pressure the Israeli side to allow Christian citizens in the Gaza Strip to participate in the Christmas festivals in Bethlehem.
