Jerusalem Palestinian Christians in uphill battle to follow Easter traditions

As the bells rang out across the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the priests began to sing a deep low prayer.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Heads bowed over candles, and with large gold crosses held aloft, they made their way to a platform at the heart of the ancient square.

The ceremony, where the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem washes the feet of 12 monastic priests to commemorate the Last Supper, is one of many Easter rituals that have taken place in the Old City of Jerusalem for hundreds of years.

Yet the crowd that assembled outside the church yesterday morning was small and muted.

International pilgrims jostled with dark-robed Greek Orthodox monks, but one group of worshippers were absent.

For generations, the tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians living in Israeli-occupied West Bank villages and cities such as Ramallah, Bethlehem and Taybeh would travel to Jerusalem's Old City at Easter to take part in the prayers, processions and rituals such as the holy fire ceremony.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre itself is in East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel from Jordan in the six-day war of 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1980.

Yet centuries of tradition have been ruptured by Israel's increasingly draconian control over Palestinian movement: any Palestinian in the West Bank, living outside Jerusalem, must obtain a military permit if they want to enter the city.

For years, Christians in Palestinian territories were regularly granted permits to visit Jerusalem around Easter but since the war with Hamas broke out on 7 October 2023, these have become almost impossible to obtain.