By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Israeli police detained several Palestinians on Palm Sunday, March 28. The Palestinians were protesting Israeli restrictions on Palestinian Christians, not allowing them to celebrate Holy Week and Easter religious observations in Jerusalem. It is unclear exactly how many Palestinians were arrested, reports range from eleven to fifteen protestors detained. The Palestinian News Network reports that an Associated Press photographer was also arrested.
The protests were held on Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Christian Holy Week, remembering the death of Jesus and ending the following Sunday with the celebration of Easter. While Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Christians follow different ecclesiastical calendars, this year, the calendars have aligned and all Christians will be observing Holy Week and Easter at the same time.
Between one hundred and two hundred Palestinians began the day’s protests after Sunday prayers and morning services at the Church of the Nativity. The protestors reached Gilo, the checkpoint through which Palestinians may enter Jerusalem only after receiving Israeli permission. The protestors gave speeches, and several of the protestors reportedly made it through the checkpoint without permission. One report said that at this point the border guards began an “unprovoked” attack on the protestors, and arrested several protestors.
Regardless of the exact details, many Palestinian Christians viewed the protest as a remembrance and a witness for Palestinian Christians. The Palestinian Christian population, primarily Greek Orthodox, has steadily dwindled in recent years, as many choose or are forced to emigrate. Approximately 50,000 Palestinian Christians live in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, or East Jerusalem, while there are four million Muslim Palestinians in these same areas. Another 123,000 Palestinian Christians live in Israel, making up about eight percent of the Arab Israeli population.
The protest was the latest in a series of Palestinian protests in opposition to the Israeli government’s plans to allow Israeli construction in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is predominantly Palestinian, and Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israelis insist that Jerusalem is their undivided capital.
For more information, please see:
Palestinian News Network – 15 Arrested During a Non-Violence Demonstration on Palm Sunday – 29 March 2010
The Associated Press – Christian Pilgrims Mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem – 28 March 2010
Ha’aretz – Christian Pilgrims Flock to Jerusalem to Mark Palm Sunday – 28 March 2010
Ma’an News Agency – Palm Sunday Detainees Still in Israeli Custody – 28 March 2010
Ynet News – Palestinians, Leftists Detained for Entering Israel Illegally During March – 28 March 2010
