In Jerusalem, Easter celebration disrupted by war

In the usually lively alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, silence reigns on this Easter Sunday, a major celebration for Christians, darkened this year by war and strict access restrictions to the Holy Sepulchre.

Near the basilica, built according to tradition on the site where Christians place the episode of the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Israeli police barriers filter the few faithful allowed to approach. Only a few silhouettes cross the wet cobblestones.

“Happy Easter,” said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, as he entered the Holy Sepulchre early in the morning, surrounded by a small group of clergy. During his mass, he stated that he was “facing a real void.”

Security has been reinforced in the narrow streets of the ancient fortified city, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, located in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian area occupied by Israel since 1967 and then annexed.

“Sorry, but it’s closed,” said an Israeli police officer to a few pilgrims trying to approach.

“How can you tell me I can’t go to church? This is unacceptable,” exclaimed Otmar Wassermann, a Catholic from Tel Aviv.

Israeli authorities argue security imperatives in the context of the Middle East war, triggered by an Israeli-American offensive against Iran in late February. But for many believers, these measures drain the celebration of its essence.

“It’s very difficult for all of us because it’s our feast (…) It’s really hard to want to pray, to come here and find nothing. Everything is closed,” said Christina Toderas, 44, from Romania, with tears in her eyes, who will resign herself to following the mass on television.

– “Deep faith” –

“I expected to be able to enter,” admits Mr. Wassermann, saying he is “a little frustrated.”

He explains that he goes “almost every year” to the basilica to celebrate Easter. “The atmosphere is incredible. The people who go there have a deep faith. And the Franciscan chants, the Latin chants, create a truly unique atmosphere.”

Despite his disappointment, this 65-year-old man admits that if the authorities “say there is a danger, then there may indeed be a danger.”

Since the beginning of the war, debris from Iranian missiles or interceptors have fallen in the Old City, especially near the Holy Sepulchre, the Al-Aqsa Mosque – also closed – and in the Jewish quarter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would “continue to protect with determination the freedom of worship for all religions, especially at this sacred time.”

“We understand (the security measures)”, said Father Bernard Poggi, preparing to celebrate a mass in a church near the Holy Sepulchre. “But we see more and more that they are not applied uniformly,” he laments.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was prevented by Israeli police from accessing the holy site for Palm Sunday mass last Sunday, sparking outraged reactions abroad, before Benjamin Netanyahu ordered him to be allowed entry.

For Huda al-Imam, a 60-year-old Palestinian, born a Muslim but who describes herself as secular and has always gone to church, being “deprived” of celebrating Easter at the Holy Sepulchre “is a difficult pain to express in words.”

“It’s mourning our right to mourn and celebrate both the death and resurrection of Christ,” she told AFP.

“Even my Muslim friends couldn’t go to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan,” the Muslim fasting month, noted Julio Makhalfeh, a 25-year-old restaurant manager.

For the Orthodox, the majority among Palestinian Christians, Easter will be celebrated on April 12.

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