In Pictures

Gallery

In Pictures: Palestinians celebrate Easter

Barred from accessing Jerusalem, Palestinian-Christians marked Easter holiday with a joyous parade in Ramallah.

Scouts get ready for the parade. Fifteen groups from the Ramallah governorate took part in the Easter event.
By Silvia Boarini
Published On 21 Apr 2014

Ramallah, Occupied West Bank – Palestinians lined the streets of Ramallah to watch scouts (kashaf in Arabic) march in the traditional Sabt al-Nour parade on Sunday, marking the arrival of the Holy Fire from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

According to Christian tradition, every year, on the day before Orthodox Easter, a flame lights itself at the site of Jesus’ burial. The fire is then transported from Jerusalem to Orthodox communities across Palestine, and around the world.

There are 50,000 Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Gaza. The festival serves as a celebration of Palestine’s rich history and national identity in the context of a protracted Israeli occupation and increased fragmentation of Palestinian land.

“The community is getting smaller and smaller,” Father George Award of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jifna, told Al Jazeera. “Most families have a relative who emigrated to America or Australia. The situation is very difficult here. There are checkpoints and no jobs and it’s hard to care for your family.”

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) found that Palestinian Christians are increasingly unable to complete pilgrimage to Christian holy sites in Jerusalem during Easter or Christmas.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in 1980, declaring the city the undivided capital of the State of Israel. Palestinians’ entry to Jerusalem has since been regulated by a strict permit regime.

Israel reportedly issued 20,000 permits for Palestinian Christians to attend Easter festivities in Jerusalem this year. While Israel claims restrictions are implemented to guarantee public security and avoid overcrowding, it has been repeatedly criticised for not guaranteeing full Palestinian access to the city’s religious sites.

In early April, Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna condemned restricted access to the Holy Sepulchre. And on Saturday, UN peace envoy Robert Serry claimed that he was blocked from attending a pre-Easter service.

The (***)Ramallah First(***) group opened the parade. The first stop was the ancient Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Transfiguration. From there, the priests and altar boys joined the parade.
Advertisement
The Greek Orthodox community of Ramallah numbers roughly 7,000. Both Christians and Muslims lined the streets of Ramallah to watch the parade.
Archimandrite Galaktion, head of the congregation at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration in Ramallah, was greeted by a scout.
In keeping with tradition, Palestinian Prime Minister Dr Rami Hamdallah (right) and the mayor of Ramallah, Musa Hadid, joined the parade.
As the crowd waited for the Holy Fire to arrive from Jerusalem, the (***)Ramallah First(***) troupe entertained the audience.
Believers lit candles from the Holy Fire. They will keep these candles burning in their homes throughout the year.
Advertisement
Scouts brought the Holy Fire to the people lining the streets. Believers touched the fire with their bare hands, and then passed their hands over their faces or that of their children(***)s.
Easter events have been held in Ramallah since the 1930s. The parade only stopped for a few years during the first and second Palestinian intifadas.
At the end of the parade, the crowd poured into the Church of the Holy Transfiguration to light candles and pray.
"Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in peace for many many years in Palestine," says Father George Awad. "We celebrate festivities together by tradition. We pray in different places of course but we are Palestinians, together."