Christians were denied Easter permits to enter Jerusalem

BEIT JALLA, West Bank (CNS) — Nicola Sansour’s voice had a tinge of sadness as he recounted how his family had planned to celebrate Easter this year. They planned to attend Holy Week services at Beit Jalla’s Annunciation Parish, buy new clothes for the three small children, decorate eggs and attend the parish Easter egg hunt. His wife, Nivine, 34, would gather with his mother and sisters to make the traditional stuffed semolina mamoul Easter cookies.

But this would be another year in which he and his family would not be able to celebrate the holiday with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a mere 5km from his home.

Christian Palestinians need a special Israeli entry permit to enter Jerusalem for the holiday. Nivine received the entry permit, but her husband did not.

Nicola Sansour and his wife, Nivine, pose with two of their children, Elia, 2, and Rivana, 5, at their home in Beit Jalla, West Bank, March 24. Nivine Sansour is holding her permit from the Israelis to travel to Jerusalem for Holy Week, but Nicola Sansour did not receive Israeli permission to travel to Jerusalem. (CNS photo/Debbie Hill)

As a university student during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s, Nicola took part in anti-Israeli demonstrations and was stopped by Israeli soldiers but never arrested. Perhaps, he said, that may be the black spot on his record that prevents him from being giving the permit. But 20 years have passed since then; he has received a university degree and become a teacher.

He has sent written appeals to the Israeli Civil Administration but has not received a response as to why they will not issue him a permit.

“It is important for us as Christians here to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on these very holy days. And I can’t go. There is only one checkpoint I have to cross. I feel like I am in a big jail. Many times I just sit, and think that they are taking something away from me,” he said.

“I am a peaceful person. They never told me [why I can’t get a permit],” he added.

“We need to be able to go to Jerusalem every day,” said Nivine. “But here we are in a prison, and only on the holidays are we free.”

Of the 350 families in their parish, some 30 families are in the same situation as they are, Nicola noted, with the fathers being denied the permit. In addition, 10 unmarried men also did not receive permits. His brother was among those denied a permit.

A pilgrim kneels and prays inside the tomb where it is believed Jesus Christ was buried inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. (CNS photo/Debbie Hill)

Yusef Daher, executive secretary of the Jerusalem Interchurch Centre, earlier said there were many similar cases of some members of Christian families not receiving permits throughout the West Bank, but the exact numbers would not be known until the end of the holiday season.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem website said 847 of the 890 Christian Gazans who had requested permits for the holiday received them, for some — 95 percent of the requests.

“The most impressive thing was that the majority of young Christians got the permit. Some of them didn’t leave Gaza since eight years. We praise the Lord for this grace,” Father Mario de Silva, parish priest, was quoted as saying.

Israel maintains that the system of permits and checkpoints — including the separation barrier that surrounds Bethlehem and the adjacent villages of Beit Jalla and Beit Sahour — are needed for security reasons following the second intifada, when Palestinian suicide bombers from the West Bank carried out deadly attacks in Israeli cities, many of them in Jerusalem which borders Bethlehem.

Last year, Nicola Sansour received a permit to travel to Jerusalem for Christmas, but Nivine Sansour’s permit got lost in the bureaucracy, and she could not go.

Nicola went alone and spent the day meandering around the streets of the Old City before he returned home. But it was lonely without his family, he said.

“When I go to Jerusalem, I feel the past. I feel what it was like in the past, and Jerusalem was a very, very big city,” said Nicola, who added that he enjoys watching movies about Jerusalem’s Crusader history. “I would like to introduce my children to the church [of the Holy Sepulchre]. I need them to feel the moment. To be able to take all my children to the church during Easter would be like a dream.”