In this season of goodwill, Israeli settlers have made Bethlehem a 'no-go zone'

Millions of Palestinians, Christian and Muslim, face religious persecution by Israel on a daily basis, a reality I’ve reported and campaigned against for many years, particularly since I started working in public affairs and communications for the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.

This became clearer than ever when I visited the occupied Palestinian territory earlier this year and witnessed the lived reality of Palestinians living under apartheid. Words cannot convey the oppressive atmosphere that will forever be engraved in my mind. 

Until this trip, I’ve never personally experienced a single anti-Christian comment, a privilege many Palestinians are deprived of. However, that reality would soon change, before I even stepped off the plane at Ben Gurion airport.

While on the flight, the British-Israeli man sat beside me struck up a conversation with me regarding my intentions whilst visiting Israel. Not wishing to needlessly antagonise him, I emphasised my interest in visiting Christian holy sites, which was also true, but secondary to my main business of bringing a delegation of MPs to meet with Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank.

In any case, I tried to placate him by discussing overlaps between the Torah and the Old Testament. His instinctive response was not one of shared spiritual outlook, but instead to mock the New Testament, calling it "a little add-on". I politely smiled and left it at that.

This was the first, but certainly not the most noteworthy incident. While in Jerusalem, I was walking past Damascus Gate on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, along a route that was recommended to me by my Palestinian colleague. 

An oppressive atmosphere

As a Roman Catholic, I often wear the crucifix around my neck. While walking past, I saw two individuals sat on the bench staring at me. I didn’t think much of it until they started shouting, at which point I turned around.

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They started spitting at me and calling for me to come over to them in a threatening tone. Initially, I was baffled, and it took me a few seconds to realise that it was my crucifix, combined with it being Lazarus Saturday, that had given them the motivation to spew this vitriol.

Such intimidation is particularly noteworthy given the location.

This episode took place about a ten-minute walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, widely believed by Christians to be the resting place of Christ.

It was the lead up to Holy Week, and the churches were also heavily guarded by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), who were searching worshippers as they went in. Christ’s resting place was no exception to this treatment.

In the past, several incidents have been reported where Israeli settlers verbally abused and spat at Christian nuns and clergymen in Jerusalem.

Whether the harassment comes from extremist Israeli settlers or the military themselves, it is always happening under the Israeli army's watchful eye. And it is an oppressive atmosphere that Palestinians, Christian or otherwise, live under every day.

The Israeli government’s implicit support for extremist settler violence is inherent to how this system operates. This is why sanctions must target Israeli ministers as well as individual extremist settlers.

In any case, this harassment reached a crescendo on the day of Good Friday itself.

On this day, many Christians walk the "Via Dolarosa". This is the route Jesus walked on his way to his crucifixion. The Stations of the Cross refer to the fourteen stages of this journey.

Throughout my life, I have seen them adorn the walls of every Roman Catholic church I have visited, and they appear on the walls of the Old City itself, marking the physical locations where these stages happened.

Intimidation tactics

On the morning of Good Friday, I set off towards the Old City with enthusiasm, but I was informed that Israeli military were denying access to many Christian worshippers, particularly Palestinian Christians.

I saw the tactics that are used to intimidate worshippers at churches being applied at mosques as well

Of course, even if I had gotten in, the risks would not have ended there. Palestinian Christians have spoken in detail about how extremist Israeli settlers have made the Old City almost a "no-go zone", attacking churches, priests, nuns and Christian cemeteries.

I saw many in the Old City armed with, and often wielding, weapons including semi-automatic assault rifles.

Of course, Israel’s approach to religious oppression does not begin and end with Christianity. A British MP I was with was denied entry through a gate in the Old City. He was asked if he was Muslim and when he confirmed that he was, the Israeli army denied him access explicitly on those grounds. In a clear example of racial profiling, I was not asked about my religion, and was allowed through.

I saw the tactics that are used to intimidate worshippers at churches being applied at mosques as well.

Extremist settlers patrolled the Al-Aqsa compound, singing songs about building the "Third Temple" in its place, and the Israeli military systematically questioned and searched Muslim worshippers on their way in.

It is shameful that Muslim and Christian tourists face this deeply unpleasant treatment while visiting, but it is unforgivable that this happens every day to Palestinians in their own land.

A shared struggle

Meanwhile, in Bethlehem, Israel’s apartheid wall fully encircles the town. The militaristic securitisation would undoubtedly shock many western Christians, a far cry from the mangers they’ll see on Christmas cards in the coming days.

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Not least those who are proponents of Christian Zionism, who would sooner side with Israel than their fellow Christians in Palestine facing persecution for their faith.

However, as Palestinians have always taught the world, there was a glimmer of hope. In Bethlehem, the Mosque of Omar stands beside the Church of the Nativity, built on Jesus’ birthplace.

The mosque was built on land gifted by Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox Church and it was named after Caliph Omar, in honour of religious freedoms he granted to Christians and Jewish people in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Christians as well as Muslims would offer olive oil to light up the mosque, prior to the advent of lightbulbs.

Herein lies a story of Palestinians not divided by faith, but united in their shared struggle against erasure of their Palestinian identity. Such stories embody the wider shared histories of the Abrahamic faiths within Palestine.

In contrast, Israel's ideology of political Zionism dismisses this shared history, tearing up the common values of peace that are at the core of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The problem does not lie between faiths, it never has, but rather in Israel's systematic persecution of Palestinians in an attempt to ethnically erase their existence from their own homeland.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.