Israhell bars Gaza's Christians from holy sites at Christmas

[yankeedoodle]

Israel bars Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-gaza-christmas/israel-bars-gazas-christians-from-visiting-bethlehem-and-jerusalem-at-christmas-idUSKBN1YG2E9

JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday.

Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank, home to many sites holy to Christians, a spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians said.

Israel tightly restricts movements out of the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas, an Islamist group that it considers a terrorist organization.

The spokeswoman said that following "security orders", Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad via Israel's Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan but not to visit cities in Israel or the West Bank.

Gaza has only around 1,000 Christians - most of them Greek Orthodox - among a population of 2 million in the narrow coastal strip.

This year's decision is a break with usual policy. Last year, Israel granted permits for close to 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.

Gisha, an Israeli rights group, said the ban points "to the intensifying of access restrictions between the two parts of the Palestinian territory," calling it "a deepening of Israel's separation policy" for the West Bank and Gaza.

The Palestinians seek to set up a state in the West Bank and Gaza, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel in the past has defended its restrictions on Gazans traveling to the West Bank, saying many Palestinians from Gaza stay on illegally when granted short-term permits.

In Gaza, one Christian woman voiced hope Israel would reverse its policy so she could visit her family in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

[yankeedoodle]

Never too late to focus on Israhell's hatred for Christ and Christmas.
[jwp=425,344,image]http://217.218.67.233/video//program/20191224/MDS24122019Ep33.mp4[/jwp]

Watch it here, if the video doesn't play:   http://217.218.67.231/Detail/2019/12/24/614511/No-Christmas-For-Gaza

No Christmas for Gaza

Last week, in an upgrade to Israel's apartheid policy, Christians in the Gaza Strip were banned from visiting Al-Quds, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each Christmas.

As of this morning, however, and after extensive pressure against Israel's continuous policies to repress Palestinians, the Israeli occupation regime reversed its ban and gave permits for Gaza's Christians to visit holy sites in the occupied territories.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Aoun tasked former Education Minister Hassan Diab with forming the country's next government after he received the majority of nominations during long-awaited talks with members of parliament.