25 April 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Union in Latin America condemned on Sunday Israeli restrictions on Christians' access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied Jerusalem, Quds Press has reported. The union denounced the obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities to hinder Christian celebrations during the Orthodox Easter period.
The Latin American organisation congratulated all Christian sects on the occasion of Easter, especially the Palestinian Christians who stand firm in defence of their religious sites against the "criminal, murderous and neo-fascist gangs" of Israelis.
The union called for Fatah and Hamas to "listen to the voice of the people and achieve national unity based on the national agreement principles and form a united national leadership to fight the occupation and stop its criminal practices."
The President of the union, Samaan Safadi Khoury, told Quds Press: "The aggression against Palestinian Christians and their holy sites is not new. The criminal hands [of Israel] have never held back in their efforts to attack Muslim and Christian Palestinians."
He described as "racist" the issue by Israel of a limited number of permits for Christians to visit their holy sites, "most of which are cancelled on the days of worship." Christians and Muslims alike, he added, are suffering from continuous Israeli aggression covering all aspects of life.
