Israel bars Gaza Christians from visiting Bethlehem at Christmas

Separation Wall, Bethlehem

Christians living in Gaza will not be allowed to visit Bethlehem or Jerusalem over Christmas this year, Israeli authorities have announced.

A spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians said yesterday that because of 'security orders', Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad, via Israel's Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan, but none will be allowed to visit Israel or the Occupied West Bank, where the Christians holy sites are.

There are just about 1,000 Christians remaining in Gaza, among a population of two million in the narrow coastal strip. This is the land the Holy Family passed through on their flight to Egypt.

This decision is a break with usual Israeli policy. Last year, permits were granted to around 700 Gazan Christians to travel the short distance to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities - where many have family.

Israeli rights group Gisha 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.

In Gaza, one Christian woman said she hoped Israel would reverse its policy so she could visit her family in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She said: "Every year I pray they will give me a permit so I can celebrate Christmas and see my family," Randa El-Amash, 50, said, adding: "It will be more joyful to celebrate in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem."

Christian leaders in Jerusalem condemned the move. They are appealing to Israeli authorities to reverse the decision. Many thousands of pilgrims travel from around the world to the Holy Land at Christmas. Christians in Gaza - many of whom who are descended from the first Christians, and even celebrate some liturgies in the language Jesus spoke, are appealing to the Israeli authorities to allow them to travel from their homes to the Holy Places at this time of year.