‘They are trying to make it unbearable’: Jerusalem Christians face Easter under Israeli crackdown

Palestinians trying to access Christianity's holiest sites in the Old City of Jerusalem face restrictions and hostility

Catholic clergy hold candles as they walk during the Washing of the Feet procession at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. File Picture: AP Photo/Leo Correa

Fri, 18 Apr, 2025 - 08:55

Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Quique Kierszenbaum, The Guardian

As the bells rang out across the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the priests began to sing a deep, low prayer. Heads bowed over candles, and escorted by people bearing aloft large gold crosses, they made their way to a platform at the heart of the ancient square.

The ceremony on Holy Thursday, in which the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem washes the feet of 12 monastic priests to commemorate the Last Supper, is one of many Easter rituals that have taken place in the Old City of Jerusalem for hundreds of years. For Christians, there is no holier place to commemorate Easter than here, the site where they believe Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected.