Jerusalem, March 29: Jerusalem’s major religious sites are shuttered and families are dejected and exhausted ahead of Passover and Easter as the Iran war enters its fifth week. The mood stands in stark contrast to a usual spring, when longer days herald a period of family gatherings and an influx of tourists for the major Jewish and Christian holidays.
Metal shutters are drawn on nearly all stores in the Old City, home to key holy sites, and only scattered footsteps echo on deserted stone alleyways. Vast plazas are missing the typical throngs of faithful and tourists.
Jerusalem has largely escaped past wars, with Israel’s enemies appearing to be hesitant to launch missiles near the city’s Muslim holy sites. But since Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran on February 28, Jerusalem has repeatedly come under fire.
Earlier this month, an intercepted Iranian missile sprayed shrapnel on the rooftop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, just steps from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the most important sites in Christianity. The church, built on what is revered by many Christians as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection, remains closed under Israeli military guidelines prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people.
Missile debris also hit a road leading to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
From his office overlooking the plaza at the Western Wall, now closed to worshipers, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, lamented the empty plaza. “The heart aches greatly, it bleeds, seeing the Western Wall as it looks now,” he said.
The massive priestly blessing for Passover, which usually draws tens of thousands, will take place with just 50 worshippers, Rabinowitz said. That’s the maximum allowed to pray together in the enclosed area by the Western Wall under wartime safety guidelines – reminiscent of the restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Easter celebrations cancelled
The Latin Patriarchate cancelled a procession on Sunday commemorating Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the Christian celebration known as Palm Sunday.
Any other year, tens of thousands of Christians from around the world would walk down the narrow, hilly streets toward the Old City, waving palm fronds and singing.
Rami Asakrieh, the parish priest for Jerusalem’s Catholics, said the community will sorely miss the procession, a deeply emotional and spiritual part of the holiday. But the cancellation is also a reminder that faith comes internally from the heart, not from external actions, he added.
A local Catholic high school, empty of students as classes have been cancelled, was also recently hit by debris from an Iranian missile interception, Asakrieh said.
A Franciscan priest, Asakrieh is still celebrating Mass for up to 50 parishioners at the Saint Saviour monastery’s cavernous marble hall, near the centuries-old complex’s music school, the Magnificat Institute. The school was built in what was once the convent’s basement, which has been approved by the Israeli military as a suitable shelter.
Jerusalem’s smaller synagogues, mosques and churches are also open to groups of up to 50 people – if they are located close to a shelter or a safe space. (AP)
