A spokesman for Christian churches in the Holy Land on Wednesday accused Israel of discriminating against Christian tourists during the normally busy Christmas holiday season.
Israel last month closed its borders to foreign tourists in response to the outbreak of the omicron coronavirus variant.
But this week, Israeli officials decided to make an exception for “Birthright,” a popular program that provides free trips to Israel to young Jews from around the world. Groups from the United States are expected to arrive next week, with participants all fully vaccinated and remaining in small “capsules.”
For now, restrictions remain in effect for other foreign tourists, including Christian pilgrims who traditionally have flocked to sites like Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem, the biblical town in the West Bank revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus.
Wadie Abunassar, a spokesman and adviser to churches in the Holy Land, said various denominations were upset over the selective treatment and he accused Israel of discriminating against Christian pilgrims.
“Racist discrimination should never be accepted in any way!” he wrote on Facebook. “I urge the Israeli authorities to treat all those who want to visit the country equally without any discrimination between religion.”
An official with the Catholic Church said church officials were shocked and angry by the Israeli decision. He said the church, along with other denominations, have appealed to Israel’s Tourism Ministry to allow Christian pilgrims to come for the holiday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Israel’s Interior Ministry, which oversees entrance policies at the country’s borders, said the policy remains not to allow foreigners into Israel.
But it said a number of exceptions have been made, including a “specific” decision for the Birthright program. It said officials would be discussing the possibility of other exceptions in the near future, but gave no further details.
The travel ban has crushed the tourism industry in Israel, and officials in Bethlehem, whose economy relies heavily on Christmas visitors, say the restrictions have ruined the holiday season for a second straight year. The West Bank does not have its own airport and most foreign visitors enter from Israel.
(AP)
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12 Responses
Wadie Abunassar, a spokesman and adviser to churches in the Holy Land Please make an absolute stink & hell for wicked bennett, and use entire force of the church to bring all pressure to bear upon wicked bennett to immediately reopen Israel border o all vaccinated.
Bennett is an arrogant uncaring idiot.
Typical Israeli mentaliti.If it would be the opposite they would say antisemites.
A great ploy by racist Arabs.
It is a lot easier to control a group like Birthright than Christian pilgrims
Although I question the wisdom of closing the borders to begin with
Since when is Israel supposed to be religion-neutral?
let’s be clear, these are enemies speaking. I was an American tourist in Jerusalem shopping at Supersol Agron when out of noplace a russian type Komer purposely bumped me and I went flying. No apologies, just a smirk.
The current government is one big anti religion body. They’re not differentiating between Jew or Christian. They see no need for religion. It is, as they say, (it is not) a democracy and is not a religious state. Hopefully these Christians make such a tumult and they break the backs of this bad government.
> Yankele1
What does “opposite” suppose to mean? Israel is the Jewish Homeland, and the only one that exists. Just which “homeland” is Israel denying Christians? Christians are the ones who have persecuted Jews for millennia (more than justifiable reason enough to not to want them around). In fact, the Christian religion in its entirety is “cultural appropriation” (to say the least), partly appropriating from Jews and partly appropriate from pagans.
They are totally correct. It is both mindless and discriminatory to make exceptions for only certain Jewish tourists, certain members of the mishpacha of baalei simcha, chashuvah rabbonim and their entourage, beauty pageant contestants and chashuvah politicians’ girlfriends. Its totally crazy and pointless. No wonder the public is so cynical about public health directives.
What do we owe the Christians? They have been causing us hell for 2000 years. We owe them nothing.
These are not Xians, they are vicious antisemites. American Xians want nothing to do with these people.
The exception for Birthright is right there in its name — Israel is the birthright of every Jew. It belongs to us, and not to anyone else. It’s got nothing to do with religion, because most kids on these trips are not religious. It’s about the fact that they are the property owners and have the right to visit their property and get some idea of what they’re about.
There’s no vaccine for christianpilgrimitis