Undated, last accessed December 24, 2011
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/c.frLJK2PKLqF/b.3794227/apps/s/content.asp?ct=8135317 http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/c.frLJK2PKLqF/b.3794227/apps/s/content.asp?ct=8135317

BETHLEHEM — Palestinian Christians, along with international and Israeli supporters, gathered at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for Palm Sunday prayers and then marched to East Jerusalem. Marchers demanded their right of worship for Holy Week at sacred sites and pushed their way past the separation wall checkpoint at Gilo into Jerusalem. 
Fifteen persons were arrested, including an Israeli journalist and a U.S. student. Reportedly a donkey one person was riding was also detained. 
The march resulted when Israel only allowed a limited number of Christian Palestinians to enter Jerusalem for Easter week. After demonstrators crossed the roadblock, though, Israeli troops and police converged on the marchers. Soldiers, reportedly wielding batons and rifle butts, forced people back to the wall where they detained all protesters until eventually opening the gate to allow marchers to return to Bethlehem. 
Ultimately, Israel detained 11 Palestinians out of the march that began when dozens of Palestinian Christians, joined by international peace activists and Muslim supporters, took to the streets. The demonstrators, carrying palm branches, symbolically tried to perform the march of Jesus Christ to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. They also carried banners denouncing Israel's wall and continued settlement expansion. 
Demonstrators reportedly remained peaceful throughout the protest. 
Israeli policies restricting freedom of religion were denounced at a news conference Saturday organized by the National Christian Coalition in the Holy Land in Jerusalem. Representatives denounced the Israeli policies, which they said prohibit Palestinians from accessing religious sites during Christianity's holiest holiday. 
Coalition President Dimitri Diliani said that as Easter approaches, Israeli discrimination appears clearly when we compare the treatment of Jews celebrating Passover. He added that if what Israel practices against Christians was practiced anywhere in the world against Jews, that place would be boycotted by the international community at once. 
Father Issa Misleh, spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, said attempts to negotiate with Israeli security over arrangements for his congregation were met with inflexibility. He pointed out that historically Christians have been allowed to visit holy sites in Jerusalem. He said current policies are an Israeli attempt to downplay the Christian character of the city. 
Armenian Patriarchate Bishop Aris Shirverian expressed dismay at Israeli policy in Jerusalem, particularly during Easter. He said thousands of pilgrims are prohibited from visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

Editor’s note: Reports of the incident are available at 

·đ  http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=272253 \t _blank Maannews 
·đ  http://www.imemc.org/article/58309 \t _blank International Middle East Media Center. 
In response to these discriminating Israeli actions, 
Palestinian Christian organizations in occupied East Jerusalem have initiated a legal process to preserve the right to freely access our churches and shrines. The legal actions on the Supreme Court level will be against everyone involved in this discriminatory policy, including the Israeli police and the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality. 
For more information about the restrictions, learn more about the letter addressed to the Jerusalem Heads of Church at 
http://www.oikoumene.org/gr/programmes/public-witness-addressing-power-affirming-peace/churches-in-the-middle-east.html \t _blank Churches in the Middle East on the World Council of Churches website.