Palestinians in the West Bank are treated as if they are in a large prison, and reaching Jerusalem has become a dream

By what right do the occupation authorities impose a ban on Palestinians from the West Bank from reaching Jerusalem, except by obtaining impossible permits, which have become extremely difficult and complicated to obtain these days? Where is the justice in preventing Palestinians, whether Christian or Muslim, from coming to Jerusalem for prayer or work, while military checkpoints stand in wait for Palestinians, preventing them from reaching their holy city? Many these days speak of an impending war, and they ignore and forget what Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are subjected to. What is currently happening in the West Bank, and to all Palestinians, is a policy of humiliation, starvation, and abuse, by preventing Palestinians from reaching their work. Many Palestinians in the West Bank have been unemployed for more than two years, living in abject poverty, and suffering from policies of humiliation, starvation, and abuse. Palestinian Christians, residents of the West Bank, are also prevented from reaching Jerusalem, and from reaching their workplaces through which they support their families. A large percentage of Christians, especially young people in the West Bank, suffer from unemployment, poverty, and destitution, and even churches are often helpless and unable to secure the required permits for them. In Christian schools in Jerusalem, there are a number of teachers from the West Bank, numbering in the hundreds, who are distinguished by their giving, culture, and sophistication, and churches are asked to abandon them because the Israeli authorities will not grant them permits to reach their schools in Jerusalem. We are facing a state of siege and isolation for Palestinians in the West Bank, as the Palestinian in all cities, governorates, and towns is intended to be besieged, as if living in cantons separated from each other. For a Palestinian from the West Bank to come to Jerusalem, this has become extremely complicated and difficult, as has moving from one governorate to another, and from one city to another, which has also become extremely difficult and complicated, in light of the closures, gates, and the spread of settlers in more than one place in the Palestinian territories. Where are the human rights organizations in the world from the policy of imprisoning Palestinians, isolating them, and expelling them from Jerusalem? We said at one time that Gaza is the largest prison in the world, but the West Bank has also turned into a large prison; there are Palestinians languishing in occupation prisons, but there is also a large prison in which Palestinians live, and are prevented from freedom of movement and access to their holy sites, jobs, and businesses. Christians in the West Bank live in deprivation, hardship, poverty, and destitution, as is the case for all our people, especially in the Bethlehem Governorate and its cities, where tourism has stopped since the beginning of the war, hotels have closed, and the lack of tourist movement has negatively affected all restaurants and shops in the Bethlehem Governorate. They want to humiliate, starve, and subjugate the Palestinian, and what is currently happening in the West Bank is a war in a different way. Silence in the face of these injustices is not permissible. The Christian churches in this Holy Land must make their voices heard, and this voice must reach all churches and spiritual authorities in this world. The voice of the oppressed and besieged Palestinians must reach everywhere, especially to the leaders and political leaders in this world who turn a blind eye to the suffering of our people and what this oppressed people are subjected to. Surrender and acceptance of policies of isolating Palestinians and expelling them from their holy city as an inescapable reality is not permissible. It is not permissible to surrender to the culture of preventing Palestinians from exercising their natural right to reach Jerusalem and their workplaces, and this is not a generosity or a favor from anyone, for this is a legitimate right that every Palestinian must enjoy. I hope that Palestinians inside will intensify their trips and visits to the West Bank areas, especially the Bethlehem Governorate and other governorates, for whoever is able to reach the West Bank must do so, perhaps such visits will offer something, however simple and modest, to our steadfast people in the West Bank who remain in their land, but steadfastness and remaining require components. May God help our people and our families in the West Bank who have come to live as if in a large prison. A few days ago, a 30-year-old young man from Bethlehem told me: "I have never visited Jerusalem even once, and what I know about Jerusalem is only what I read and what I see in pictures through various social media." So where is the justice in all of this? And reaching Jerusalem has become a dream for many Palestinians who are prevented from freedom of movement and access to their holy city.