Palestinian Christians in Gaza celebrated the ‘Holy Saturday’ on Easter Eve, in the Saint Porphyrios Church in Gaza City.
On Great and Holy Saturday, the Orthodox Church commemorates Jesus Christ’s burial and descent in Hades, ahead of His resurrection on Easter.
“Palestine’s Christian population is dwindling at an alarming rate. A population census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 concluded that 47,000 Palestinian Christians are living in Palestine – with reference to the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent article.
Despite this, Palestinian Christians remain steadfast in their commitment to their cultural, spiritual and national identities.
“Ninety-eight percent of Palestine’s Christians live in the West Bank – concentrated mostly in the cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem – while the remainder, a tiny Christian community of merely 1,100 people, live in besieged Gaza,” Baroud added.
On Saturday, Israeli authorities banned Palestinian Christians from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in occupied East Jerusalem.
(All Photos: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)
