PIC – Israeli policemen beat up a group of Palestinian Christians while on their way to visit the Church of holy Sepulcher in occupied Jerusalem on the occasion of "Holy Saturday".
Palestinian sources said that the police manning a barricade prevented the young men from proceeding to the holy site while allowing dozens of foreign tourists to cross in the company of Israeli tourist guides, which led to clashes.
A Christian activist accused Israel of religious harassment against all non-Jews.
For its part, the Sawasiya center for human rights charged that Israel was planning to block entry of non-Jews to occupied Jerusalem.
It said that the Israeli schemes to build more housing units in the holy city pointed to such a plot, adding that they target wiping out Jerusalem's Arab and Islamic landmarks and expelling non-Jews out of it.
The center described the Israeli schemes as an infringement on the freedom of worship and a blatant violation of international laws that prohibit introducing any changes to an occupied territory or forcing its inhabitants out of their land.