To be a Christian from the land of Jesus Christ is a blessing that not many can claim to share. But this blessing brings with it a daily struggle to preserve our traditions and uphold Christian practices. Faith has not disappeared, hope still guides our lives, but the lack of response to our plight makes many in our community wonder whether the world really cares about us. Israeli restrictions on our freedom of worship throughout the year should remind the world of its responsibility to help end oppression and occupation in the Holy Land.

Israeli politicians say one thing loud and clear: They want recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and Jerusalem as the “eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish people.” The Palestinian people, Christians and Muslims, suffer on a daily basis from this concept of exclusivity, which goes entirely against our internationally recognized inalienable, civil and political rights. To someone who believes that Jerusalem is the exclusive property of Israel, refusal of entry to millions of Christian and Muslim Palestinians and denial of their right to pray perhaps seems acceptable. So far, no international action has been taken to ensure that this discriminatory policy by the occupying power is brought to an end.

Since the early 1990s, Israel has imposed a permit regime that prevents free movement by Palestinians within their own territory. To move around requires asking for special Israeli permits. All Palestinian churches must do this for their faithful ahead of every religious occasion, creating an unacceptable situation whereby Christians from Bethlehem, living just 10 km away from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, can spend years without being able to pray at this holy site, while an American or Israeli tourist can freely visit it at any time. This situation is turning our religious sites into museums to be visited by foreigners rather than places of worship for a vibrant local community that has been the caretaker of Christian sites, preserving them for centuries.

One should not be misled by the issue of permits. The question is not how many permits Palestinians are given every Easter or Christmas, but why we should have to apply for them at all simply in order to visit our own city and holy places that we have prayed at for centuries. Palestinians do not need a foreign occupation force to control their movements; all they need is a just peace that will lead to understanding and coexistence. This just peace can only begin by ending 46 years of Israeli occupation and colonization, leading to two sovereign and democratic states — Israel and Palestine — based on the 1967 border. Arrangements for Jerusalem should be made so that it serves as the capital of both states and spiritual centers for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.