JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israel said claims by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry that a procession of Christian Arabs had been prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as part of Easter celebrations in Jerusalem’s Old City ‘’referred to a non-event’’ .
In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry called it ‘’an attempt to inflate a “micro-incident” and said that the day’s ceremonies, attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims, had ended peacefully, “despite taking place in such a narrow and constricted space as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and its adjacent square.”
Police, the ministry insisted, “handled the event with the required professionalism and sensitivity, regulating crowd movements and ensuring the safety of all attendants.”
The ministry’s Spokesman Yigal Palmor acknowledged that police took steps to limit the crowd packed into the church and narrow streets outside it. “If there was any pushing and shoving I would say it was a micro-incident,” Palmor said.
‘’Had any harm come to the pilgrims due to uncontrolled crowd movements, Mr. Serry would have promptly cast responsibility on the same police which he now condemns for doing its job properly,” the ministry said. “Mr. Serry’s statement is, at the very least, a display of poor judgment.”
Earlier, Serry had issued a statement earlier denouncing what he called an “incident” before the Holy Fire ceremony.
He said he and other diplomats visited the Easter procession to the church at the invitation of Jerusalem’s Christian Arab community.
The procession was stopped at a security checkpoint before the church “despite earlier assurances… of unhindered access,” Serry said.
“The Israeli police refused to allow such entry claiming they had orders to that effect. A precarious standoff ensued, ending in an angry crowd pushing their way through.”
The Israeli ministry maintained that Christian dignitaries had thanked the police for their good work throughout the day.
Holy Fire is a traditional Orthodox Christian ceremony at which worshippers believe a miraculous fire appears at the site identified as Jesus’s tomb every year on the day before Easter.