Easter in Jerusalem: Violence overshadows Good Friday procession

Joy and concern in Jerusalem: For the first time since the pandemic, foreign guests are allowed to take part in the Good Friday procession. But because Easter, Ramadan and Passover all fall on the same day, there is tension and violence.

In the early hours of the morning, clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israeli police on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. More than 100 people on the Palestinian side were injured, as well as three police officers.

“Jesus was here and died here”

800 meters away, a large parking lot on Mount Zion, right in front of the old city: hundreds of Indians meet here at 8 a.m., they are about to start their Good Friday procession. “On Good Friday we walk the Stations of the Cross outside the Old City, starting at Mount Zion,” says Father Santosh Lobo. “Every Saturday we pray the Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa, but today all the Indians from our area who work in Israel come here.”

For reasons of space, it is improvised, a way of the cross outside the old town. A man carries a wooden slat, and a picture of the Stations of the Cross is attached to each station. 700 to 800 believers take part in the procession. Also Shaled. She has lived in Israel for 15 years. She works in home care like the other men and women who are here. “It’s nice here because all the Indians are gathering. We’re doing this procession at this holy place. Jesus was here and died here. So this is a good place for the celebration.”

There are many large vehicles belonging to the Israeli security forces in the parking lot. Again and again they seek their way through the Indian Christians on the way to the old town. A few minutes later the procession begins.

Pilgrims everywhere in the old town

Back in the old town, on Via Dolorosa. This Spanish family goes alone from station to station, without a group, without a procession. “We walk alone, just with the family, it’s more relaxed. We can organize our own time. We’re on vacation in Spain and we’re Catholic, so we spend Easter here.” The mother says: “There’s a lot going on here, I find that worrying.”

And already the next group of pilgrims comes with women and men carrying large and small crosses.

The big Stations of the Cross procession on the Via Dolorosa was brought forward by an hour this year. The path that Muslims use to get to the Temple Mount, which they call Haram-a-Sharif, for their Friday prayers overlaps a bit with the Way of the Cross. In order to avoid crowds, the organizers are trying to straighten out the schedule.

A good place to watch this procession is the Austrian Hospice. Rector Markus Bugnyar explains why: “We’re not just anywhere, we’re right in the middle of the Via Dolorosa, at the third station. And that’s the place to be on a Good Friday, because from our area you have a very good view of the Stations of the Cross procession Has.”

Number of visitors not yet at pre-pandemic level

Hundreds of believers go from station to station with crosses, praying and singing. There are foreign guests in Jerusalem again after two years of the pandemic. However, the pre-pandemic level will not be reached this year. “In the time before Corona, the Holy Land experienced a new visitor record every year. And that was very difficult when the individual had to wait a very, very long time at the individual sites. Now the visitor has the advantage that he is almost alone and can easily decide which services to attend”.

It is a special time in Jerusalem, Muslims celebrate the month of fasting Ramadan, Christians celebrate Easter and the Jewish festival of Passover begins this Friday. After clashes on the Temple Mount this morning, concerns are growing that tensions will continue.