Christians walked in procession along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem, marking Easters Good Friday 25 March by retracing what they believe was the route Jesus Christ took to his crucifixion.
At the same time, outside the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Christian worshippers embarked on a protest march to mark Good Friday. They walked from the Jewish settlement of Har Gilo to the Jewish settlement of Gilo in protest against Israels settlements policy.
We are marking Good Friday with our own Via Dolorosa between two Israeli settlements, at land that Israel wants to take for the construction of the annexation wall. Thats the reality of Palestinians and particularly of Palestinian Christians, this Easter in the Holy Land, said Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian official.
Palestinians have cited Israeli settlement activity as one of the factors behind the collapse of US-brokered peace talks in 2014, and a surge of violence over the past five months has dimmed hopes negotiations could be revived any time soon.
Israel says it intends to keep large settlement blocs in any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. Palestinians, who seek to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, say they fear Israeli settlement expansion will deny them a viable country.
