THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jun 2, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
NYTimes
New York Times
16 Sep 2024
Sergey PonomarevErika Solomon


NextImg:How Rituals of Faith Became Another Casualty of War
photophotophotophotophoto

Marking major holidays has been completely upended for three religions this year. For Palestinians in the West Bank, restrictions have limited access to holy sites.

For Israel’s Jews, the war in Gaza has divided the population, and tensions only seem to be growing.

Passover celebrations were accompanied by somber tallies of the days loved ones have been held captive.

Palestinian Christian festivals, once crammed with pilgrims from around the world, are a shadow of their former selves.

For Palestinian Muslims, the conflict in Gaza weighs heavily on even simple acts of remembrance.

How Rituals of Faith Became Another Casualty of War


Since the Oct. 7 attacks and the start of the war in Gaza, no part of life in the region has been left untouched — least of all, the three great religions whose histories are rooted there.

While Israeli Jews struggle to celebrate holidays or even find common ground with one another, Palestinian Muslims and Christians are struggling to reach their holy sites at all.

Israel this year introduced some of the toughest restrictions on Ramadan prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest structures in the Islamic faith. Al Aqsa, which sits atop an ancient plateau in Jerusalem that is sacred to Jews and Muslims, has long been a point of contention.

For decades, Israel’s government prevented Jews from praying on the grounds to avoid stoking tensions, and officially, it still does so. But as Israel has exerted tighter control over the site, right-wing politicians and settler groups have repeatedly entered the area to pray, a move widely seen as provocative to Palestinian Muslims.

ImageThree security officers stand guard over a group of people praying on a paved area near walls.
Israeli security officers observing a group of Palestinians praying outside Al Aqsa Mosque in April.
Image
Outside a checkpoint in Ramallah, in the West Bank, artwork depicting the Dome of the Rock, in the Aqsa Mosque compound, adorns a wall next to a blocked road.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.