Basim Asfur, chairman of the Nazareth Orthodox Christian Community Council, said on Sunday that a Jewish religious event would not have been blocked in the way his community's celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration was on Friday. "The authorities would have been afraid to stop a Jewish event such as the annual celebrations at Meron at the last moment," he told Ynet.
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the Feast of the Transfiguration is an annual event commemorating the occasion upon which Jesus Christ was transfigured. It is one of the most important events on the Orthodox Christian calendar and attracts believers from all over Israel and from abroad. "Christians from all over the world arrive in order to attend," Asfur said. "They come from Russia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and other countries that belong to Orthodox Christianity. Thousands came on Friday and stood outside the barriers. It was very difficult."
He said church officials had met with Fire and Safety officials and the police, a fortnight before the scheduled celebrations and believed that they would be granted the permit to hold their event and only on Friday, they were informed that there was no authorization.
Fire department officials said in response that despite having months to prepare, the church officials did not take necessary steps to prevent a fire hazard, a claim Asfur denies.
"We held a prayer on Saturday, but there were only priests in attendance and no congregants of pilgrims," he said. "It is humiliating and a disgrace that such a prayer is held without Christians at all. We could have been limited to allow only two or three thousand into the church on Mt. Tabor. This cannot be allowed," he said.
Israeli authorities pull plug on major Orthodox Christian event
(Avi Chai)
