Israel has limited the number of people who can attend Saturday’s Holy Fire ceremony at the Holy Sepulchre Church to 1,800, down from 10,000 last year, drawing the ire of the Status Quo Committee of the Churches, who released the below statement:

Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media and others have latched on to the criticism like a dog with a bone:

It turns out, the Israeli police is merely enforcing the recommendations of the Church’s own safety engineer!
Regarding the Holy Fire event taking place on April 15, 2023 in the Old City of Jerusalem, we clarify: limiting participants is not a result of a police initiative, but a necessary safety requirement, per the professional analysis of the safety engineer on behalf of the churches
The Israel Police will enforce the safety engineer’s instructions and expects cooperation from church leaders and organizers.
The police’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of all participants, while also allowing freedom of worship. The police have invested many resources and conducted extensive preparation work for the successful and safe continuation of the event.


I am not sure why the Status Quo Committee of the Churches seems to be presenting the issue dishonestly, but what is clear is this: if Israel did not limit the numbers and a disaster befell worshippers, Israel would be blamed for the tragedy, and haters would even claim we deliberately ignored the engineer’s safety recommendations in order to help move along our supposed “genocide.”
Meanwhile, if you want to see some actual persecution of Christians in the Holy Land:
Another attack on Bet Jala Christian Church (Near Bethlehem) by Palestinian Muslim extremists under the control of Palestinian Authority. No idea what's happening for these Palestinians on this month of Ramadan? Some people claim they are hungry, hmmm 🤔 pic.twitter.com/O3YQl7phmx
— Shadi khalloul שאדי ח'לול (@shadikhalloul) April 11, 2023
Yet not even one mainstream media outlet has reported on it.