Holy Days in the Crossfire: Jerusalem’s Passover and Easter Fall Silent
The faithful attend a Palm Sunday mass at the Monastery of Saint Saviour in Jerusalem's Old City on March 29, 2026. | Jerusalem is entering what should be one of its most vibrant seasons under an unusually heavy pall, as the ongoing Iran war forces the city’s sacred spaces into lockdown and its residents into a subdued observance of Passover and Easter. Major holy sites across the Old City—normally alive with worshippers, pilgrims, and tourists—now sit shuttered behind metal doors. The narrow stone alleyways echo with only the occasional footsteps, a stark contrast to the typical spring surge of visitors celebrating the Jewish and Christian holidays. Families, exhausted by weeks of conflict, face a season traditionally marked by renewal with a sense of fatigue and uncertainty. The war’s reach has been felt even in areas historically spared from direct attack. Intercepted Iranian missiles have scattered shrapnel near the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and along the roa...
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