A LARGE group of Christians from the southern Iraqi city of
Basra are planning to make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem at Christmas,
in the first organised visit to the Holy Land from the country for
many years.
The venture, representing a rare piece of upbeat news for Iraq's
Christians, is being supported by the Basra provincial authorities,
who say that the pilgrimage will underline the religious plurality
of Iraq. They added that it was the kind of support that they had
traditionally given to groups of Muslim pilgrims wanting to go to
Mecca.
The head of the religious minorities committee in the Basra
provincial government, Saad Butros, said that security and visa
arrangements for the Christians' visit to the Holy Land were being
co-ordinated with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
Mr Butros said that the Iraqi Christians would reach the Holy
Land via Jordan, and the focus of the pilgrimage would be the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, because the town was on the
West Bank. The pilgrims would not be visiting Christian sites
controlled by the Israeli authorities, such as the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, nor Christian shrines
in Nazareth.
The small Christian community in Iraq has endured a torrid time
over the past few years: the rising influence of jihadist Islamist
groups has forced thousands of them to leave their homes, often to
seek a new life abroad. But the attacks on Christian targets have
occurred mainly in the central and northern districts of Iraq.
Christians in Basra say that, if their planned pilgrimage is a
success, they hope that believers in other provinces will follow
suit.
The venture is likely to have its critics, however. Although the
authorities in Basra have stressed that the Iraqi pilgrims to the
Holy Land will not actually be setting foot in Israel, they will
still be worship-ping on Israeli-occupied land, a fact that could
spark hostility to the visit from Islamists.