Jerusalem, Sunday

THE Palestinian head of the Roman Catholic church in the Holy Land today assailed an Israeli security ban in his Easter Sunday sermon, telling the Jewish state: ``Let my people go.''

Speaking at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is said to have died, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah wished Jews well on their own Passover holiday marking the biblical exodus from Egypt of Jews led by Moses more than 3000 years ago.

However Sabbah, a Palestinian, added: ``We say to them today what Moses said to the Pharaoh on Passover day: Let my people go. God is the source of all liberty.''

The church, where many Christians believe Christ rose from the dead, was unusually empty.

Israel sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip, barring tens of thousands of Palestinian workers from day jobs in Israel, after the first of four attacks by Islamic suicide bombers which killed 58 people.

``In our message, we condemn the violence which kills the innocent,'' Sabbah said.

``We condemn the violence exercised by the (Israeli) government - the repeated closures of the Palestinian territories which have caused hunger and despair,'' he added.

``We also condemn violence exercised by the government itself, such as the closures of Palestinian territories which cause hunger, dismay, and disturbance in daily life, work, schooling, and access to hospitals.''

Palestinians complain that the closure has caused great economic hardship. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said it had indirectly caused the deaths of eight Arabs by delaying medical care.

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, an Anglican, also condemned Israel for stopping Christians from entering Jerusalem.

``Instead of being a season of rebirth and revitalisation and peace, Easter has become a season of siege, closure, and despair,'' she said.

She said the Israeli measures ``expose the myth that Israel guarantees freedom of worship''.

An estimated 65,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, counting Jerusalem. Israel occupied Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and annexed it despite world opposition.

Some West Bank Palestinian Christians celebrated at a small ceremony in neighbouring Bethlehem, Christ's birthplace, which was recently handed over by Israel to Palestinian rule.

Irene, a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem, said: ``Israeli soldiers refused to allow us entry to Jerusalem yesterday where we usually bring the holy candles and light from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and they did the same today.''

Youssef Jabra, superviser at the Holy Land Christian mission, said: ``We are very sad and very angry because Israel, contrary to what it keeps saying, is not allowing Palestinians free access to holy sites nor to pray in the church in Jerusalem.''

Compared to previous years, there was a marked absence of American and Canadian pilgrims at today's mass in the cramped 800-year-old Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Tourism has dropped across Israel following the suicide bombings.

HEBRON: Two petrol bombs were hurled at an Israeli commuter bus near Hebron in the West Bank, injuring about five people. None of the victims was seriously hurt.-Reuter.