After the closure of Al-Aqsa Corona and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the alleys of Jerusalem are empty, as has not happened since the Black Plague

In light of the exceptional circumstances that the world is going through due to the rapid spread of the Corona epidemic and precautionary measures aimed at limiting its spread, the occupied streets of Jerusalem and its houses of worship are free of tourists and worshipers, in a situation the city has not seen since the outbreak of the black plague that ravaged Europe and other regions of the world during the century fourteenth.

The Washington Post published a report entitled "The alleys of Jerusalem were not as calm as they are today since the Black Plague", highlighting the calm surrounding the streets and alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem after the closure decisions that included mosques, churches and synagogues in the city.

According to the report prepared by the director of the newspaper's office in Jerusalem, Steve Hendrick, the new epidemic of Corona silenced the hustle and bustle of the Old City in occupied Jerusalem, which was bustling with life before it closed its doors in the face of crowds of tourists and visitors whose streets were always crowded with them, especially during religious seasons and before Easter and Ramadan Blessed by weeks.

The alleys of the Old City were clear of only the police patrols and a few passers-by of the local population, and the doors of all places of worship were closed indefinitely including the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque, the first two kisses and the third of the Two Holy Mosques, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the holiest Christian sites in the world, and a wall Al-Buraq, which is known as the Wailing Wall of the adherents of Judaism and is the holiest place to pray for them.

Closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Precautionary measures to curb the spread of the epidemic included the closure of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in which many Christians believe that Jesus, peace be upon him, was crucified and buried, as the Israeli health authorities issued a decision to close it indefinitely.

Adeeb Gouda, a Muslim who takes charge of opening and closing church doors and whose Muslim family has trusted the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for eight centuries, has expressed his deep sorrow for the decision to close it.

Adeeb, who was standing in front of the doors of the huge closed church holding its antique iron key one day after the decision to close it, said that the last time the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were closed to worshipers was in the year 1349 during the Black Plague.

"All the churches, mosques and synagogues in Jerusalem are closed, but we understand the situation. We all pray (for the end of the epidemic)," Adeeb added. He also expressed his confidence that the doors of the church will open again and will be able to pass on the keys to one of his three sons as he inherited it from his father before.

Far closing
The newspaper report indicated that Adeeb Gouda is also deprived of praying in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock mosque, which was teeming with tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers before a decision to close them due to an epidemic that swept the world and confused various walks of life during the past three months.

According to the newspaper, the decision to close Al-Aqsa issued by the Jordanian religious council that runs Islamic sites in occupied Jerusalem was met with great satisfaction by Israeli officials, who were observing the crowd gathering in Al-Aqsa courtyards with great concern even during the outbreak of the Corona virus.

Unprecedented damage
The report highlighted the damages caused by the closure to the city's economy, especially for shop owners and local vendors who earn their living from tourist delegations and the crowds that were leading the holy places and crowded the city streets daily.

In a poll of one of the shop owners there, Sabri Zughair, a vegetable owner in the old country, said that the shutdown disrupted trade, and that the depression in which he suffered his goods did not happen even in times of war, and that only three customers from the local population went through in his day It usually includes thousands through the gate opposite his shop, which did not happen in the history of the store that his grandfather opened in 1948.

A local resident, a 77-year-old old man born in New York City and living in the Old City of Jerusalem for 21 years, likened the calm that surrounds the alleyways of Jerusalem without pedestrians to what happened in Berlin in 1945, and said that what is happening establishes the beginning of a new era of existence and exceeds Our ability to understand.