Legally, members of one religious group mutually may agree to submit a personal status dispute to a different denomination to adjudicate, but in practice this did not occur.
[1] In the West Bank and Gaza, the PA has a Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, which pays for the construction and maintenance of mosques and the salaries of many Palestinian imams.
The PA does not provide financial support to any Jewish institutions or holy sites in the West Bank since these areas are generally under Israeli control.
While East Jerusalem is under Israeli control, the site is administered by the Islamic Waqf, a Jordanian religious trust with ties to the PA.
[2] Israeli closure policies were found to affect freedom of religion, with tens of thousands of Palestinians unable to access places of worship in Jerusalem and the West Bank, including during religious holidays.
Palestinian political violence has prevented Israelis from reaching Jewish holy sites such as Joseph's Tomb near Nablus.
During the reporting period, Israeli officers at times prevented the muezzin at the al-Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron from sounding the call to prayer when Jews were praying in their portion of the shrine.
Relations between Jews and non-Jews often were strained as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as Israel's control of access to sites holy to Christians and Muslims.
Israeli authorities required Christian clergy serving in the West Bank or Jerusalem, except some of those covered by the status quo agreement or who are affiliated with recognized nongovernmental organization (NGOs), to leave the country every 90 days to renew their tourist visas.
Catholic and Orthodox priests, nuns, and other religious workers, often from Syria and Lebanon, face long delays and are sometimes denied applications for security reasons.
[1] The PA has not taken sufficient action to remedy past harassment and intimidation of Christian residents of Bethlehem by the city's Muslim majority.
[8] The Vatican and the Catholic Church sees Israeli occupation and the general conflict in the Holy Land as the principal reasons for the Christian exodus from the territories.
The report concluded that the PA government policy contributed to the generally free practice of religion, although problems persisted related to interfaith-conflicts, including discriminatory and preferential treatment.
[1] In 2012, a group of 50 young Muslim teenagers attacked a Christian residential complex in Bethphage, throwing rocks, smashing cars and windows and injuring several residents.
Some Muslim religious leaders preach sermons on the official PA television station that included expressions of anti-Semitism.
Waleed Al-Husseini, an atheist blogger, was arrested by Palestinian intelligence agents and spent 10 months in a West Bank prison for making online statements criticizing Islam, during which he was repeatedly abused and interrogated.