From France24: "‘Some hide their crosses’: Jerusalem nun attack highlights Israel’s growing anti-Christian problem." The article relates:
Harani, who heads the Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC) – an Israeli NGO that documents anti-Christian incidents and help victims report them to authorities – said there are so many cases now that she and her roughly 100 volunteers are kept busy “24/7”.
“The most common is spitting,” she said. “But it can also be graffiti on [Christian] signs with crosses on them, vandalism or different forms of harassment.”
The perpetrators, she said, belong to a very tiny part of Israel’s population of 10 million – “most Jews would never do this” – and mainly identify as ultra-Orthodox, Shas-style Sephardis or nationalist religious Jews.
“They all wear kippah [traditional Jewish skullcaps]. I’ve not seen one secular Jew misbehave toward Christians.”
In 2024, her organisation recorded 107 incidents. Last year, the number jumped to 181.
“There isn’t a month that goes by without at least ten incidents reported,” she said, but noted that in reality, the numbers are likely much higher. This is in part because victims either do not know how to report, or do not want to “make a fuss” over less serious offences like spitting.
The article tries to minimize the seriousness of the situation by essentially explaining that the Jews doing this are just too stupid and ignorant to know better, but also that it is a Jewish tradition.
Related:
- "Israel: Spitting on Christians in Jerusalem ‘not criminal’, says Ben Gvir"--Middle East Eye. This October 2023 article notes that Ben Gvir--who was Israel's National Security Minister (and oversees the police) indicated that the Israeli government was not going to prosecute such assaults because it was not illegal. It adds:
Ben Gvir had previously defended the act of spitting on Christians as “an ancient Jewish custom”.
The claim was echoed on Tuesday by Israeli settler Elisha Yered, who is suspected of involvement in the killing of a Palestinian teenager in August.
Yered said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “spitting near priests or churches is an ancient Jewish custom”.
Also:
Harassment by Israelis against Christians, including spitting, is not new. However, it has spiked under the new government, which took office late last year and has been described as the most right-wing in the country's history.
The attacks - committed mostly by ultranationalists or settlers, including soldiers - range from trespassing on churches and spitting on churchgoers to destruction of Christian symbols and vandalising graves, among other acts.
Police have reportedly not been taking the attacks seriously, refusing to treat the incidents as part of a trend and downplaying the culprits' motives by saying they are carried out due to "mental illness".
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