Israeli Attacks on Christians in Jerusalem Are Denounced by Clergy and Christian Residents

Palestinian Christian clergy and laypersons are angered by and have condemned the continued assaults by religious Jews on Christian symbols—churches, clergy, nuns, and pilgrims. The assaults, documented in videos that have circulated widely, have been brought to the attention of Israeli and international authorities.

During the first week of October, the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkoth coincided with the week-long Christian Feast of the Tabernacles. Both brought thousands of devotees to the city, increasing proximity and perhaps the opportunity for these types of crimes.

On Monday, October 2, 2023, Nir Hasson, the Jerusalem reporter for the Israeli daily Haaretz, happened to be on the scene when a particularly egregious incident occurred, which he filmed and then published in the paper. The video showed a group of Christian pilgrims carrying a large wooden cross and exiting the ancient Church of the Flagellation to merge into Lions’ Gate Street in the Old City who were spat at repeatedly by adult Haredi Jewish men and boys marching by in a procession around the Haram al-Sharif. It went viral, sparking outrage around the world.1

The uproar brought rare condemnations from some Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Landau, Jerusalem’s Mayor Moshe Lion, and Deputy Mayor Fleur Naoum Hasson.2

Bishop Atallah Hanna, a prominent Jerusalem-based Christian Orthodox priest, told Jerusalem Story that these attacks and racist provocations are neither new nor unusual. “For years we as priests and fellow nuns have been targets of these assaults that have included being on the receiving end of spitting, cursing, and other forms of insults.” Hanna noted that Christian sites and symbols like the cross, which is the holy symbol for Christians, are also targets of attacks. “The attacks come from radical racists who don’t have any respect or understanding of interfaith relations and only show racism and hatred toward our Palestinian people, whether Muslims or Christians.”3

In addition to videos recorded on cell phones, there has also been an organized church effort to document cases of assault.

A newly established NGO, the Religious Freedom Data Center, has created a hotline with the aim of collecting data on the attacks on Christians, especially in Jerusalem. The person behind the effort is an independent Israeli researcher, lecturer, and interfaith activist named Yisca Harani.4 According to Harani, the attacks are not one-off incidents. She spoke at a conference focusing on attacks against Christians in the Holy Land, entitled “Why Do (Some) Jews Spit on Gentiles,” which was sponsored and organized last June by the Center for the Study of Relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Open University of Israel. Speaking at the conference, Harani said, “There is a spitting attack every day.”5

But spitting on the ground is not a criminal offense in Israel, so perpetrators typically suffer no consequence.

On October 4, under the glare of global condemnation, the Israeli police atypically arrested five Jewish suspects on suspicion of spitting at Christians and churches within the Old City of Jerusalem.6 Dr. Jack Sara, a Jerusalemite Palestinian evangelical pastor and president of the Bethlehem Bible College, told Jerusalem Story that he is deeply troubled by the attacks. “Our hearts ache as we see these daily attacks and insults against those who are coming to our city to pray or those wearing a cross and in front of every sign of the holy cross.” 7

Sara, who grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem, noted the interfaith relationship that has always existed. “Growing up in the Old City, we have had wonderful Christian–Muslim comradeship, cooperation, and respect for each other’s religious events; what we are seeing now sends chills and fears that the religious freedom we had enjoyed is being taken away from us.” Reverend Sara says that there is usually no accountability for those attacking religious symbols. “This is producing an increase of fear and concern, and it adds to the personal and spiritual exhaustion among Christians. We want to remain steadfast, and we need to keep encouraging each other no matter how much persecution [we face]. Our Lord Jesus was similarly persecuted and spat on in the same city and we will not be any better from our Lord.” Reverend Sara cites a verse from the Bible that addresses this: “If they reproach us about our cross, we are being reproached by our cross, the Bible commands us: ‘May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’”8

Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Aryeh King has openly and loudly asserted that evangelical Christians, such as the masses who flocked to the city this week for the Feast of the Tabernacles, are engaged in missionary work and should be ejected from the country. He has been filmed aggressively confronting them in the city in the past, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, let every missionary know they are not welcome in the Land of Israel.”9 

This week, King also posted on his Facebook page a warning to Jewish residents not to attend the parade or to let their children wander unsupervised because, “Of the tens of thousands of marchers, there will also be a few hundred and maybe even more Christian missionaries who come with the express purpose of making contact with Jews in order to spread their religion.”10 

A May 2023 YouTube video of Jews spitting on nuns has garnered over five million views.11 At that time, far-right-wing Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir attempted to justify spitting on Christians by calling it “an ancient Jewish tradition.”12 In the wake of this week’s incidents, Ben Gvir said, “I still think spitting at Christians is not a criminal case. I think we need to act on it through instruction and education. Not everything justifies an arrest.”13

Father Abdullah Yoluo, the spiritual head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Ramallah, rejected this claim; he sees these attacks as hate crimes. “These statements express the racism and fascism of Ben Gvir and his extreme right-wing government.” Yoluo described Ben Gvir’s statements as “impudent,” pointing out that the occupation’s behavior in Jerusalem had only one goal: to erase any other partner or religion. The Melkite Catholic priest considered what was happening “a miserable and desperate attempt to impose Israeli–Jewish sovereignty, without respect for any other religion,” and expressed his concern about the growing feelings of hatred and racism and their push to fuel a religious war in the region.14

Father Yoluo added, “I say to Ben Gvir: The night may be long, but the occupation will not last long. One day, occupation of our land must end, and the sun of freedom will shine on Jerusalem.”15

Nora S. Kort, a social and development activist, president of the Al-Ataa Association for Elderly Services, and member of the Advisory Council in the Jerusalem Governorate, argues that part of the problem in the past has been the reluctance of certain church leaders to speak out; when they did, they were ashamed to comment, and most of the time they neglected the issue. Finally, they have woken up. “Hatred of other religions was, is, and will continue, as freedom of worship is confiscated, and this is what we experience during the holidays, and the churches’ diplomatic policy is useless. When we scream as Palestinian Christians, we are not heard, but when the Christian tourist complains, they are believed, and this is racism.”16

While the focus of attention lately has been on acts of spitting at clergy and churches, Christians in Jerusalem say that it goes further than that. Kort told Jerusalem Story that Jews throw stones at clergy and attempt to damage church icons and properties. This is not new, and it happens repeatedly to Christians of all denominations, including foreign pilgrims. She is angry that Israeli police and judges do little to handle Jewish attackers. “When an Israeli youth is (very infrequently) arrested for throwing stones at a priest, the initial response of the Israeli court is that the Jewish stone-throwers were teenagers and that the stones did not hit anyone.”17 Kort asks rhetorically how long a prison term do Palestinian youths get for stone throwing. The Israeli penal code includes “a 10-year sentence for throwing a stone, or another object, at traffic, without intent to cause injury, and 20 years for throwing a stone, or other objects, at traffic with intent to cause injury.”18

For Bishop Hanna, the issue is much bigger than that of religious Jews spitting on churches and clergy wearing a cross. “We don’t see these attacks in isolation of the Palestinian context. They must be seen within the larger picture of the targeting of all Palestinians regardless of religion. The specific attacks on Christians that take place in the Old City of Jerusalem in particular places—at the New Gate, Jaffa Gate, and the Armenian Quarter—are part of a dangerous conspiracy that is aimed at the authentic and original Christian presence in Jerusalem.”19

Businessman Bassim Khoury, a leader within his Palestinian Christian community, told Jerusalem Story that he is concerned about the Christian presence in the East in general and in Palestine in particular. “Throughout the ages, Christians have played a cultural enlightenment role and played a leadership role in the various national and anti-colonial movements. From here, the Christian presence has been exposed to blows. Several times, during the 1948 Nakba, we lost the large population centers in which the Christian presence was concentrated, such as Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, and West Jerusalem, which led to increased migration to the West, especially after the successive calamities, wars, and revolutions that made the citizen lose the feeling of security and sense that he had a future in the East.”

Khoury says that racist and fascist teachings and ideas have been implanted by Jews, especially religious ones, since childhood. “After the rise of extremist Zionism to power in Israel, the product of decades of teaching hatred and nonacceptance of others came to the fore, which explains the repeated attacks on churches and holy places.” Khoury recalled that in the Israeli media, a religious Jewish man was quoted saying, “We support spitting on Christians, belittling them, and expelling them from here. Everyone who is a Christian must be degraded and insulted. Strongly.” Another man offered his opinion: “I support spitting at every cross, every Christian, to degrade them forcefully. They used to slaughter and massacre us. It is written in the Torah that children pay for the sins of their fathers.”20

To address this ugly phenomenon, Khoury calls for “a concerted strategic effort to fight religious extremist thought in Israel, as it has been fought in various regions of the Eastern countries.” Khoury was a Palestinian government cabinet minister during the administration of Salam Fayyad, which called on the international community to treat Israel the same way that they have been treating Palestinians. “Just as the West demanded that the Palestinian Authority change its educational curricula under the pretext of fighting extremism, Israel must be demanded to change the educational curricula that are full of incitement to violence and hatred. In addition, an international mission must be sent to investigate the facts and study the situation of Christians and determine who is responsible for this deteriorating situation. If this continues, it will lead to the end of this indigenous community in Palestine.”21