Al Jazeera reports: At first sight, last week’s unprovoked attack on a French nun walking along a street in occupied East Jerusalem came without warning. Israel jails soldiers who smashed Jesus statue in Lebanonlist 4 of 4Greek Orthodox Church sounds alarm over attacks on Christians in Jerusalemend of listIsraeli officials have been quick to condemn the attack on the nun, calling it “despicable” and with “no place” in Israeli society. A man has also been arrested, after the arrest of Israeli soldiers blamed for smashing a Christian statue in southern Lebanon last month.But ultimately, trust in the Israeli state is thin on the ground, with many of the incidents going unreported, analysts say.Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem have been present in the area for more than 2,000 years.
But they now find themselves attacked by Israelis, just for practicing their faith.According to the volunteer-run Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC), in the first three months of this year, Christians reported 31 incidents of harassment, most involving spitting or defacing church property. Last year, analysts with the interreligious Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue tracked 113 known attacks on individuals and church property in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, including 61 physical assaults mainly targeting visible members of the clergy, such as monks, nuns, friars, and priests. Advertisement ‘It’s definitely increased in the last three years,” said Hana Bendcowsky, programme director at the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations.
Background
“Resentment toward Christianity existed in the past as well, but people did not dare express it openly.”“Over the past three years, the political atmosphere in Israel – where there is less concern about how the world perceives us – has led people to feel more comfortable harassing Christians,” Bendcowsky added. “This broader sense of Israeli isolation, and the reduced concern about international reactions, is also reflected in the way the State of Israel has acted regarding what has taken place in Gaza and southern Lebanon.” Rising nationalismIsrael’s shift towards ultranationalism, particularly when it comes to policies towards Palestinians, has intensified under the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Key facts
- At first sight, last week’s unprovoked attack on a French nun walking along a street in occupied East Jerusalem came without warning.
- Advertisement ‘It’s definitely increased in the last three years,” said Hana Bendcowsky, programme director at the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations.
- “In education, the focus is on Jewish victimhood, so the lack of familiarity with Christians, together with the historical memory of Christianity, tends to be negative.
What this means
“Therefore, anything from spitting, harassing, and desecrating, to government actions to prevent churches from bringing in staff and clergy from abroad… is simply part of the reality here.”Bendcowsky noted that “the complexity of Jewish–Christian relations goes back to the early centuries.”“While some churches have undergone processes of rethinking their attitudes towards Jews and Judaism and have begun a path of healing, this has not yet taken place within Israeli Jewish society,” she said. “In education, the focus is on Jewish victimhood, so the lack of familiarity with Christians, together with the historical memory of Christianity, tends to be negative.
In the current political climate, there are those who exploit this as a chance to strike back.”Incidents are rarely reported, researchers say, with concern over foreign visas, or not wanting to draw attention to the issue, mixing with a profound absence of confidence in the state to take action.‘There’s an absolute lack of confidence in the police, and I think that’s leading to many of the attacks going unreported,” Bendcowsky said. “Unfortunately, that’s often borne out by the evidence. Unless an incident gains international attention, particularly in the US, it often goes uninvestigated, or investigations are closed without any official conclusion.” Losing supportHigh-level international objections to attacks on Christians and Christianity, especially those coming from Israel’s principal backers in the United States, have typically elicited swift responses from the Israeli government.
Originally reported by Al Jazeera. This story has been edited and re-presented by BRIC Team.
