For Christians in Israel and Jerusalem, intolerance is becoming foreign Religious Matters

At first glance, last week is unacceptable attacking a French nun He was walking along a street in the east of Jerusalem that was filled with people and arrived without warning. However, for the approximately 180,000 Christians living in Israel – and the approximately 10,000 Christians living in East Jerusalem – the attack is the latest in a series of acts of violence, beatings, and threats that the community says has increased in line with Israel’s right-wing turn.

Although the incidents of violence and heat attract attention, the low-level incidents of spitting, swearing, and derogatory writings have become a daily experience for many Christians in the region – many of them Palestinian – contributing to the desire of almost half of all religious groups under the age of 30 to leave.

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Israeli officials were quick to condemn the nun’s attack, calling it “disgusting” and “out of place” in Israeli society. A man has been arrested again, following the arrest of Israeli soldiers accused of desecrating a Christian statue in southern Lebanon last month.

But in the end, trust in Israel is very low, and much of what is going on is not being reported, experts say.

Christians in Israel and east of Jerusalem have been present in this area for over 2,000 years. But now they find themselves being attacked by the Israelis, for following their faith.

According to the religious freedom data center (RFDC), in the first three months of this year, Christians have reported 31 incidents of abuse, most of which involved spitting or destroying church property. Last year, experts at the non-denominational Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue tracked 113 known attacks on people and church property in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, including 61 attacks that mostly targeted religious leaders such as monks, nuns, priests, and priests.

“It has really increased in the last three years,” said Hana Bendcowsky, director of programs at the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations.

“For the last three years, the political climate in Israel – where there is not much concern about how the world sees us – has made people feel free to persecute Christians,” Bendcowsky said. “Israel’s isolationism, and lack of concern about the international situation, is also reflected in the way the Israeli Government has reacted to the incident. in Gaza and the south of Lebanon.”

The rise of nationalism

Israel’s shift toward ultranationalism, particularly in relation to Palestinian policy, has intensified under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under his leadership, right-wing voices that were once on the fringes of Israeli society were absorbed into its hearts, and now play public roles.

Fueled by a sense of impunity, a study by the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue last year found that it was the Orthodox and Israeli nationalists who were responsible for most of the violence against Christians.

“Hatred and attempts to harass non-Jews and other things, especially the settlers, cannot be tolerated,” Rabbi Arik Ascherman, a peace activist in Israel, told Al Jazeera. “So, everything from spitting, torture, and taunting, to the government’s efforts to prevent churches from bringing workers and religious leaders from abroad … is part of the reality here.”

Bendcowsky said that “the difficulty of Jewish-Christian relations began long ago.”

“Although some churches have begun to reexamine their attitudes toward Jews and Judaism and have begun a process of healing, this has not yet happened among Israeli Jews,” he said. “In education, the main goal is the persecution of Jews, so not being familiar with Christians, along with remembering the history of Christianity, is bad.

Incidents are rarely reported, researchers say, with concerns about foreign visas, or a reluctance to draw attention to the issue, mixed with a general lack of confidence in the government to take action.

Bendcowsky said: ‘There is a lack of trust in the police, and I think that this causes many crimes to go unreported,’ Bendcowsky said.

Loss of support

High-profile international criticism of the attacks on Christians and Christianity, especially those coming from Israeli officials in the United States, has prompted a swift response from the Israeli government.

After footage of Israeli soldiers destroying a Christian statue in southern Lebanon sparked international outrage, Israel’s prime minister’s office said. quickly spread his own criticism. And in March, following disagreements with many world leaders, including the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, after the Israeli police prevented the Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the government’s apology and “explanation” were quick to come. But the Israeli army is attacking Christian churches in Gaza and Lebanon are only accepted when international and especially US sympathy for Israel can be compromised.

In Israel, Christianity is often associated with the Palestinians – so it is perhaps inevitable that as Israel becomes more unrepentant in killing Palestinians and taking their land, Palestinian Christians and other Christians in the region will not be spared.

Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an Israeli expert at Atlas Global Strategies, said he has noticed that the intolerance of Christians is increasing. He said that along with Israel’s violence in Gaza and the rest of the region, this is contributing to Israel’s growing popularity around the world and in the US, and making it difficult for Israel’s Christian followers to support the country and the way their fellow religions are treated on the ground, a problem they have been ignoring for years.

‘In the long run, the attack on Christians is huge,’ Ben-Ephraim told Al Jazeera.

“Older preachers may be forgiving, but young people have already started to rebel against Israel,” he said. “This is destroying the little support (Israel) has left. So, when today’s leaders like (United States President Donald) Trump and Huckabee will pretend that this is not happening, it will shape a whole generation of religious Christians in a way that Israel has not even begun to imagine.”