Anti-Christian hate incidents in Israel have increased in the third quarter of this year, with many centred around an individual street in Jerusalem, says a research group.
According to the latest report from The Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC), there were 106 “acts of harassment” spread across 96 “incidents” during the period - the group states that some incidents included more than one type of harassment. This is up from 83 acts of harassment across 76 incidents in the second quarter, and 44 acts of harassment across 31 incidents in Q1.
The Q2 rise was attributed at the time to a surge in incidents on Israeli holidays Jerusalem Day and Shavuot.
In its latest report the RFDC again said that the holiday period typically brought more incidents of harassment against Christians in Jerusalem due to the presence of more Jewish visitors. The group also said that it was only thanks to volunteers for its Hotline for Christians facing harassment that it was able to record so many incidents. Many incidents likely go unrecorded.
By far the most common form of harassment was spitting, either at Christians themselves or their churches and buildings. In Q3 nearly three quarters of the acts of harassment (73 per cent) involved spitting.
“In informal conversations with clergy, we repeatedly hear the statement: ‘Not a week goes by without someone spitting at me.’ We therefore estimate that dozens of additional spitting incidents occur each month; without reporting, documentation, or action to counter them, such acts become established as a norm among perpetrators," the report says.
Far less frequent, but of considerable seriousness, were verbal abuse (eight per cent), throwing objects (four per cent), forms of vandalism (six per cent), threats (one per cent) and even physical assault (five per cent).
A majority (92 per cent) of recorded incidents occurred in Jerusalem, with 77 per cent of those happening in the Old City and 45 per cent taking place on Armenian Patriarchate Street.
Reports have consistently shown that Christian clergy and monastics are frequent targets, with perpetrators carrying out their actions without shame. In some cases parents have even encouraged their children to take part in the abuse.
The most recent report states, “In some cases, perpetrators justified their actions to RFDC volunteers - and on camera - as being consistent with religious injunctions.”
The report also stated that the situation appeared to be worsening and that many clergy go out in plain clothes in a bid to avoid harassment. This in turn contributes to the erasure of Christians as a visible presence in the public life of Israel, the report said.
"In the absence of visible representation of the Christian presence, we repeatedly encounter cases in which Jews, surprised to discover Christians in the city, react inappropriately," the report reads.
"The exclusion of the Christian presence from Jerusalem's public representation is a matter of concern, and responsibility for addressing it rests with the Jerusalem Municipality."
