Anti-Christian incidents in Israel have nearly doubled in the last three months, according to the Religious Freedom Data Centre (RFDC).
The data shows that from April to June this year there were 83 incidents of harassment against Christians in Israel, up from the 44 reported between January and March.
The RFDC said its data made a distinction between violence and harassment.
In both quarters the majority of harassment took the form of spitting either at or on Christians, clergy and holy places. There were 47 incidents of spitting (56% of total incidents) in the most recent quarter, compared with 22 incidents of spitting in the first quarter.
Most of the victims were monks, nuns and other clergy. A group of Russian pilgrims were also reportedly spat at.
While many of the alleged perpetrators were children or teenagers, on some occasions families were involved and in one instance an American Jew.
This quarter there were eight instances of verbal assault (up from two last quarter), six instances of threatening behaviour, four physical assaults and five instances of people throwing rubbish into Christian property.
In one of the incidents, a Jewish man charged into a nun, knocking her to the ground and injuring her.
In both quarters the majority of incidents occurred in Jerusalem. The apparent spike is believed to be linked to Jerusalem Day and Shavuot Holiday, both of which occur in May and account for the highest number of incidents in a single day (eight and seven respectively).
Jerusalem Day marks Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, which ended with it gaining complete control over Jerusalem, while Shavuot traditionally marks the day Moses received the Law from God at Mount Sinai.
In their report, the RFDC said of the prevalence of spitting, “In recent years, these acts have increasingly taken place openly, in broad daylight, and at times in a deliberately demonstrative manner.
“In several cases, perpetrators even explained … why they believed such behaviour was justified. Among the reported incidents were parents who spat and shouted insults in front of their children, while encouraging them to behave similarly.”
The report added that many Israeli school children have little or no understanding of the Christian presence in the country. As a result when they go on school trips and encounter Christian locations and individuals, they often act with hostility.
