JERUSALEM. «The Christian mission is worse than that of Hamas. Death to the missionaries. A missionary is a Nazi.” It was December 27th when this writing appeared on the wall of the Orthodox Christian cemetery on Mount Zion, in front of the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition. The abbey is located in a difficult place. Outside the gate of Zion, near the Cenacle, where according to tradition the Last Supper was celebrated. Here there is also the cenotaph of King David, with an adjoining synagogue and various Jewish religious schools, with the presence of many Haredim, Orthodox Jews, who see the presence of Christian places where the tomb of the “founder” is an affront. of Israel, of Jerusalem as the Jewish capital. This may be why the Dormition, its monks and its abbot are often the subject of episodes of violence.
The last one, Saturday evening. Dom Nikodemus Schnabel was returning to the abbey accompanied by a journalist when two young Orthodox men spat at him. He filmed everything, and the young people were identified and arrested by the police. The Latin patriarchate condemned the episode.
But the episodes of violence by Jews against Christians, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian, religious or pilgrim, in Jerusalem, not only in the old city, are numerous. Hana Bendcowsky is spokesperson for the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, which is also responsible for monitoring these episodes.
«We have been dealing with this kind of thing for over twenty years and we have noticed an increase in cases. We suspect that this has to do with the general atmosphere of the country which tends to slowly exclude or isolate anyone who is not Jewish. There is a general feeling of intolerance towards others and then also the idea that these kinds of acts are not punished.” For Bendcowsky, «the fact that there is a right-wing government with many extremists within it, many religious people, ministers who are the first to discriminate, gives people the idea of being able to act freely, demonstrating their intolerance without being afraid that something could happen.”
Responsible for these episodes of intolerance, from spitting to writing, from physical attacks on religious people and pilgrims to damage to church property, are both haredim and extremists, settlers. «The Jews – explains Bendcowsky – still work to fight anti-Semitism and the challenge is to live among Christians. Over time many things have changed but traditionally and from a religious point of view we do not see a change in the attitude of Jews towards Christians. Now the problem also on a theological level is to address the differences between Jews and Christians and understand that we must respect them.”
Often the Franciscans, who look after the holy places, are the subject of episodes of intolerance, such as when an American Jew with psychiatric problems broke a statue in the sanctuary of the Flagellation, on the Via Dolorosa, one of the most affected places. Or convents and churches near Orthodox neighborhoods are targeted. Those who wear religious signs are often subjected to spitting, insults or worse violence, such as throwing stones. A journalist, together with a Franciscan, walked the streets of the old city dressed in a habit a few months ago, having himself secretly filmed by an operator. He was subjected to spitting and other incidents. Right near the Dormition a young soldier spat at him, he undressed and blocked him. The police intervened and arrested the young man. The Israeli authorities have recently begun to condemn the incidents. “We think – explains Bendcowski – that in addition to the authorities reacting and punishing such episodes, the other important thing is to educate. If the majority of people publicly condemn, little by little there will be an atmosphere of delegitimization of these acts. And maybe these people will think twice before spitting or saying offensive things. The thought must be spread in the country that these are unacceptable things and in this way the authorities will also follow this path, the police will have to react in a more prompt and adequate manner and it must also be understood that these things damage the entire state of Israel and its relations with the Christian community. I imagine – concludes Hana – what would happen if there were a similar attack against Jews in a European country: the police, the governments, the authorities would react immediately. Here it is a different situation and requires more time and effort.”
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