Spitting on Christians officially condoned by Israhelli government

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Israel Foreign Ministry to boycott event focused on spitting attacks against Christians
https://theuglytruth.xyz/israel-foreign-ministry-to-boycott-event-focused-on-spitting-attacks-against-christians/

The Israeli Foreign Ministry will boycott a conference in Jerusalem next week that will focus on the growing wave of violent attacks by Jewish Israelis against Christians in Jerusalem, according to the organizers and Israeli Foreign Ministry officials.

Why it matters: It's a highly unusual decision. Israel's Foreign Ministry is the main government agency tasked with strengthening relations with the Christian world and Israel's ties with the different churches.

The current Israeli government — the most right-wing in the country's history — includes far-right and ultranationalist ministers who have expressed Jewish supremacist views. Some of the supporters of these far-right parties are also known for their anti-Christian activities.

The attacks — and the government's response — could also impact Israel's relationship with the Christian evangelical community, which Israeli governments, including the current one, have seen as a base of political support, particularly in the U.S.

Driving the news: In recent months, there has been a growing trend of attacks and harassment, including spitting and vandalism, by ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist religious Jews against Christian nuns, priests, and pilgrims in Jerusalem.

Last Sunday, dozens of Israeli ultranationalist religious activists, including Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, demonstrated against a Christian prayer event for pilgrims near the Western Wall.

Many of those who attended the event were evangelicals who prayed for Israel.

Ultranationalist activists spat at the pilgrims, cursed them and some pushed them. According to the Haaretz newspaper, King said at the demonstration that Christians should have freedom of worship only inside their churches.

State of play: The Israeli government has largely remained silent on the attacks. The Foreign Ministry tweeted on Monday condemning 'any violation of freedom of religion and worship in Jerusalem' without specifically referring to the violent demonstration the day before.

Emmanuel Nahshon, deputy director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for Public Diplomacy, tweeted last month a condemnation of the spitting attacks against Christians but then several hours after posting the tweet, he deleted it.

Israeli officials told Axios that the tweet was deleted on orders from the foreign minister's office due to domestic political sensitivities with the ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties in the coalition.

In response to the attacks, Yisca Harani, one of Israel's leading experts on Christianity who has advised the Foreign Ministry in the past, organized an academic conference in Jerusalem.

The conference, which is scheduled to take place in Jerusalem on June 16, is titled, 'Why do Jews spit on Gentiles?'

Harani told Axios she invited the heads of churches, foreign diplomats and representatives of Israeli government ministries and the Jerusalem municipality.

'I got a call from a Foreign Ministry official who told Axios that the name of the conference is inappropriate and, therefore, they are not going to attend' the event, she said.

Harani said other government ministries also got cold feet and haven't confirmed their participation. 'It is clear to me that this boycott is a policy that comes from the top,' she stressed.

What they're saying: An official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry said domestic political sensitivities played a role in the decision not to attend the conference.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the decision not to attend was made due to the one-sided nature of the conference and its title. 'This decision has nothing to do with politics,' the statement said.

The big picture: High-level clergy in Jerusalem have blamed, at least in part, the far-right government, which includes ultranationalist ministers, for the growing wave of attacks.

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said in an interview with an Italian newspaper in March that unlike in the past, he doesn't have access to Israeli government ministers and has to speak to low-level officials. He said the reason is that some ministers don't want to upset their political base.

Nikodemus Schnabel, who presides over the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition in Jerusalem, told the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that attacks against Christians have increased because 'those who hate Christians now sit in the government.'

[i[Source:  Axios   https://www.axios.com/2023/05/31/israel-jewish-spitting-attacks-christians-nuns-foreign-ministry[/i]




Israel Boycotts Conference on Harassment of Christians in Jerusalem
"Why do Jews spit on Gentiles?" That's the name of the upcoming conference. And organizers wonder why the government won't participate.
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/israel-boycotts-conference-on-harassment-of-christians-in-jerusalem/

Israel's Foreign Ministry has decided to boycott a conference dealing with the increasing harassment of Christians in Israel by Jews. This raised some eyebrows given the increasingly warm relations between the Israeli government and Christians around the world, in particular Evangelicals.

Several instances of Christians in Jerusalem being harassed by ultra-Orthodox Jews and right-wing extremists have been heavily highlighted in local and international media in recent months. Most involve Christian clergymen or nuns being spat on by young ultra-Orthodox in the narrow alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City. There were also acts of vandalism against churches, monasteries and other Christian symbols.

See:
Churches Complain: Jews Are Spitting at Christians in Jerusalem  https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/churches-complain-jews-are-spitting-at-christians-in-jerusalem/
Why Are Jews Attacking Christians in Jerusalem? https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/why-are-jews-attacking-christians-in-jerusalem/

Just this week, a hundred or more religious Jews demonstrated against Christian "missionary activity" as a large group of Christian tourists arrived at the Southern Stairs of the Temple Mount to conclude the Isaiah 62 fast for Israel.

https://twitter.com/DanaBenShimon2/status/1662782152331739142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1662782152331739142%7Ctwgr%5Ea0c7d8c32d7816e59b1727fbdd017dd57fa4fcb0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.israeltoday.co.il%2Fread%2Fisrael-boycotts-conference-on-harassment-of-christians-in-jerusalem%2F

According to Walla News, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, complained earlier this year that he was having difficulty arranging meetings with ministers and senior officials in the new Israeli government. Instead, he was forced to speak to lower officials. The reason given was that some ministers did not want to upset their voters. Many of the lawmakers making up the new cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are ultra-Orthodox Jews or far-right religious nationalists, and both groups remain suspicious of Christian intentions for historical reasons.

The abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Jerusalem, Nikodemus Schnabel, also expressed concern over the situation. He explained that this was due to the fact that "Christian-haters" were now in government.

The report noted that in April of this year, the deputy director of public diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, Emmanuel Nachshon, deleted a tweet condemning attacks on Christians. It is believed that this was done at the direction of the foreign minister's office to address political sensitivities toward ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties in the governing coalition.

A few weeks ago, Yasaka Harani, a local expert on Christianity and Christian history who had also advised the Foreign Ministry on the issue, decided to hold a conference to address the matter. The conference is being titled "Why Jews Spit on Gentiles."

With a name like that, the Foreign Ministry said it simply can't participate.

But ministry officials did tweet that they remain committed to religious freedom for Christians and everyone else.

https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/1662892457170804741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1662892457170804741%7Ctwgr%5Ea0c7d8c32d7816e59b1727fbdd017dd57fa4fcb0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.israeltoday.co.il%2Fread%2Fisrael-boycotts-conference-on-harassment-of-christians-in-jerusalem%2F

Earlier in the week, opposition lawmaker and former Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana publicly apologized to visiting Christians for the behavior of a small number of misguided people, and stressed that Israel as a whole continues to see Christians as its greatest supporters.

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Nikodemus Schnabel, who presides over the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition in Jerusalem, told the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that attacks against Christians have increased because 'those who hate Christians now sit in the government.'




The abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Jerusalem, Nikodemus Schnabel, also expressed concern over the situation. He explained that this was due to the fact that "Christian-haters" were now in government. 

VIDEO: Israeli Official Orders German Abbot to Hide His Cross While Visiting Western Wall
https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63871

Viral video shows a Catholic German abbot being ordered by an Israeli official to hide his cross while visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1682110627396075520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1682110627396075520%7Ctwgr%5E63de6ef5a98d131f0e142f8290d08edd83998983%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.informationliberation.com%2F%3Fid%3D63871

From The Middle East Monitor, "Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli official asks priest to hide crucifix on visit to Western Wall":  https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230720-occupied-jerusalem-israeli-official-asks-priest-to-hide-crucifix-on-visit-to-western-wall/

An official at occupied Jerusalem's Western Wall asked a German Christian priest on Wednesday to hide his crucifix during a visit to the site, the Times of Israel has reported. Nikodemus Schnabel was accompanying Germany's Federal Education Minister at the time.

A reporter for German news outlet Der Spiegel filmed the incident and posted it on social media with an explanation of what happened.

Schnabel is the abbot of the Old City's Dormition Abbey. He was stopped by a woman who was said to be an employee of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the Haredi-dominated state-run body that administers the site, which is the western boundary wall of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa.

According to the Israeli daily, the footage shows the Israeli official telling the priest that the crucifix he was wearing was "really big and inappropriate for this place." She asked him to cover it up.

"This is very harsh," Schnabel replied. "You are not respecting my religion. You are hindering me from my human right. This is not a provocation. I am an abbot. This is my dress. The cross is part of my dress code. I am a Roman Catholic abbot. You want me not to dress according to my faith, that is the reality."

The visit eventually went ahead as planned. Schnabel, however, continued to complain about the incident on Twitter, calling it "not so nice" and blaming the hard-right Israeli government.

Schnabel told Israel's i24NEWS that he views the incident as "a minor thing" but what he finds more problematic is that he has had Jews in Israel spit on him and attack him verbally and physically for being a Christian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dIhBL9-k4w

Christian leaders in the Holy Land said earlier this year that they are being viciously persecuted, attacked, spat on and abused in Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right regime and authorities are doing little to nothing to hold their abusers to account.  https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63707

https://twitter.com/Timesofgaza/status/1646492005894180865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1646492005894180865%7Ctwgr%5E43f87b7181512fdd61c2ae20885876f25f7a1809%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.informationliberation.com%2F%3Fid%3D63871

In March, two influential members of Israel's Knesset introduced a bill to outlaw teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Israel and sentence violators to prison.  https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63650

Despite Israel's escalating human rights abuses and relentless attacks on Christians, our US Congress earlier this week welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog with open arms and fought among themselves over who could most slavishly show their allegiance to his foreign country.

https://twitter.com/AJCGlobal/status/1682096437092286464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1682096437092286464%7Ctwgr%5E43f87b7181512fdd61c2ae20885876f25f7a1809%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.informationliberation.com%2F%3Fid%3D63871