Israeli attacks against Christians increasing in Al-Quds
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The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Al-Quds tells AP that Israeli settlers have increased their attacks against the 2,000-year-old Christian community.
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A damaged statue of Jesus in the Church of the Flagellation in Al-Quds on Thursday, February 2, 2023. (AP)
In an interview, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land warned that the emergence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right administration has made life more difficult for Christians in the birthplace of Christianity.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the influential Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch, told The Associated Press that the region's 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with "Israel's" most right-wing government further emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at an alarming rate.
Speaking from his office during Easter week, Pizzaballa said, “These people feel they are protected … that the cultural and political atmosphere now can justify, or tolerate, actions against Christians.”
"Israel" constantly alleges that it has a commitment to religious freedom of worship and relations with the churches, however, constant attacks on Muslim and Christian holy sites in Palestine tell a different tale.
Moreover, the Israeli occupation forces regularly storm Al-Aqsa Mosque and attack Palestinian worshippers.
Christians in Al-Quds say they don't believe Israeli authorities protect their sites from targeted attacks.
Netanyahu's far-right administration includes settlement leaders in prominent positions, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have criminal convictions dating back to 2007 for inciting anti-Arab hatred and supporting a Jewish terrorist group.
Their power has aided Israeli settlers seeking to establish Jewish control over the occupied West Bank and east Al-Quds, alarming church leaders who see such efforts – including the occupation's plans to establish a national park on the Mount of Olives – as a threat to the Christian presence in the holy city.
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Father Don Binder, a pastor at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral, believes there is an attempt to Judaize the Old City and other lands and says nothing is holding back Israeli settlers from doing so.
According to Yusef Daher of the Inter-Church Center, a body that coordinates various faiths, 2023 is shaping up to be the worst year for Christians in a decade.
Physical attacks and harassment of clergy are unreported far too often. The Inter-Church Center has documented at least seven major acts of church property destruction from January to mid-March, a significant rise over the six anti-Christian crimes reported in all of 2022.
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Hosam Naoum, a Palestinian Anglican bishop, touches a damaged grave where vandals desecrated more than 30 graves at a historic Protestant Cemetery in Al-Quds on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. (AP)
“This escalation will bring more and more violence,” Pizzaballa said. “It will create a situation that will be very difficult to correct.”
In March, two Israelis stormed the basilica next to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Virgin Mary is believed to be buried, and attacked a priest with a metal rod.
The violence is not exclusive to Israelis. In February, an American Jew threw a 10-foot statue of Jesus and smashed it on the floor, demanding that there should be "no idols in the holy city."
Priests of various denominations have reported being followed, spit on, and attacked on their way to church. Father Aghan Gogchian, chancellor of the Armenian Patriarchate says most incidents go unpunished by police.
Settler attacks on Palestinians increased lately over Orthodox Easter, with Israeli authorities imposing stringent quotas on the hundreds of pilgrims trying to attend the "Holy Fire" ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Authorities restricted Saturday's celebration to 1,800 participants, citing safety worries about flaming torches being forced through enormous crowds in the chapel.
On Wednesday, priests claimed religious discrimination after witnessing police open gates wide for Jews celebrating Passover, which this year coincided with Easter.
These days, Bishop Sani Ibrahim Azar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Al-Quds says he is at a loss for words when his congregation asks why they should pay the high expense of living in the Holy Land.
“There are things that make us worry about our very existence,” he explained. “But without hope, more and more of us will leave.”
