"Spitting" has become an everyday occurrence. As anti-Christian hatred targeting clergy, nuns, and churches spreads across Jerusalem in Israel, concerns are growing. On the ground, some point out that this is not merely deviant behavior but a structural problem rooted throughout society.
"Spitting on Christians"…Hatred Becomes Everyday in Jerusalem
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 3rd, acts of hatred targeting Christian clergy, churches, and monasteries have noticeably increased in Jerusalem, Israel, recently, mainly among young Jewish people.
Spitting and insulting behavior that in the past occurred sporadically among some individuals is now being repeatedly witnessed around the Old City of Jerusalem and near cathedrals. East Jerusalem, where holy sites of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are concentrated, is a place where believers of various religions and tourists come and go, but recently it has emerged as a center of religious conflict.
A representative example is the "Jerusalem Day" event held on May 14. On that day, as thousands of young Jewish people marched through the Old City, at least 12 spitting incidents were confirmed around the Armenian Apostolic Church cathedral alone.
Jerusalem Day is a day commemorating Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem through the "Six-Day War" in 1967. A large-scale march is held every year, and Palestinian residents take it as a provocation, with tensions repeatedly recurring.
At the scene at the time, teenagers reportedly knocked on the cathedral doors to check whether Christians were inside, then said they were "going to spit on Christians." They claimed that insulting Christians by calling them "idolaters" was a Jewish religious duty called "Mitzvah," and one teenager even said, "We must hate them."
Clergy: "There Is Not a Day I Am Not Spat On"…Far-Right Minister: "An Ancient Custom"
Experts warn that such behavior has gone beyond the level of mere pranks and is becoming established as a structural hate crime.
According to the "Religious Freedom Data Center," established by Israeli scholar Yisca Harani, there were 107 anti-Christian incidents in Israel in the first half of this year. This is more than double the figure for the same period in 2024.
Most of the incidents occurred in and near the Old City of Jerusalem, and in addition to spitting, they have appeared in various forms, including hate speech such as "Death to Christians," dumping garbage at monasteries, threats and assaults against clergy and nuns, and the destruction of religious symbols such as crosses and statues of the Virgin Mary.
Harani told the WSJ, "Anyone who is identifiable as a Christian is being targeted," criticizing that "the number of religious Jews carrying out such behavior is increasing, but the Israeli authorities are not taking this seriously."
Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the Dormition Abbey of the Virgin Mary on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, also lamented that the situation has greatly deteriorated. He said, "When I came to Jerusalem in 2000, spitting was rare, but now there is hardly a day when I am not spat on," arguing that hate acts have been effectively left unchecked since the influence of far-right forces grew.
The criticism is also directed at the Israeli government. In particular, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, when he was a lawyer in 2017, claimed that spitting on Christians was "a Jewish custom that has continued since ancient times." Even in 2023, after taking office as minister, he stirred controversy by making remarks to the effect that such acts are not subject to criminal punishment.
Local religious communities and human rights groups are concerned that attacks targeting Christians are becoming even more routine as the government fails to properly sanction the hate acts of extremist forces.
