Anti-Christian Sentiment and Persecution in the Holy Land
Ever since the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, the West has been constantly exposed to the rise of anti-Semitism. While this is tragic, equally displeasing has been the increase of Christian persecution in the Holy Land at the hands of Israeli nationals.
One would think in the State of Israel, the only country in the Middle East where democracy reigns, our Christian brothers and sisters would be free from any religious hatred. Yet, under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the exercise of individual freedom has subtly and steadily been curbed for those who are not Jewish.
Christians have seen a “disturbing rise” in attacks, including spitting, physical harassment, damage to property and cemeteries, and disruption of services, especially in the Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. Last year, for instance, of the acts of violence against Christians that made headlines were the desecration of the Protestant cemetery at Mount Zion and the vandalization of a statue of Jesus inside the Franciscan Church of the Flagellation on Via Dolorosa. This year, the most notable incident occurred on February 3, when Fr. Nikodemus Schnabel, Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition, was attacked by two young Jewish nationalists.
In July 2015, after the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes was severely damaged by a fire set by Jewish fundamentalists—for which one Jew was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison—Christians still enjoyed some sort of protection from Israeli state officials.
Now, however, as Fr. Schnabel said,
We monks have to live under a government, one of whose members is an extreme Christian hater. I want to make this very clear: Th
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