Head of Jerusalem Churches Association says Israel responds to spitting on Christians only after videos spread online

On Monday, members of the Haredi community walked through the Old City of Jerusalem and spat at Christians who were holding a procession, according to the report. The incident took place while tens of thousands of Jews were attending events and prayers for the city’s Sukkot holiday. The report says both adults and children were among those present.

An activist at the Christian Church in Jerusalem told Israel Hayom that there is evidence of a long pattern of harassment, spitting and abusive behavior toward members of the Christian community in the city. In the activist’s view, Israeli authorities have underestimated the problem and have not taken meaningful steps to address it.

The activist said that official attention appears to follow public attention. “Only when there is a video on the internet, in Israel, do they begin to comment and show that they are referring to the issue,” the activist said. The activist added that many records of attacks against Christians already exist and questioned whether anyone truly cares about them.

Following the spitting video published in the past 24 hours, Dimitri Diliani, head of the Jerusalem Churches Association, told Israel Today that he believes “the cause of these cases is racism first.” He said the explanation that spitting on Christians is a religious practice is an attempt to provide religious justification for racist behavior. Diliani said that those who carry out such acts give religious cover to racism, and that Israeli society has a responsibility to address the matter. Honest accountability, he suggested, is essential, as the Scriptures teach that honest dealing is a matter of integrity (Proverbs 11:1).

Diliani also alleged that the people involved attend educational institutions supported by budgets from the Israeli government, and that no one holds them accountable and they are not punished. He stated that the Israeli government is the main sponsor of these institutions. These claims are the views of the church leader as reported and have not been independently confirmed in the source.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Hebrew)