According to a report from Haaretz, a local Israeli reporter conducted an undercover investigation by posing as a priest in Jerusalem. The reporter, Yossi Eli from Channel 13, experienced multiple incidents of being spat at while walking the streets of Jerusalem alongside a Franciscan clergyman known as Father Alberto. The spitting incidents occurred shortly after the investigation began, with one involving a child and another involving a soldier. Haaretz highlighted that such attacks on Christians in Jerusalem are on the rise, but law enforcement authorities appear hesitant to pursue the perpetrators. The purpose of the reporter’s actions was to shed light on the increasing hate crimes against Christians in the city.
Union of Catholic Asian News reports:
A local Israeli reporter went undercover as a priest and was spat at several times while walking the streets of Jerusalem, Haaretz, the Israeli daily, reported.
Haaretz underlined that at a time when attacks on Christians in Jerusalem are rapidly increasing, police are reluctant to track down the perpetrators.
Channel 13’s Yossi Eli was first spat at just five minutes after setting out in the company of a Franciscan clergyman, who is identified by the paper as Father Alberto. Spitting incidents included one by a child and a soldier, as the reporter spent a day dressed as a priest in Jerusalem to investigate growing hate crimes against Christians in the city. Haaretz also reported that a man mocked them in Hebrew, saying, “Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.”
On June 15, a stained-glass window of the Cenacle, the traditional location of the Last Supper, was shattered by a rock thrown by unknown vandals.
It is one of many incidents of violence on Christian holy sites in Jerusalem that have increased in frequency and have practically become a daily occurrence, said the organizer of a June 16 conference, aimed at investigating these attacks from a religious, historical, legal and current events perspective.
Spitting on Christian clergy has become a common issue in the Holy Land and inspired the title of the conference, “Why Do (Some) Jews Spit on Gentiles,” which sparked controversy among Jews.
“According to statistics we have received since the Religious Freedom Data Center hotline was established a month ago, we can say there is a spitting attack every day,” said Yisca Harani, an independent researcher, lecturer and interfaith activist who initiated the conference.
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