Israel’s Tourism Ministry convened a forum regarding a series of cases of harassment and attacks directed at Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday.
The forum covered the overall state of the tourism industry in the Old City of Jerusalem – with a specific focus on the recent spike in harassment of Christians in the area.
Tourism Minister Haim Katz brought the Tourism Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, Israel Police, the Israel Jerusalem Development Authority, the East City Development Company, and the Old City Reconstruction and Development Company together to participate in the forum.
"Every tourist who comes to Israel becomes our ambassador, and therefore we are committed to providing a unique and high-quality experience,” said Tourism Ministry Director-General Danny Shahar, who participated in the forum. “Only with the help of cooperation and combining forces will we be able to eradicate the illegal and ugly phenomena against tourists."
Harassment of Christians in Jerusalem
Numerous attacks by extremist Jews on Christians or Christian sites have been reported thus far in 2023. For instance, 30 graves at a Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem were vandalized in January this year, while two Jewish men attacked a bishop and two priests during Mass at the Church of Gethsemane in March.
“Definitely there has been an increase—in the last year, a very high increase—in all types of violence, spitting, attacks on sites, provocations,” Farid Jubran, general counsel of the Catholic Church's Custody of the Holy Land, told The Media Line in early August.
"The State of Israel allows freedom of religion and worship for everyone. I strongly condemn any harm to a tourist or to a Christian religious symbol,” Katz declared at the forum. “This is a despicable phenomenon that is contrary to the values of Judaism – the great rule of which is to love your neighbor as yourself,” he continued.
NICOLE JANSEZIAN/THE MEDIA LINE contributed to this report.