Posted on 11/25/2014 12:40:49 PM PST by Enza Ferreri
We hear very little about the treatment of Christians in Israel.
Among the terrible persecution that Christians face in Muslim countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, Israel is usually portrayed as a beacon of tolerance where Christians are free to follow their faith without fear of being killed.
Everything is relative. Looking at what happens in Israel's neighbouring countries, where Christians are forced to convert to Islam, humiliate themselves by becoming second-class citizens and paying the extortionist jizya tax, die or flee, Israel may indeed seem a good place for them to live.
Israel has no policy of persecution against its Christian residents. They are part of a country that does not seek their physical destruction.
But, if we judge from a Western, rather than Middle Eastern, point of view, things may appear less rosy and Israel not the safe haven for Christians that it is fictionally depicted as.
Christianity is one of the recognised religions in Israel and, according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2011 over 161,000 Israeli citizens, 2.1% of the population, were Christian. About 80% of Christian residents of Israel are Arabs. Of the remainder, around 25,000 are Slavic Christians from the former Soviet Union who came to the country under the Law of Return, which has provided - at least until now - for Israeli citizenship if a person has a Jewish grandparent, and a smaller minority are Assyrians.
The Jerusalem Post and Charisma News report that Christians, despite their above-average level of education among the Israeli population, encounter major limitations when it comes to job opportunities and housing.
The employment rate for Christians is 54% : 63.8% for men and 45.3% for women. The national average is 75% and 66% respectively.
They are also victims of worse prejudice than that:
Another issue that worries the church is hate crimes against Christians, including vandalism of holy sites. Israeli police and authorities have worked with the church to reduce the number of hate crimes, but Pizzaballa says they are still prevalent.Messianic Jew Chaim Goldberg confirms that in Israel, where he lives, he found much ignorance about the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, and much hostility to the very mention of the name Yeshua (Jesus).“If you don’t denounce these issues when they happen, they will continue. We need to work on this,” he says.
The church’s concern for the “alarming level of ignorance about Christianity in Israel” is very real. Lutheran World Federation President Bishop Munib A. Youman—a Palestinian—says the Hebrew media propagates the bias and denounced travel restrictions for Christians from Bethlehem and Ramallah to Jerusalem.
“When I read in the Hebrew about Christianity, I wonder if I’m Christian,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
Negative feelings towards Christianity and in extreme cases hate of Christians are not uncommon among the Jewish population of Israel.
There have been many reports, as well as videos, of the intolerance displayed towards Christians and the attacks on churches and monasteries in Israel.
Although most Israeli politicians have spoken out against the mounting attacks on non-Jewish places of worship, a senior Vatican official recently accused the government of failing to respond adequately to protect Christian sites.Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Vatican's Custodian of the Holy Land, and fellow senior clergymen of other Christian denominations protested the failure of the police to identify the culprits behind the incidents.Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who as Custodian of the Holy Land is charged with overseeing Christian sites on behalf of the Vatican, also criticized an educational culture in Israel that he said encouraged Jewish children to treat Christians with "contempt".
Warning of a growing sense of persecution among followers of the faith, he said that life for many Christians in Israel was growing "intolerable".
Earlier this month the door of a famous Trappist monastery in the town of Latroun was set on fire, while earlier this year the 11th century Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem was also vandalised.
In both cases anti-Christian slogans reading "Death to Christians" and "Jesus is a monkey" were daubed across the buildings.
Although such incidents are the work of a minority, Christian clergymen who walk the winding streets of Jerusalem's old city say they are spat at and taunted by ultra-Orthodox Jews and their children on an almost daily basis.
But, they say, the most important issue is that Israel has failed to address the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools that teach children it is a doctrinal obligation to abuse anyone in Christian Holy Orders they meet in public.
In an unusually outspoken interview with Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, he denounced the failure of the political system to address blatantly anti-Christian acts, particularly those carried out by prominent radical politicians.Before and during Pope Francis' visit to the Holy Land in May this year, acts of aggression against Christian sites and symbols, abuses and threats by Jews became particularly frequent and intense.Earlier this year, Michael Ben Ari, an Israeli legislator, publicly ripped up a copy of the New Testament in the country's parliament, the Knesset, and threw it into a rubbish bin after denouncing it as an "abhorrent" book.
A second legislator called for Bibles to be burnt.
Although Mr Ben Ari was criticised by the Knesset's speaker, he faced no official sanction despite protests from the church.
"Such a serious thing occurs and no one does anything," Fr Pizzaballa said.
"In practice, it negates our existence here."
Christians are the innocent victims of the two warring factions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: they are the only ones who don’t use violence but are caught in the crossfire.
This subject is now topical, as the Israeli government has approved a controversial new bill declaring Israel to be a "Jewish state":
Israel is poised to pass one of the most divisive laws in its 66-year history, a bill that would declare it the homeland of the Jewish people only -- and further alienate its Arab minority.Whether the bill might or not have negative consequences for non-Jews, including Christians, will be explored in another article.Political infighting over the measure is already threatening to tear apart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition.
The legislation, which is seen as compromising equality by differentiating between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens in enshrining some symbolic rights to the Jewish people, could also have long-term practical ramifications for Israeli democracy and jurisprudence.
Well, as an Israeli who spent many years of my youth helping Christian tourist visit various spots in Israel, I have a very warm place in my heart for Christians. Nice people who sincerely love G-d.
I would note Christian Arabs have petitioned to be treated as a separate ethic group from Muslim Arabs and also to be subject to the draft. I am happy to have them aboard.
The “employment rate” data is somewhat misleading. Christians Israelis tend to be wealthier (tending toward the medical field for some reason), and their wives can afford to stay at home.
The “Messianic Christians” are defiantly a curious group. They have all the trappings of Orthodox Jews, but are Christians. They are often rather sneaky about who they are, which has led to some friction.
I would also note that Middle East Christians (contrary to Western Christians) are traditionally even more anti-Semitic than Muslims, in a weird sort of Stockholm Syndrome thing, as well a a remnant of Jewish-people-are-lower-socially-than-Christians situation in ME countries. Being in a country where this is inverted is bothersome. And, bluntly, Jews who fled Nazi/Christian persecution in Europe (yes, I know Nazis were not necessarily Christian, but they sure pretended to be) were not quick to forgive.
With native generations, the ways of the old worlds are going away — helped a lot by Russian immigrants who are generally mixed Christian/Jewish — so I think those old ways are going away.
Long way of saying, yes, Israel has assholes like everywhere else, and people bring their baggage with them, but things are OK, and getting better every day.
Yea right!!Israelis are burning churches a beheading Christians all over the place......what a crock!!
Since you are using your own blog as a source, then there is little objectivity to the subject matter.
1. Of course Jesus is not considered the son of God in Israel, as they are OLD TESTAMENT, and are still looking for the Messiah to come, and he will at Armaggedon to save his people, the Jews.
2. Christians are the adopted children of God, in the Bible NT, ‘whereby we cry ABBA, Father!” We are grafted into the vine.
3. Israel is promised to his people The Israelites, and Christians are Gentiles, not necessariy Jew. Then Jews who convert can be criticized for leaving the Torah law.
4. Israel leaders have promoted some Christian TV channels with written support, and working together to promote their friendship and ‘brotherhood’. Their understanding now about why Christians are favorable to Israel. Especially since ZERO Administration has shown an anti-Israel stance.
5. Christian Holy Sites are the same Holy Sites as Israel’s...so I don’t get the inference there.
6. This post seems divisive of Israel toward Christians, and that isn’t something Christians are supposed to be concerned about, as we know their belief and religious stance on the Torah and OT law....We are the adopted children, and we are grateful to God to be a part of his family.....God’s chosen family.
7. Christians with any sense know that God meant it when he said to ABRAHAM (ancestor of Jesus) and Father of Israel “those who bless you will I bless and those who curse you will I curse.”
Look around you, even in America, and any nation that turns their back on Israel is in big trouble with God.
WE are God’s family, whether we are Jew or Gentile Christian...sibling rivalry, be careful ‘blood is thicker than water!” Jesus blood.
The Rabbi Daniel Lapin used to have a great weekend show on KSFO in San Francisco —he has done SOOOOOOooo much to bring Jews and Christians together.
I don’t care if a dozen nasty liberal Jews have tarred you as a Nazi for loving Sarah Palin —he’s a GREAT guy and you’d love his show.
Alas, KSFO pulled the plug on this fantastic guy and now his show is relegated to the internet, somewhere.
:(
Good post!
Your posts are always great.
“... much hostility to the very mention of the name Yeshua (Jesus).”
This doesn’t surprise me, because the Jews understand something that most secularists, atheists, and even lukewarm Christians’ don’t get: Jesus was either the Messiah or a damnable heretic. There is no middle ground possible where he was simply a wise teacher or spiritual leader.
Now, the Jews don’t accept that Jesus was the Messiah, so their conclusion about him and their associated feelings about him make sense to me. I just think they are wrong in their assessment.
Jesus accepted, in person while on Earth, worship that any faithful Jew would have rejected as due to God alone. So, He presented Himself as God in deed, if not in word. If Jesus were not God, then that act was blasphemy punishable by death (which is exactly what the Pharisees concluded and demanded).
"The Father and I are One" - - ?
These are not things a good person, in his right mind, could say, if they were not true.
So it seems to me that Jesus is either God, or he is not good and sane. That is, He is either God or a god-da--ed blasphemer.
Great response! I lived in Israel for a few months a while ago and had a great time - wonderful country...good people.
Interesting question. Maybe the Italians had an "Eat more Pasta" campaign going.
The points are well taken. Anyone with anobjective mind knows that minority groups in Israel inevitably suffer some persecution, though small when compared to Arab states.
HOWEVER I reject the comparison to ‘the west’ which is massively ramping up the persecution of Christians, largely at the behest of babykillers and sodomites. Christians face way morepublic attacks by the media and government in the USA and UK than in Israel.
Thank you for your balanced perspective. I like what Enza Ferreri writes (she has informed me that her name is NOT a pseudonym based on Italian automaker Enzo Ferrari) but this article is a little breathless of her.
The Haredim are as likely to throw stones at Jewish women wearing miniskirts as at Christians; that’s ancient history.
There are jerks in every religion but Jews who fit that description aren’t into maniacal violence like Muslims. I’d rather be a Christian in Israel (with free access to the holy sites) than in anywhere & I mean anywhere else in the entire Middle East.
At least anti-Christian incidents in Israel are being earnestly discussed & condemned by Israeli politicians.
AAAaaand the chicks are HOT!!
There is a lot more to the story than just what he observed.
To start with, neither the Jews nor the Christians in Israel are “monolithic” in their sectarianism. That is, different Christian sects often have very bitter fights, usually over the management of holy sites, literally over square inches of territory, and minutes of use.
Likewise different Jewish sects despise other Jews. They form ghetto communities of just their sect where other Jews are not welcome. Likewise there is a continual fight between religious and secular Jews. Then there is yet another division, between politically leftist and conservative Jews.
However, both the Christians and the Jews rarely engage in murderous fights, unlike the Muslims.
And there are yet other twists. As he noted in his article, the majority of Christians in Israel are Arabs. But what he didn’t say was that they often align themselves, more or less, with the Muslim Arabs, against Israel.
“In 2009, there were an estimated 50,000 Christians in the Palestinian territories, mostly in the West Bank, with about 3,000 in the Gaza Strip. Of the total Christian population of 154,000 in Israel, about 80% are Arabs, many of whom also self-identify as Palestinian.”
The latest twist to this is that the Israeli government is trying to change the law.
“A recent Israeli government decision permits Palestinian Christians to designate themselves as ‘Arameans’ rather than as Arabs and they can thus enter the Israeli army.”
A commission of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land has denounced this, rather self-servingly, by saying “Israel does not need Christians who have deformed their identity, who position themselves as enemies of their own people and who become soldiers for war.”
Abraham never said he was “I Am”...God said that.
Hi. The quote I cited was, “Before Abraham came to be, I AM’ That was said by Jesus Christ (John 8:58). Jesus Christ is God.
Okay.
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