'Condemn anti-Christian attacks,' Anti-Defamation League appeals to Jerusalem mayor

Open letter expresses 'deep concern over the ongoing abuse' of Christians

The Israeli branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion to publicly condemn attacks against Christians in an open letter published on Thursday.

The letter was authored by the ADL’s senior director for Israel and MENA, Carole Nuriel, who shared her “deep concern over the ongoing abuse of members of Jerusalem’s Christian community by a small group of Jews.”

Nuriel urged Lion to “condemn this anti-Christian phenomenon, just as we expect other leaders to condemn antisemitism wherever it occurs.”

She went on to talk about her meetings with Christian leaders, who described attacks against Christians as a “near-daily experience.” In her letter, Nuriel provided examples, such as the smashing of a window of the Room of the Last Supper (Cenacle), the disruption of the Isaiah 62 Fast prayer event near the Western Wall, the desecration of graves at a Protestant cemetery, among others.

Nuriel closed the letter by appealing to Lion to “make clear that anti-Christian animus has no place in this holy city. Doing so will help ensure that Jerusalem serves a multifaith, tolerant place, and remains as a model of shared living for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike.”

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King, a colleague of Lion, was involved in at least two incidents of protests against Christian and Messianic Jewish events.

In a recently publicized anti-Christian incident, a Western Wall official asked the German head of a monastery, Nikodemus Schnabel, to cover the cross he was wearing during his visit.

Two weeks ago, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen strongly condemned the perpetrators of attacks against Christians and churches in Israel, a phenomenon that has been rising these last few months.