Interior Minister denounces incidents of Jews spitting at Christian clergy

AP Worldstream
Oct 12, 2004

ADAM REYNOLDS

Israel’s interior minister reacted with “revulsion” Tuesday to
incidents of Jews spitting at Christian clergy in the Old City of
Jerusalem.

In the most recent case, a Jewish seminary student spat at an
Armenian archbishop carrying a cross in a procession on Sunday,
police said. A fistfight broke out, and the cross was damaged. The
student was arrested.

Tensions are always high in the walled Old City, divided among
Christians, Jews and Muslims. The Old City contains important holy
sites of all three religions, and some are contested among competing
religions and denominations.

Israeli media quoted the student as saying he spat at the Armenian
cleric as a protest against “idol worship.”

Police spokesman Gil Kleiman said that last such case handled by
police was more than two years ago, but Christian clergy complain of
frequent harassment.

In a strongly worded statement, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz
expressed “revulsion at repeated incidents of harassment by Jews
against Christian clergy in Jerusalem,” mentioning the Sunday incident.

Poraz said that such behavior by ultra-Orthodox Jewish students is
“intolerable.” He added, “We must take all the necessary steps to
prevent this,” and asked the internal security minister, in charge
of police, to take action.

Armenian officials charged that Israeli authorities were not doing
enough.

“When there is an attack against Jews anywhere in the world, the
Israeli government is incensed, so why when our religion and pride
are hurt, don’t they take harsher measures?” said Archbishop Nourhan
Manougian to the Haaretz daily.

Christian clergy have also complained about their treatment by Israeli
authorities. Catholic officials said in April that visa requests for
138 clergy had been held up, and Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah said
it was an issue of survival for the church.

Most of the affected clergy were from Arab countries, church officials
said. Israeli officials explained the delays by citing security.