Desperate plea for solidarity after violence erupts again in Jerusalem

AN urgent call for the Church worldwide to redouble efforts to stand in solidarity with the faithful of the Holy Land has come after the latest outbreak of violence in Jerusalem. 

Palestinian Christians were among those at risk when thousands of militant nationalists swarmed the Old City on Jerusalem Day (yesterday, 14th May), which marks the anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the sacred site and the annexation of the West Bank. 

 Shopkeepers in the Old City’s Christian and Muslim quarters were forced to close their businesses ahead of the parade, which is held each year.

A source close to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ) told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the marches have “increasingly become days marked by fear, tension, and insecurity rather than celebration”.

The LPJ contact said: “Every year during the celebrations linked to Jerusalem Day and the establishment of the State of Israel, tens of thousands of radical Israeli youth and nationalist groups enter the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City carrying Israeli flags and chanting political and nationalist slogans… 

“The annual marches, particularly those passing through the Muslim Quarter and areas surrounding the Christian Quarter, have repeatedly witnessed incidents of intimidation, verbal abuse, racist chants, attacks on shops, stone throwing, and physical aggression against residents, elderly people, clergy, and ordinary civilians simply attempting to move through the streets or reach their homes.” 

ACN’s source said that, although Israeli police deploy large security forces every year, the “increasingly radical atmosphere surrounding the marches often make effective control extremely difficult”.

The LPJ contact added: “For Christians living in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is home to 40 percent of the Christians of Jerusalem, the situation is especially painful. 

“The Christian Quarter has not been spared from harassment and intimidation. 

“Christian clergy, pilgrims, nuns, seminarians and local Christian families have increasingly reported incidents of verbal abuse, spitting, intimidation, and physical aggression in recent years.”

He added: “At this critical moment, the local Church urgently needs the solidarity and support of the universal Church worldwide.”

The LPJ contact emphasised the growing hostility faced by Christians in Jerusalem, highlighting an assault on a French nun near the Old City on 26th April, and said that many believe that the atmosphere “has worsened” compared to previous years. 

The source went on: “What was once viewed by some as isolated extremism is increasingly perceived as part of a broader climate of radicalisation and intolerance.”

He added: “Christian families increasingly question whether they can continue living in Jerusalem amid political instability, economic hardship, rising extremism and the gradual erosion of security and hope.”

Despite these hardships, the patriarchate’s source said the Church in the Holy Land continues its mission through schools, humanitarian programmes, pastoral care, healthcare assistance, job creation initiatives, and support for vulnerable families.

The LPJ source said: “The local Church remains one of the last major pillars preserving the Christian presence in the land of Christ.”

The contact said prayer remains essential but “prayer alone is not enough” and that more than ever “the Christians of the Holy Land need to know that they are not forgotten”.

The source added: “Concrete action is equally necessary if the Christian presence in the Holy Land is to survive and remain rooted in its homeland…

“If this presence weakens further, the loss will not belong only to the Christians of the Holy Land, but to the entire universal Church and to humanity as a whole.”