During the week covered by this review, we received 16 articles on the following subjects:
Christians in Israel
The Pope and the Vatican
Anti-Missionary Attitudes
Jewish-Christian Relations
Christians in Israel
Yediot Ahronot; Israel Hayom; Haaretz (English and Hebrew); HaModia; Globes; The Jerusalem Post, January 18; The Jerusalem Post, January 21; Yediot Yerushalayim, January 22, 2016
Graffiti reading “Death to the heretic Christians enemies of Israel,” “Christians to hell,” and other hate speech statements was sprayed on the walls of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Latin Patriarchate has issued a statement, saying, “The graffiti is not only against Jesus Christ, but calls for slaughter of Christians…. How long will this vandalism go on?” The Yediot Yerushalayim article emphasizes the abbey’s bitterness and fear; Father David Neuhaus of the Latin Patriarchate, speaking about persecution against Christians in general, said, “I try to calm the young people who want to respond, since I don’t believe in violence as an answer, but on the other hand I don’t know how much longer we can be restrained.”
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, referring to the act in the weekly cabinet meeting, said, “This is an action deserving of every condemnation. . . . Israel is a place where Christians and all other religions enjoy freedom of worship.” Gilad Arden, minister of internal security, condemned the act as well, saying, “We will let no one undermine the coexistence between religions in the State of Israel.” The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee have also condemned the act.
The Police Nationalist Crimes Unit, having been instructed to give precedence to this investigation, arrested two teens on January 17, on suspicion of having committed the crime, and they have been remanded by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.
The Pope and the Vatican
Maariv, January 17; Yediot Ahronot; Israel Hayom; Haaretz (English and Hebrew), January 18, 2016
On Sunday, January 17, Pope Francis visited the Great Synagogue in Rome. During his visit the pope denounced all forms of religious violence, and particularly all forms of anti-Semitism. He called Jews “Christians’ elder brothers” and joined a standing ovation to honor Holocaust survivors in the audience. Rome’s chief rabbi, Shmuel Riccardo di Segni, said, “The visit will give continuity to the honorable relations between Jews and Catholics and those of the people of Israel represented in Rome.” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein was present as well, and thanked the pope for his efforts “to promote Jewish-Christian relations.”
This is the third time a pope has visited the synagogue, following Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1986 and Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in 2010.
Anti-Missionary Attitudes
Ashdod BaKotarot, January 13, 2016
Some residents in Ashdod have issued protests through their public representatives against a planned missionary center, saying that its purpose is to covert Jews to Christianity. The fact that the group in question has moved from a relatively “modest” building to a large facility of hundreds of square meters “shows their intention of holding mass prayer services,” states journalist Israel Ohayon. Ohayon penetrated the facility and was told that its purpose was “helping those in need.” Yogev Cohen, “a religious expert who has worked opposite societies of those preaching Christianity,” added that that is true, but that “after the hearts of the needy have been won, the visits become a time for New Testament study with a view to conversion.”
Jewish-Christian Relations
Mash’abim, January 15, 2016
The pension fund of the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the US has announced that it is withdrawing its funds from five Israeli banks “which support Israel’s policies in the territories” (see previous Media Review). However, it will continue to invest in some 18 other Israeli companies whose policies line up with its views. The five banks are part of a list of 39 companies worldwide which, according to The New York Times, the UMC considers to be below the necessary human rights preservation standard. The Kairos group within the Methodist denomination considers this to be a victory for the BDS movement, and declared that they will act to broaden the decision at the denomination’s next conference in May