Yaska Harani and volunteers from the Religious Freedom Data Center at the entrance to the monastery in the Armenian Quarter (Photo: Yaron Weiss)
Every Jerusalem Day I stand at the Armenian Monastery, waiting for spitting. Where are the police?
By Yaron Weiss
Davar
During the flag march I saw countless harassment of Christians in the Old City, without effective enforcement. If they are not willing to change the route of the march, at least a clear message from politicians against violence, and a significant police force are needed.
When Israel’s leaders initiated the Jerusalem Day events, they did so to symbolize the city’s unity, but in recent years it seems that the traditional route of the flag parade has become a symbol of friction and division. Anyone walking around the Old City on this day sees a depressing sight: rows of shops and businesses owned by Muslims and Christians – all closed.
It has become a personal tradition for me: On Jerusalem Day, I stand in the presence of a guard on Armenian Patriarchate Street with Yaska Harani, director of the Religious Freedom Data Center, and other volunteers. At the entrance to the Armenian Monastery, the place most prone to attacks against Christians in the Holy Land. This is the main walking route along which marchers pass from the Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall.
Reports of the Data for Religious Freedom Data Center clearly show this.
For some reason this clear and worrying figure did not motivate the police chiefs to place a police force on the section of the street prone to disaster in front of the entrance to the Armenian monastery during the flag parade, despite the increased deployment in the Old City. The result was predictable: in the few hours that the marchers passed, countless incidents of spitting were documented. As part of the protective presence I found myself moving between my position at the entrance to the Armenian monastery and watching the cameras placed by the residents of the Armenian Quarter in a dedicated control center. A volunteer detected a spit, sent me an exact time and description – and I immediately set foot in the camera control center to identify the documentation of the incident. I transferred the videos documented at the control center to Harni, who filed complaints with the police. Complaints that are likely to be closed due to inability to locate the suspects.
If there was a policeman at the scene, the York (someone who spits) could be detained immediately, show him the cutting evidence from the camera control center and stop him. It would send a deterrent message to the rioters and an encouraging message to the victims. But the police, apparently, have other priorities. Damage to Christians in the country provides ammunition to the aggressive anti-Semites directed at non-Jews, even if done by a marginal minority among the marchers, proved that for many it is a day of exclusion of other religions and Jewish supremacy. I am concerned about the fate of Jerusalem as a city of the three religions, and anyone who is afraid of harming innocent people in the interfaith fabric of the city must be concerned. This is also disturbing in relation to the fate of Diaspora Jews – a minority in their countries, exposed to anti-Semitism – because what is happening here directly affects what is happening there.
These harassments are not just a criminal offense. They are a deep value crisis. They begin with education at home, in educational institutions and in the broad political climate. When ignored, we send a dangerous message to the world: how we, as a nation, allow ourselves to harm religious minorities, while Jews as a minority suffer similar attacks abroad. Ammunition for anti-Semites. The discussion focused on harassment of clerics and Christian pilgrims in the Old City, and their impact on manifestations of anti-Semitism in the world and on inter-religious dialogue. This discussion is necessary. The Data Center for Religious Freedom does a sacred work: systematic collection, documentation and constant push for treatment. Without them we would have known less and ignored more. But documentation alone is not enough. Determined enforcement, educational change and political leadership are required to say clearly: harming one who carries a cross or a monk’s robe is a desecration of heaven.
My hope is that in the next flag parade the march of the marchers will change so that they will not pass through the Nablus Gate and the Muslim, Christian and Armenian districts. If it is nevertheless decided to continue to maintain it in its current form, a significant police force must be placed at the entrance to the Armenian monastery and at other points of friction, in order to prevent harm to the religious institutions and non-Jewish residents of the Old City.
