Why did a random man physically assault a Catholic nun on the streets of Jerusalem a couple of days ago?
Apparently, Israel is increasingly becoming hostile towards Christians. Will Christians become as endangered as the Palestinians during the reign of Netanyahu?
Historically, Israel has been at loggerheads with Palestinians, who are not only Arab but also predominantly Muslim. However, now Israel seems to be increasingly hostile to Christians as well.
Recently, a nun walking along a street in Jerusalem was shamefully assaulted.
Horrific Scene of a Man Kicking a Nun
A few days ago, a video was posted online, and it has caused a great hue and cry. In the video, a man can be seen kicking a nun walking along a street in Jerusalem. No one can tell how far the assault would have escalated had another man not hurried to intervene.
The video is said to have been released by the Israeli police. The attacker, said to be Jewish, is seen meeting with the nun. Once past the nun, the man turns back and pushes the nun forcefully and dangerously, and she falls on her face.
The man then continues on his way, leaving the nun struggling to collect herself. He then turns and sees the nun trying to get up. He rushes back and begins to kick her. It took the intervention of a well-meaning man to salvage the situation. He physically confronted the attacker and saved the nun from further assault.
Is Israel becoming More Fundamentalist?
It appears that Israel is turning more fundamentalist by the day, keeping Christians on edge. The world cannot resist comparing the apparent hostility towards Christians to the bloody conflict that has been going on in Gaza during the tenure of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is a member of the Likud Party, Israel’s Conservative Party. The party believes in a “greater Israel”, which entails the physical expansion of the Jewish territory.
Israel is predominantly a Jewish state, with over 70% of the Jews professing Judaism. The Christians in Israel form slightly less than 2%, while Muslims form around 18%. Yet the different faiths have co-existed for many years without problems.
All of them have a special place for Jerusalem and have been honoring the holy sites in their own ways. However, that respectful co-existence seems to be changing. Besides random attacks on Christians, there was the Easter incident that drew international condemnation.
Israeli soldiers barred two prominent Catholic clergy from accessing a church within one of Jerusalem’s holy sites. International pressure caused Prime Minister Netanyahu to intervene and allow the clergy access to the church. The two wanted to pray at the holy site.
Reasonable Israeli Leaders
Not every Israeli leader is as extremist and stubborn as Netanyahu and some Conservative Party members. For example, not many have advocated for the annexation of Lebanon the way Netanyahu and his sycophants are currently doing.
As the war against Iran continues, Netanyahu has been trying to seize the southern part of Lebanon to bring it under Israeli control.
Israel has had more reasonable leaders in the past. One of them is Ariel Sharon, who was Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. Sharon was once an extreme right-wing, almost like Netanyahu, but he later changed.
Before leaving office, he formed the Kadima Party and advocated for Palestinian recognition. That position came with the proposition that some reasonable land size be left for Palestinians to occupy by right. Essentially, he advocated the `coexistence of the two states, Israel and Palestine.
This means that Sharon appreciated the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, through which the Palestinian Authority, hence Palestinian statehood, was established.
Through these accords, three Middle Eastern leaders shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize. The historic progress they facilitated in their efforts to create peace between the Israelis and Palestinians was recognized.
One of the three leaders was Yitzhak Rabin of the Labor Party. Another was Shimon Perez, a statesman who joined the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) through the Mapai Party, then switched to Labor, before joining Sharon in the Kadima Party. Finally, there was the indomitable Yasser Arafat of Palestine.
Israel is becoming Less Popular.
Israel is slowly losing the sympathy it had from across the world. Incidents such as refusing a Catholic cardinal access to the Sepulcher Church can only be alienating.
Violent acts, too, against Christians, serve to alienate Israelis and Jews in particular from the rest of the communities. This is a dangerous trend as it can provoke ugly scenes abroad where Jews are a minority.