For the first time, a public campaign has emerged within the ultra-Orthodox and national Haredi communities in Jerusalem against the harassment of Christian clergy and pilgrims. Ahrale Friedman, a resident of Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, hung signs throughout the Old City on the eve of the Passover holiday calling on the public to avoid friction, spitting, or other offensive behavior toward Christians.
The signs and pamphlets cite rulings from leading rabbinical authorities who have condemned such actions as forbidden and a desecration of God's name. "We must uphold the honor of our Torah as sons of Abraham, who welcomed idol worshippers into his tent," one pamphlet stated.
Video: Haredi Jews accost Christian pilgrims / Use under section 27a of Israel's intellectual property law
This rare public outcry comes after an incident last October that sparked outrage when a video circulated showing a group of Haredi youth spitting on Christian pilgrims and calling out "Yuck" as they passed through the Old City's Lions' Gate. The incident drew across-the-board condemnation from Israel's political ranks.
The pamphlets quote Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman, an influential member of the rabbinical advisory panel steering coalition party United Torah Judaism, saying "We must protest with all our might" against spitting incidents, which he labeled a "desecration of God's name." Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar also denounced spitting at non-Jews as "completely forbidden."
"Spitting and insulting others will not help us and may even harm global support for the [Gaza] war," the pamphlet warned. It expressed regret that "wicked people" have seized on such videos to attack Jews abroad and spread antisemitism.
