Harassment in the Holy Land
Playback speed
Christian pilgrims have been visiting Jerusalem and the Holy Land for centuries, trying to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. But in recent years, there has been a disturbing rise in incidents of harassment and abuse against Christians by Jewish Israelis. Some pilgrims have been spat on in the street and Christian graveyards have been desecrated. And it is not solely foreign visitors – Christians who live in Israel have also reported a worrying uptick in hostility, mostly from some within the Haredi or ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. In this week’s show we try to find out what is driving this trend, and how its small Christian minority could respond well amidst the complexities of religious populism and competing histories of persecution.
Guests this week:
- Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College in Jerusalem
- Faydra Shapiro, director of the Israel Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations
- Francis Martin, reporter at the Church Times
Read Francis’s report for the Church Times here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/4-august/news/world/christians-face-harassment-on-via-dolorosa
Released on 25 Sep 2023
Coming up next
What are our vicars really thinking?
Mostly, we can only guess what clergy in the Church of England think about any number of hot button issues, but last month The Times conducted a fascinating survey of 1,200 serving vicars, rectors and curates. For the first time in about a decade, we...
21st Century Martyrdom
“Martyrs are more numerous in our time than in the first centuries: they are bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, lay people and families, who in the different countries of the world, with the gift of their lives, have offered the supreme pro...
Can the church end poverty for good?
17 October marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Eight years ago the UN set itself the ambitious target of eliminating severe poverty globally by 2030. But despite almost a century of steady progress, numbers of people living on...