Six ’Israelis’ Arrested After Attack on Christian Monastery in Al-Quds

By Staff, Agencies

Six religious Jews have been arrested after attacking the historic St. James Armenian Monastery in Al-Quds [“Jerusalem’s”] Old City, according to police.

The group, made up of five minors and one adult, was recorded on video on Sunday night spitting at and striking the entrance of the monastery before throwing stones at the walls of the compound, which serves as the regional headquarters of the Armenian Church.

During the incident, an Armenian woman who began filming from a nearby building was targeted by the attackers, who threw stones toward her window while shouting abusive remarks.

Police later arrested all six suspects. Three have been banned from entering the Old City for 15 days, while authorities have asked an Al-Quds [“Jerusalem”] court to extend the detention of the other three.

The Armenian Patriarchate has submitted a formal complaint and urged US Ambassador Mike Huckabee to pressure “Israel” to officially classify such attacks as hate crimes.

The incident is the latest in what Christian leaders describe as an increasing pattern of attacks against Christians, clergy, churches, and Christian-owned property in Al-Quds and the occupied Palestinian territories. They say priests and pilgrims are frequently subjected to spitting, verbal abuse, and physical assaults by ultra-Orthodox and extremist Jews, while churches and monasteries have also been vandalized.

According to The Wall Street Journal, young religious Jews have openly described humiliating Christians as a religious obligation. The newspaper documented at least a dozen incidents of people spitting near the Armenian Church during a nationalist march in May. It also highlighted an April attack on Mount Zion in which a Jewish extremist pushed a French nun to the ground, leaving her with a head injury. Some nuns now reportedly avoid walking alone through the city and rely on volunteers for protection.

Dormition Abbey Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel told the newspaper that Christians are routinely “hit, spit at, beaten,” adding that such incidents are widespread and that many go unreported.

The Al-Quds-based Rossing Center has reported that documented incidents targeting Christians have nearly doubled between 2023 and 2025 and are on track to reach another record this year.

Critics argue that extremist groups have been emboldened by the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and by statements from senior officials such as “National Security” Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In a 2017 radio interview, Ben-Gvir defended spitting at priests and churches as an “ancient Jewish tradition” and questioned why it should be considered a criminal offense. After becoming the minister responsible for law enforcement in “Israel,” he again stated in 2023 that spitting on Christians was “not a criminal case.”

“Israeli” officials maintain that they treat violence and racism with the utmost seriousness and are taking action against such offenses.

Church leaders, however, say complaints often result in little accountability. They warn that repeated attacks, settlement expansion, and an increasingly hostile political climate are placing growing pressure on some of the Holy Land’s oldest Christian communities, prompting some families to consider leaving the region.