NEW YORK—On Dec. 4, in a letter to Israel’s minister for public security, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) expressed dismay over the incidents involving religious Jews spitting on Christian clergy in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch:
I write on behalf of the American Jewish Committee to express our dismay over reports of disgraceful assaults on Christian clergy and lay people in Jerusalem. It appears, for instance, that some Jews have made a practice of spitting at Christian clergy in the streets of Jerusalem. A recent incident involving Armenian clerical seminarians is simply the latest in a distressing pattern.
We at AJC have long been committed to the values of pluralism and mutual respect, and are friends of and advocates for the State of Israel. Needless to say, these actions by a few demonstrate profound disrespect toward other religions and stand in contrast to Israel’s fundamental commitment to protect the rights of all its citizens. We also fear that they may damage Israel’s international image and jeopardize its important relationships with faith communities around the world.
We respectfully encourage you take immediate measures to halt this deplorable behavior. We hope that vigorous enforcement of the law will succeed in preventing these shameful acts and disciplining those responsible for them.
Sincerely yours,
David A. Harris
Executive Director, AJC
people i think should have more respect and dignity for passing holy places ,and it shows what kind of quality we deal with ,its good that Armenians let jews pass freely all this time to go to their cites without any problem ,but if they choose to continue this way ,it will increase issues and problems in the future.The Israeli government is responsible for stopping these ugly acts .
if u don’t know how to walk in the street and pass with a respect ,means u have a problem and thats how they behave in the their houses .
Hye, Mr. Harris,
Bad enough that the Jews of Israel cannot see that there was an Armenian Genocide – but to have to tolerate the vulgar ‘spitting’ – which is not a new ‘undertaking’ – been going on for many, many years.
Manooshag
I have visited Jerusalem several times and have yet to experience Jews spitting at me. This is just as well, because they would be following it by spitting out their teeth!