At first sight, last week’s unprovoked attack on a French nun walking along a street in occupied East Jerusalem came without warning. However, for the roughly 180,000 Christians living in Israel – and the 10,000 or so Christians living in East Jerusalem – the attack is the latest in a growing number of incidents of abuse, assault, and intimidation that the community says has increased in tandem with Israel’s turn towards far-right nationalism.While incidents of violence and arson grab the attention, low-level incidents of spitting, insults, and disparaging graffiti have become a daily experience for many Christians in the area – the majority of them Palestinian – contributing to the desire on the part of nearly half of all the religious community under 30 to leave.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIsraeli officials have been quick to condemn the attack on the nun, calling it “despicable” and with “no place” in Israeli society. A man has also been arrested, after the arrest of Israeli soldiers blamed for smashing a Christian statue in southern Lebanon last month.But ultimately, trust in the Israeli state is thin on the ground, with many of the incidents going unreported, analysts say.Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem have been present in the area for more than 2,000 years. But they now find themselves attacked by Israelis, just for practicing their faith.According to the volunteer-run Religious Freedom Data Center (RFDC), in the first three mont …
