The abbot of the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem, Nikodemus Schnabel of the German Benedictine Church, was spat on Saturday in the Old City of Jerusalem by two young Jews. He recounted the incident in an interview with Ynet.
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"In Germany, we are concerned about the rise of antisemitism throughout the world. My real wish is for Israel to address the problems that exist here toward Christians," the abbot said.
Abbot of the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem, Nikodemus Schnabel, is spat on and verbally attacked by 2 young Jews
Schnabel serves as the head of two Benedictine monasteries in Israel. He is the abbot of the well-known Church of the Dormition and the abbot of Tabgha Monastery in Tiberias. Schnabel belongs to the Roman Catholic denomination, and is therefore connected to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem."
"For me, it was a very sad story. It was on Shabbat; For someone who dresses like a religious Jew and has to behave like one, it was desecration of Shabbat," he said.
Regarding the attacks on Christians in Israel, the abbot said, "No one usually takes pictures of it, but this is actually what my day-to-day looks like. What happened was that a German woman was with me that day, and therefore she recorded the incident. My attitude is that I am not angry with them, I pray for them. I hope we teach the young that religiosity is not a matter of being against one another, but a matter of good for everyone. I know they are not the majority in the State of Israel."
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The abbot of the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem, Nikodemus Schnabel, accompanied by a German woman during attack in Jerusalem
A 17-year-old boy and another young man who passed by the Zion Gate area in Jerusalem's Old City cursed and spat at the Christian clergyman as he passed by them, and then fled the scene. In the evening, police located and arrested the two suspects, who were interrogated and sent to house arrest, while the investigation into their case continues.
In the video published on social media networks, one of the suspects is seen confronting the Christian cleric. "Are you touching me? You have no right to touch me," the cleric is heard asking in English, and the suspect replies: "Shut up!" The cleric said: "He spit on me and touched me. The police want me to photograph him." The suspect hissed at him: "You want to take a picture of me? Take a picture of me. This is a priest, my brother. This is what I will do to them, f**cking Jesus."
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Two young Jewish men attacked the abbot and his guest as they walked through the Old City of Jerusalem
This is not the first time that a Christian cleric has been attacked in the Old City of Jerusalem. Incidents like that of Father Schnabel are mainly carried out by young religious Jews.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the representative body of Catholics in Israel, sharply criticized the incident on Sunday. "The Latin Patriarchate condemns the unprovoked and shameful assault," it said in a statement.
In recent years there has been an increase in the phenomenon. The most common expression for an attack is spitting on the cleric, on his clothes, on the ground or at the entrance to religious buildings. Spitting on a person is considered an assault under criminal law (Article 378) and is punishable by up to one year in prison, and up to two years when it is done on a religious or nationalist basis.