Jerusalem’s Christians

SIR – The deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, is dismissive of the scale of the diminishing indigenous Christian presence in our city (“Christians are safe and thriving in Jerusalem”, Comment, April 24).

Indigenous Christians make up 1 per cent of the population of the Holy Land, down from 12 per cent a century ago. As a direct consequence of discrimination and unpunished hate crimes carried out against their communities, Christians are leaving their ancestral homes for a safer life and the freedom to worship.

In Jerusalem, they face an increasingly hostile environment, with frequent harassment, vandalism and attacks.

Ms Nahoum’s claim that the Christian population has increased by 1.5 per cent in the past year, quoting figures from the Israel Democracy Institute, is misleading and inaccurate. We have first-hand knowledge of our indigenous Christians numbers. We do not know which community she’s looking at.

Radical groups such as Ateret Cohanim are squeezing Christians out of their physical environment. This is in addition to facing insidious erosion of their spiritual space – as seen in the harsh restrictions imposed over Orthodox Easter.

Our community urgently needs a political solution which ensures that the law is upheld consistently. Peace, love and tolerance must be our guiding principles, and we call on Ms Nahoum to engage with this problem, not brush it under the carpet.

The Heads of Churches in the Holy Land are united on these issues.

His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III Convenor of the Council of Churches in Jerusalem