STROUDSBURG, PA — Every year, thousands of Christians from Pennsylvania churches book expensive pilgrimages to walk where Jesus walked, expecting a profound spiritual experience in the Holy Land. What most don’t know before they arrive is that Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem face systematic harassment, physical violence, and government-sanctioned hostility that would shock believers filling pews in Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Milford, and Honesdale. The Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue — an Israeli organization — documented 111 attacks on Christians in Jerusalem in 2024 alone, up from 89 in 2023, including 46 physical assaults, 35 attacks on church property, and widespread spitting incidents. Most disturbing is that Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the police, publicly defended spitting on Christians as “an ancient Jewish custom” and declared it “not a criminal case” that justifies arrest. For Pocono Christians considering a Holy Land trip, understanding these realities before departure could mean the difference between spiritual pilgrimage and traumatic assault.

Spitting as Sanctioned Practice

The spitting attacks are not isolated incidents but a systematic pattern acknowledged even by Israeli authorities. The Rossing Center’s research found that every clergy member interviewed in 2023 reported being spit at multiple times per week while walking Jerusalem’s streets. Video footage widely circulated in October 2023 showed Orthodox Jewish men spitting at Christian pilgrims carrying crosses along the Via Dolorosa — the path Jesus carried his cross — while Israeli police stood nearby and did nothing. When five ultra-Orthodox Jews were arrested for these attacks, Ben Gvir immediately went on Army Radio to declare: “I still think spitting at Christians is not a criminal case. I think we need to act on it through instruction and education. Not everything justifies an arrest.” Prior to entering politics, Ben Gvir had explicitly defended the practice as Jewish tradition. Elisha Yered, an Israeli settler under house arrest for suspected murder of a Palestinian teenager, echoed this on social media, stating: “Spitting near priests or churches is an ancient Jewish custom.” The message to Christian pilgrims is clear: Israeli authorities consider spitting on you acceptable cultural practice, not criminal assault.

Vandalism, Assaults, and Restricted Access

But spitting is only the beginning of what Christian pilgrims may face. On February 2, 2023, an American citizen entered the Church of the Flagellation in Jerusalem’s Old City — a site where Jesus was flogged before crucifixion — and smashed a statue of Jesus to the ground, partially destroying its face, while crying “We have to destroy all the statues and the idols in Jerusalem.” In February 2024, two Israelis spit at and cursed Abbot Nikodemus Schnabel of the Benedictine Abbey, screaming “f***ing Jesus” in Hebrew on camera. The Rossing Center documented attacks including vandalism of church properties, desecration of Christian cemeteries, pepper-spraying of clergy, physical assaults on pilgrims, and arson attempts. During Easter 2024, Israeli forces assaulted Palestinian Christian worshippers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, emptying the church even of those with special permits, and restricted access so severely that only 1,800 worshippers were allowed into a ceremony that historically accommodated over 10,000. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa — the Vatican’s top representative — stated that Israeli authorities “facilitate and enable” attacks on Christians and that the West Bank is becoming “lawless” where “the only law is that of power.”

Attacks Met With Impunity

The attacks are perpetrated primarily by ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist Jewish groups, according to Israeli documentation, and occur with near-total impunity. Israeli human rights groups report that police rarely investigate complaints filed by Christians, arrests are uncommon, and prosecutions almost never happen. The Abbot of the Dormition Abbey in East Jerusalem testified that “spitting harassment is part of my daily life. If I go out of my monastery it is part of my reality.” German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert, hardly an anti-Israel voice, condemned attackers bluntly: “These extremist settlers may claim that God gave them the land. But they are nothing but criminals abhorrent to any faith.” Even evangelical U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a vocal supporter of Israeli settlements, was forced to call settler attacks “an act of terror” and “a crime” after witnessing the damage in Christian communities. The Church leaders in Jerusalem have repeatedly stated that their complaints to Israeli authorities are ignored, their statements are “useless,” and accountability “hardly seems to be happening.”

Safety Tips for Pocono Pilgrims

For Pocono Christians planning pilgrimages, here are essential safety precautions your tour operator probably won’t mention: Do not wear visible crosses or Christian symbols in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods; keep religious items concealed. Walk in groups, never alone, especially in the Old City’s narrow streets. Expect to be spat at if you’re identified as Christian clergy or carrying religious items — this is considered normal by Israeli authorities. Document all incidents on video immediately, as Israeli police typically do not respond to Christian complaints. Understand that Israeli restrictions may prevent you from accessing holy sites even with permits — only 2,500 of 15,000 Palestinian Christians who applied for Easter permits in 2011 were granted access by the U.S. State Department’s own documentation. Purchase trip insurance that covers assault and harassment, because standard policies may not. Most importantly, go with your eyes open: the Holy Land is not a theme park, and the Christians who live there face violence, expulsion, and systematic persecution that American pilgrims glimpse only briefly before flying home to safety. The church leaders in Jerusalem are pleading for international Christians to witness, document, and speak truth about what’s happening — not to pretend everything is fine because acknowledging reality might complicate theological commitments to modern Israel. Your faith calls you to walk where Jesus walked; it also calls you to stand with the Christians being driven from that land today.