Vulnerable People Project Condemns the Assault on Father Firas Abedrabbo and the Institutional Impunity Behind a Documented Surge in Attacks on Christians
NEWS PROVIDED BY
The Vulnerable People Project
June 10, 2026
JERUSALEM, June 10, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — Father Firas Abedrabbo, a priest of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, was spat on, verbally abused, and subjected to obscene gestures by three young religious men as he left a restaurant near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Vulnerable People Project (VPP) condemns the assault and the pattern of impunity surrounding it, as newly released data shows anti-Christian harassment in Israel climbing to record levels.
According to accounts of the incident, Father Abedrabbo — parish priest of the Latin church in Ein Arik, near Ramallah — had been having lunch with Israeli friends, among them peace activists, when the harassment began. It continued for several minutes until his companions came outside and confronted the youths. A police complaint was filed, reportedly despite attempts by officers to discourage it. No arrest has been made.
The assault came days before the Religious Freedom Data Center presented its latest figures on June 4. The center’s founder, Yisca Harani — a Jewish-Israeli scholar whose volunteers document the harassment of Christians with the backing of church leaders in Jerusalem — reported that more than 88 anti-Christian incidents have been documented in Israel in 2026 alone, 63 of them in the second quarter, putting the year on pace to surpass last year’s total of 181. The center had already exceeded all its previous figures, she noted, before June was even over.
The documented incidents include spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism, the desecration of graves and crosses, and arson at Christian sites. Most have occurred in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Mount Zion, and near the Armenian Patriarchate. Researchers caution that the real figure is considerably higher, as many victims decline to file complaints in the expectation that nothing will come of them.
Israeli authorities have consistently characterized such incidents as isolated acts by a small minority of underage youth — a framing Christian clergy reject, describing the harassment instead as an everyday reality. That skepticism is grounded in experience: the Israel Religious Action Center has noted that of 25 complaints it tracked between 2012 and 2021, 19 were closed without prosecution. Father Abedrabbo’s complaint appears headed for the same outcome.
“When a priest can be spat upon in the streets of the holiest city in Christianity and the only certainty is that no one will be held to account, the message to every Christian is that they are unwelcome and unprotected,” said Jason Jones, founder of the Vulnerable People Project. “These are not the pranks of a few children. They are a daily campaign of humiliation, and the silence of the authorities is what allows it to grow. The dignity of Christians in the land of Christ’s own ministry cannot be treated as expendable.”
The Vulnerable People Project calls on Israeli authorities to investigate and prosecute these attacks rather than dismiss them, and urges the international community and church leaders worldwide to insist that the harassment of Christians in the Holy Land be treated as the serious and systematic problem the data reveals it to be. Father Abedrabbo filed his complaint. No arrest was made. Without accountability, the only thing certain to follow is incident eighty-nine.
For more information about the Vulnerable People Project and its mission to Save West Bank Christians, please visit SaveWestBankChristians.com.
PRESS CONTACT: Alexis Walkenstein, AWE PR, founder and president via walkensteina@gmail.com or 561-445-5409.
ABOUT JASON JONES & THE VULNERABLE PEOPLE PROJECT:
Jason Jones is a film producer, author, activist, and human rights worker. He is president of Movie to Movement, the Human Rights Education Organization (H.E.R.O.) and founder of the Vulnerable People Project. The Vulnerable People Project advocates for persecuted communities around the world, with a focus on exposing human rights abuses and supporting vulnerable individuals regardless of faith or background.
CONTACT: Alexis Walkenstein, AWE PR, Founder and President, 561-445-5409, walkensteina@gmail.com