The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on all Americans, especially Republican elected officials and Christian political organizations, to condemn escalating attacks on Christians in Palestine and Lebanon, including an Israeli man’s assault on a French nun in Jerusalem and Israel’s destruction of churches and Christian villages in Lebanon.
Video footage shows a man wearing traditional Jewish attire ambushes the nun from behind, pushing her violently into a rock on the ground. The unprovoked assault took place near a site known as David’s Tomb, just outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Israeli government has claimed that the perpetrator of the assault has been arrested amid public outcry, but it has repeatedly permitted settlers and Israeli extremists to spit on, assault and otherwise attack Palestinian Christians.
SEE: French nun assaulted in Jerusalem in latest anti-Christian attack
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“This abhorrent hate crime against a French nun in Jerusalem is not an isolated incident, but the latest in a long line of attacks on Christians living under Israeli occupation. From this assault on a French nun to daily indignities and assaults upon Palestinian Christians, to the destruction of churches in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli government has directly or indirectly enabled various atrocities against Christians.
“It is long past time for Republican elected officials and Christian political organizations that claim to care about the safety of Christians around the world to condemn Israel’s pattern of violence. Christians are Christians, regardless of whether they are people of color and regardless of whether they live in America or the Middle East.”
Jerusalem’s Christian population has been shrinking steadily every year due to Israeli pressures. In 2025, 176 incidents of hate crimes and harassment targeting Christians were reported.
SEE: The Christian population in Jerusalem is decreasing each year due to Israeli pressures
Recently, an Israeli soldier desecrated a statue crucifix in Lebanon.
In 2024, Israeli forces desecrated a church in Lebanon. In October 2023, Israeli forces bombed the Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza, one of the oldest in the world.
SEE: Airstrikes have struck Orthodox church compound in the city of Gaza
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com