Article By Anugrah Kumar
A 9-year-old Christian boy was pepper-sprayed while riding his bike in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur last month, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar. Police have arrested a man suspected in the attack.
The boy, an Armenian identified only as William, told Israel’s Channel 13 that he was listening to music as he rode near the Mamilla Mall, close to the Old City walls, The Times of Israel reports. A religious man stopped him there and told him to turn the music down.
William complied and answered in English. The man then reportedly shouted “No English, Jews!” at him.
As William rode off, he said the man sprayed him with pepper spray he had hidden behind his back. A friend riding with him was also hit by some of the spray, he said.
“I thought I was going to die,” William was quoted as saying.
Citing Israeli media, The Telegraph reports that Jewish extremists confronted the boy and demanded he take off his headphones. Footage from later that day shows a confused and upset William in an ambulance.
William’s mother told Haaretz that the attacker turned on her son once he realized the boy could not speak Hebrew. She said William has had trouble sleeping since.
George Deek, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s envoy to Christians worldwide, wrote on X that incidents like this must be treated “seriously, urgently, and with zero tolerance,” and that police had done so.
Police announced on Sunday that they had arrested a 22-year-old man from Ganei Modi’in, a mostly ultra-Orthodox settlement near Jerusalem. Officers found him in northern Israel, where he had spent several days, and brought him to a Jerusalem police station for questioning.
Deek said the suspect was questioned about the circumstances and motive.
“Israel takes violence against Christians seriously,” he wrote. “And when the victim is a child, there can be no excuses and no looking the other way. Hatred must be condemned, and those responsible will be held accountable. To William and his family: I am thinking of you, and I hope you feel the support of so many people across Israel who were appalled by what happened. You deserve far better than this.”
Police reportedly said they take violence and bullying against children very seriously, “especially those carried out with a nationalist or racist motive.” However, police initially closed the case and reopened it only after the media began covering the attack, Channel 13 reported.
It was not the first time William’s family had been targeted.
William said that a few years ago, five or six Jewish teenagers spat on a pole beside him while he was out with his sister and father. When his father confronted them in Hebrew, the teenagers pepper-sprayed him. Some of the spray hit William’s sister, and the group fled. Channel 13 also aired footage of that incident.
Many religious Jews observe Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, with rules similar to those of Shabbat, the weekly Jewish day of rest. For many, that means no driving and no use of electrical devices.
Jewish extremists in Israel have increasingly attacked and harassed Christians. Some have spat at Christians and churches, citing an extreme reading of the biblical command to “abhor” idol worshipers.
Earlier this year, on Palm Sunday, police in the Old City stopped senior Catholic clergy from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians regard as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. The move prompted diplomatic protests.
Weeks later, security camera footage captured a man in Jewish religious dress assaulting a nun. A 36-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack.
Israeli troops in southern Lebanon made headlines earlier this year for their treatment of Christian symbols. One photo that emerged in April showed a soldier smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer. Two soldiers linked to the incident received 30-day jail terms.
In another photo, a soldier placed a cigarette between the lips of a statue of the Virgin Mary. The soldier received 21 days of military detention, while another received 14 for photographing the incident.
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