Dozens of Jewish protesters recently attacked Messianic believers headed to a Hebrew worship concert in Jerusalem. It’s the latest example of the hostility of certain orthodox Jews against the Messianic community.
Inside the King of Kings congregation, an audience listened to a concert of Hebrew worship songs, written by Israelis.
But outside, something else was going on.
“Thirty to 40 religious men had gathered and they started harassing our people as they were trying to enter into worship — blowing whistles, trying to drown out the sound of worship and that alerted the first wave of the SWAT team and the police that came out,” said Chad Holland, senior pastor of King of Kings Community Jerusalem (KKCJ).
The Messianic Jewish Alliance of Israel held the concert at KKCJ’s facility — one of the largest congregations in Jerusalem for Christians and Messianic Jews.
Holland told CBN News a mob of protesters outside the facility’s lobby attacked men, women, and children trying to attend the concert.
“They started by screaming, pushing. Several people were hit; some were cut in the face. They broke glass. They damaged property. They were kicking. They were hitting. They were cornering people. They pushed several up against the wall. They pushed down several women as well. They threw water bottles. They spit on a lot of people and in the end, they started spraying pepper spray,” Holland said.
Some of the protesters held a sign from the far-right fringe group Lehava that opposes contact with non-Jews and opposes a Christian presence in Israel.
According to Holland, the police had a hard time gaining control of the protesters.
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