Palestinians strongly condemned an assault by Israeli settlers, who vandalized a Christian cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem.
Stone graves had been destroyed with crosses toppled on the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion, the place Christians imagine Jesus’s Last Supper passed off.
“This is not only a cowardly act, but also disgusting, and it is rejected by any human being,” Hosam Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, advised a news convention.
“This attack shows a clear hate speech against Christians in the city of Jerusalem, which we completely reject,” he added.
According to the Evangelical Episcopal Church in East Jerusalem, the assault was carried out by two younger males on Jan. 1.
Naoum known as on the Israeli authorities to convey the perpetrators of the cemetery assault to justice.
“We hope that this matter will not be repeated, because Jerusalem is a city of holy sites,” he added.
Israeli police mentioned an investigation has been launched into the assault.
The Chief Justice of Palestine, Mahmoud al-Habash, mentioned the assault displays the “racist mentality” of Israel.
“This attack represents the racist and barbaric mentality of the Israeli state, which does not differentiate between the living and the dead,” he added in an announcement.
Palestinian group Hamas, which guidelines the Gaza Strip, held the Israeli authorities accountable “for the repercussions of the Israeli extremists’ attack on the Christian cemetery.”
“This assault and the desecration of Islamic and Christian tombs in Jerusalem reveal the true identity of the aggressive Zionist settlers against the [Palestinian] people and their lands and holy sites,” it mentioned in an announcement.
Church authorities mentioned the harm was found on Tuesday, whereas safety digital camera footage from Jan.1 confirmed two males or boys vandalizing the positioning whereas carrying Jewish apparel.
“These criminal acts were motivated by religious bigotry and hatred against Christians,” the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem mentioned in an announcement.
Israeli police mentioned Tuesday that they had launched an investigation into “the defacement of a large number of tombstones in the Protestant cemetery”.
Standing earlier than one of many broken graves, Naoum mentioned: “We are not only dismayed but we are very much saddened.”
The bishop mentioned the cemetery was established within the mid-Nineteenth century and is the ultimate resting place of figures together with clergy, scientists and politicians.
Among them had been “people of great importance that have contributed to the history of Jerusalem and to the life of the people here,” he mentioned.
Israel’s overseas ministry known as for the perpetrators to be prosecuted, writing on Twitter that “this immoral act is an affront to religion”.
Mount Zion lies outdoors the Old City partitions and has drawn pilgrims for hundreds of years. It can also be revered by Jews, because the burial place of the biblical King David.
In December 2021, church leaders warned that “Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups” in Jerusalem and the broader Holy Land.
The assertion criticized inaction by regulation enforcement and native officers, accusations deemed “baseless” by the Israeli overseas ministry.
