{"id":5304,"date":"2023-01-20T13:46:51","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T18:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=5304"},"modified":"2023-01-20T13:48:33","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T18:48:33","slug":"outcry-after-dozens-of-christian-graves-vandalized-in-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2023\/01\/outcry-after-dozens-of-christian-graves-vandalized-in-jerusalem.html","title":{"rendered":"Outcry After Dozens of Christian Graves Vandalized in Jerusalem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Christians in Jerusalem are speculating that the toppling and vandalism of over 30 graves at a historic Christian cemetery in Jerusalem is a \u201chate crime.\u201d The vandalism occurred at Protestant Church on Mount Zion, with police officers responding to a call earlier this month. A\u00a0<\/span>tweet<\/span><\/a>\u00a0later shared footage of two men entering the cemetery on a Sunday morning, smashing a stone cross and smashing and stomping on tombstones. The men appeared to be Jewish based on their Jewish skullcaps and tzitzits worn by observant Jews. Amongst the destroyed tombs are a 19th-century bust of Samuel Gobat, the second protestant bishop of Jerusalem, and the graves of 3 British police officers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry condemned the action calling it \u201can affront to religion.\u201d The diocese\u00a0<\/span>called<\/span><\/a>\u00a0it an act of \u201chatred towards Christians\u201d and that \u201cMany stone crosses were the targets of the vandals, clearly indicating that these criminal acts were motivated by religious bigotry.\u201d The Christian community has been\u00a0<\/span>growing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Israel, with Christians numbering around 182,000, which is about 1.9% of the population in 2020, a 1.4% increase. 76.7% of Christians in Israel are Arab.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With that growth amongst Christians has come more hostility from Jewish extremists. Last January, the\u00a0<\/span>Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem<\/span><\/a>, Theophilos III, stated that radical Israeli groups had threatened Christians. In the London Times, the Patriarch wrote, \u201cOur churches are threatened by Israeli radical fringe groups. At the hands of these Zionist extremists, the Christian community in Jerusalem is suffering greatly. Our brothers and sisters are the victims of hate crimes. Our churches are regularly desecrated and vandalized. Our clergy is subject to frequent intimidation.\u201d A US report on worldwide religious freedom also noted many reports from Christian pilgrims and clergy of being harassed by ultra-orthodox Jews. Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration\u2019s antisemitism envoy,\u00a0<\/span>condemned<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the cemetery incident, tweeting, \u201cI condemn this despicable act. Desecration of any and all holy sites is unacceptable, and the sanctity of burial must be respected. Families have the right to lay to rest loved ones peacefully.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli officials, however, have pushed back against such allegations, in particular against a statement made in December by a group of other church members alleging violence against Christians. \u201cSince the day it was established, the State of Israel has been committed to freedom of religion and worship for all religions, as well to ensure the freedom of access to holy sites. The statement by Church leaders in Jerusalem is particularly infuriating given their silence on the plight of many Christian communities in the Middle East suffering from discrimination and persecution,\u201d a statement from Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry retorted. Theophilos did not name a particular group as being responsible for the attacks, nor did he cite specific incidents. However, he said that the attacks were \u201cnot representative of the state of Israel or the Jewish people.\u201d At the time of this article, no suspects have been identified in the desecration of the cemetery, and the two people seen in the security footage remain at large.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christians in Jerusalem are speculating that the toppling and vandalism of over 30 graves at a historic Christian cemetery in Jerusalem is a \u201chate crime.\u201d The vandalism occurred at Protestant Church on Mount Zion, with police officers responding to a call earlier this month. A\u00a0tweet\u00a0later shared footage of two men entering the cemetery on a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":5310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOutcry After Dozens of Christian Graves Vandalized in Jerusalem<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many Christians in Jerusalem believe they are the target of a hate crime after Christian graves wee recently vandalized.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2023\/01\/outcry-after-dozens-of-christian-graves-vandalized-in-jerusalem.html\" \/>\n<meta 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