PALESTINE Jerusalem: Jewish extremists desecrate Christian cemetery on Mount Zion

Open graves and broken headstones in the Protestant Cemetery, owned by the Anglican Church. One video would show two people wearing kippahs entering the venue and desecrating it. A UN Security Council meeting has been scheduled over Ben-Gvir’s “provocative” tour of the Esplanade of Mosques.

Jerusalem () – A new and serious episode of religious intolerance took place yesterday in Israel, while the controversy over the “walk” on the Esplanade of the Mosques by Security Minister Itaman Ben-Gvir, condemned by the Arab world and a great part of the international community. Unidentified vandals damaged several graves in the Protestant Church of Anglican Cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem; a video shows a group of people, apparently Jews, destroying the tombstones.

In a note, the police explain that they arrived at the site after receiving a report of vandalism, accompanied by images showing (see photos) thrown tombstones and damaged parts of masonry. In the security camera video recorded on January 1 at 3:25 p.m. – which was published on social networks – two men, apparently Jewish wearing yarmulkes, can be seen hitting tombstones and throwing stones at the graves.

The then Bishop of Jerusalem, Samuel Gobat, inaugurated the cemetery in 1848 and today it is owned by the Church Missionary Trust Association Ltd., an Anglican organization. For some time now, the Christian leaders of the Holy Land have been warning about an escalation of Jewish-based radicalism that threatens the very survival of communities. In December 2021, the patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued a harsh joint note in which they warned of the danger posed by radical groups whose objective is to “reduce the Christian presence.”

What happened on Mount Zion is just the latest in a long series of intimidation attacks, some of which are price tagged. [el precio a pagar, ndr] and are attributable to Jewish settlers or extremists. They have already attacked various targets, such as the church near the upper room, the Nazareth basilica, or Catholic and Greek Orthodox buildings. Muslim mosques and places of worship are also in the crosshairs. The “price tag” is a slogan used by Israeli extremists to threaten Christians and Muslims for having “taken their land”. Before, the phenomenon was only seen in Jerusalem and in the areas bordering the West Bank, but today it has spread to a large part of the territory.

Meanwhile, the international repudiation for the “provocative” gesture carried out yesterday morning by the Israeli Security Minister, who visited the Esplanade of the Mosques escorted by a large number of agents and supporters, has not abated. At the request of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China, the United Nations Security Council should meet tomorrow to discuss the issue. Unanimous international condemnation (from Europe to the United States, passing through the Arab world) for a gesture that the Palestinians – both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority – have described as an “unprecedented provocation”.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed “deep concern” about “unilateral” actions that could, at least potentially, “exacerbate tensions.” “The United States,” he added, “stands strongly for the preservation of the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem.” One of the first consequences of Ben-Gvir’s “walk” is the postponement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the Emirates, scheduled for next week. A headache for the chief executive who has just taken office, who has repeatedly assured that he wants to maintain stability on the Temple Mount, while rejecting the intimidation of Hamas against which the Security Minister has threatened to use “iron fist”.