By John Ikani
More than 30 graves at a historic Christian cemetery in Jerusalem were found toppled and vandalized, the diocese said Wednesday, jolting the Christian minority in the contested city.
“We discovered that more than 30 tombstones and crosses were smashed to pieces,” Hosam Naoum, an Anglican bishop, told journalists at the cemetery.
The cemetery situated on Mount Zion, where Christians believe Jesus’s Last Supper took place, was established in the mid-19th century and is the final resting place of figures including clergy, scientists, and politicians.
Among them were “people of great importance that have contributed to the history of Jerusalem and to the life of the people here,” he said.
Church authorities said the damage was discovered on Tuesday, while security camera footage from January 1 showed two men or boys vandalizing the site while wearing Jewish attire.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the attack an “immoral act” and “an affront to religion,” while Bishop Naoum called it a “clear hate crime.”
The British consulate said it was just the latest in a string of assaults on the Christian community in the holy city of Jerusalem.
Police officers were sent to the Protestant Cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion to investigate the profanation.
Mount Zion lies outside the Old City walls and has drawn pilgrims for centuries. It is also revered by Jews, as the burial place of the biblical King David.
Some 16,000 Christians live in Jerusalem, the majority of whom are Palestinian. Israel claims Jerusalem as its eternal capital, while Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital for their hoped-for independent state
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 wider Holy Land.
The statement criticized inaction by law enforcement and local officials, accusations deemed “baseless” by the Israeli foreign ministry.
