US Vacationer Reportedly Vandalizes Jesus Statue in Jerusalem Church
Israeli police have reportedly arrested an American vacationer for vandalizing a sculpture of Jesus Christ on the Church of the Flagellation in Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis. Photos of the broken statue on the bottom unfold throughout social media on Thursday, February 2, exhibiting a fracture across the shin and a break on the nostril.
The Related Press reviews {that a} safety guard helped police arrest the vacationer, who has not been named, after he allegedly knocked the statue over. In a video, the detained suspect screams, “You’ll be able to’t have idols; it’s within the second commandment,” referring to a line in chapter 20 of the Guide of Exodus within the Bible.
Studies say the person is present process a psychological well being evaluation. On social media, some customers made reference to the so-called “Jerusalem syndrome,” a psychotic state triggered by proximity to holy locations and sometimes characterised by spiritual delusions. There is no such thing as a data confirming a case of the syndrome at this stage.
Custodia Terrae Sanctae, the Catholic order that protects the holy websites in Jerusalem, wrote in a assertion that the incident is certainly one of 5 anti-Christian assaults made in Jerusalem since January 2023. They cited the circumstances of a vandalized Christian cemetery and focused shootings in a Christian quarter of Jerusalem.
“We observe with concern and strongly condemn this rising succession of significant acts of hatred and violence in opposition to the Christian neighborhood in Israel,” the assertion reads. “It’s no coincidence that the legitimization of discrimination and violence in public opinion and within the present Israeli political atmosphere additionally interprets into acts of hatred and violence in opposition to the Christian neighborhood.”
The incident comes after per week of intense battle within the West Financial institution and East Jerusalem following the ascension of Israel’s new far-right authorities led by Benjamin Netanyahu. On January 26, Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians within the West Financial institution throughout a lethal raid. In East Jerusalem, an armed Palestinian opened fireplace close to a synagogue and killed seven folks.
The Church of the Flagellation stands on the Through Dolorosa, a path believed to be the highway to Jesus’s crucifixion. The sanctuary memorializes Jesus receiving his cross. Pilgrims will stroll alongside the highway as a meditative train, reflecting on Jesus’s journey to the cross.
The US Embassy in Israel has but to answer a request for remark.