(news.va) This past Sunday afternoon, September 29, Israeli police apprehended and arrested four four young Israeli Jews between the ages of 17 and 27. The four were arrested after severely damaging at least fifteen Christian graves in a cemetery situated on Mount Zion, near the Old Town of Jerusalem. Those arrested were all students attending a Jewish religious school situated west of the Old Town. “At least two of them – said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld – seem to be activists of acronyms related to the extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank,” reported our friends from the Vatican.
Since the beginning of 2012, desecrations and vandalism against Christian monasteries, churches, and cemeteries are carried out by extremist groups close to the Jewish settlement movement. Many of these acts of intimidation, called “price tags” have been “signed” with the formula “the price to pay”.
This is systemic of the discrimination Christians in the Holy Land receive on a continual basis. Father Raed, from Fides, reports that some of those attending rabbinical schools often show offensive attitudes towards bishops, nuns, priests and religious who go to the Old City. “As soon as they see a cross”, the Fr. Raed said, “many of them begin to spit on the ground”.
The FFHL prays for those who act with such hatred and discrimination in their hearts for Christians; and hope a day will come when Christians will be afforded the same respect and rights as their fellow citizens.