Israel Indicts Jewish Man Accused Of Attacking Christian Nun In Jerusalem

TEL AVIV — Israel connected Thursday indicted a Jewish man complete a convulsive onslaught connected a nun adjacent Jerusalem’s Old City past week, nan latest successful a drawstring of high-profile incidents targeting Christians and belief symbols.

The indictment identified nan man arsenic Yona Schreiber, 36, from nan Israeli-occupied West Bank colony of Peduel. It comes aft a video of nan battle received wide condemnation from overseas and Christian leaders.

Schreiber was arrested past week, and Israel’s lawyer wide recommended extending his detention for nan long of nan case. Schreiber’s lawyer refused to speak to an Associated Press journalist astatine nan court.

According to nan indictment, Schreiber attacked a female successful Jerusalem, conscionable extracurricular of nan walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, because she was wearing a wont that identified her arsenic a Catholic nun. He pushed her and past kicked her while she was lying connected nan ground, and besides attacked a passerby who attempted to halt his attack, nan indictment said.

Schreiber is being charged pinch elemental assault, and battle motivated by belief hostility.

Olivier Poquillon, nan head of nan French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, said that nan nun was a interrogator astatine nan school. He called nan onslaught an “act of sectarian violence” successful an X post.

Religious groups person documented a emergence successful acts of harassment and unit against Christian pilgrims and clergy arsenic good arsenic Palestinian Christian residents, including assaults and spitting, often by extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The apprehension comes arsenic Israeli curen of belief minorities is nether scrutiny, weeks aft constabulary constricted entree for vacation believe successful Jerusalem’s holiest sites because of information concerns during nan Iran war.

Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was prohibited from holding a backstage Mass astatine nan Church of nan Holy Sepulchre connected Palm Sunday, nan first clip successful hundreds of years Catholic leaders person been prevented from watching Palm Sunday astatine nan church. After nan uproar, Jerusalem constabulary yet worked retired a discuss for a constricted Easter Mass astatine nan church.

Israel besides drew world disapproval aft a worker photographed himself bludgeoning a fallen statue of Jesus connected nan transverse pinch an ax successful confederate Lebanon. Israeli leaders later disavowed nan incident and said that he would beryllium reprimanded, and assisted section residents successful replacing nan statue.

The Israeli subject besides opened an investigation into a worker photographed shoving a cigaret into nan rima of nan statue of nan Virgin Mary, which was apparently photographed respective weeks ago. The subject said that it views nan incident pinch “utmost severity.” And location person been questions and interest astir Israeli soldiers bulldozing parts of a Catholic convent successful confederate Lebanon.

Last month, Israel’s Foreign Ministry appointed erstwhile Ambassador George Deek to beryllium nan typical envoy to nan Christian world, successful consequence to nan incidents. Deek antecedently served arsenic Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan and was Israel’s first Arab Christian ambassador.

Deek condemned nan worker filmed smoking a cigaret pinch a statue of nan Virgin Mary, and stressed that Israel “is committed to preserving belief state and nan dignity of each religions.”

Israel’s founding declaration includes safeguarding state of belief and each beatified places, and it portrays itself arsenic an oasis of belief tolerance successful a volatile region.

But immoderate religion authorities and monitoring groups person lamented a caller summation successful anti-Christian sentiment and harassment. The rumor is peculiarly pronounced successful Jerusalem’s Old City, a densely populated area pinch constrictive alleyways of ancient stones, which houses beatified sites for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Wadie Abunassar, nan coordinator of nan Holy Land Christian Forum, past week called attacks targeting Christians a increasing phenomenon. He attributed nan speedy consequence to nan onslaught connected nan nun to nan truth that it was caught connected video.

He said that he felt “great anger connected nan strategy and awesome sadness, because I consciousness that this will not extremity anytime soon.” One of nan problems, he said, was insufficient deterrence against specified violence.

“Many times successful specified cases location are nary arrests and if location are arrests, sometimes aft 1 aliases 2 days, (suspects) are released,” he added. “In immoderate cases, nan constabulary do not urge nan prosecution to record charges aliases to indict them. And successful immoderate cases, erstwhile location is indictment, nan indictment is mild.”

Lidman writes for nan Associated Press. AP writer Sam Metz contributed to this study from Ramallah, West Bank.