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Photo:
Scene. Published by IMEMC News
Crosses broken by vandals at the Beit Jamal Monastery near Beit Shemesh, October 17, 2018 Credit: Gadi Gvaryahu\Tag Meir Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News

Ha’aretz Israeli newspaper, on Thursday, reported that about 30 graves were vandalized two weeks ago, in the cemetery of Beit Jmal monastery, near Jerusalem.

The monastery monks discovered the destruction of the tombs yesterday, saying the concrete crosses on the graves were taken down.

The old cemetery is located about half a kilometer from the monastery building, so people do not visit it often. After the monks discovered the vandalism, monastery officials filed a complaint with Israeli police.

In an interview with Haaretz, Father Antonio Scududo estimated that this work took time, effort and even the use of tools, because all the crosses were cast concrete. “I do not know who did it, as it seems,” he said.

For its part, the Christian Islamic Commission for the support of Jerusalem and holy sites today condemned the attack on the cemetery of the monastery, desecration of the sanctity of graves and religious symbols inside the cemetery, and breaking the tombstones and the number of 27 crucifix concrete.

Secretary-General of the Commission, Dr. Hanna Issa, the occupation authorities responsible for providing protection for religious places and places of worship, calling for the need to stop the aggression on sanctities and places of worship and respect for all religions.

PNN notes that the monastery was subjected to previous years of numerous attacks by settlers and attempts to burn and a line of racist slogans in Hebrew on the walls. Where the monastery was subjected to a similar attack on September 27, 1981, and the monastery was desecrated in March 2014 when anti-Christian slogans were written on its walls and another attack on 9/1/2016, breaking dozens of crosses in the cemetery.
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Headstones Smashed in Christian Cemetery Near Jerusalem in Suspected Hate Crime

This is the fourth time in five years that the monastery and its cemetery were vandalized

by Nir Hasson for Haaretz Oct 17, 2018 10:42 PM

A cemetery at a Christian monastery near the central Israeli town of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, has been vandalized. The monks responsible for its upkeep, who visit the cemetary every few days, found some 30 smashed headstones on Wednesday.

This is the second time that the cemetery of the Beit Jamal Monastery was defaced. In 2013, a firebomb was thrown at a door and hateful slogans were scrawled on the monestary walls. It was also damaged in a hate crime in 2016, when unknown perpetrators entered the prayer house and smashed statues.

The Israel Police said the matter is being investigated and that a forensics team was dispatched to the scene. "We're using every means at our disposal to investigate and reach those involved," the statement said.

Gadi Gvaryahu, executive director of the NGO Tag Meir, which supports victims of hate crimes in Israel, visited the monastery on Wednesday and expressed his empathy to the monks' distress.

"The Tag Meir forum vehemently condemns the desecration of the Christian cemetery in Beit Jamal, which joins a string of hate crimes committed in recent days… the forum wishes for a conclusion to the investigation into the death of Aisha Rabi from the village of Biddya," Gvaryahu said.

"The Palestinian population in the West Bank must be protected from offenders, just as Israeli citizens are," he concluded.

Palestinians reported on Wednesday that twenty-eight cars were vandalized earlier this week in the West Bank village of Mazra'a al-Qibliya, near Ramallah. Some of the cars were also reportedly spray-painted with graffiti in Hebrew and Stars of David.

Palestinian sources and Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Yesh Din reported on Sunday that hundreds of olive trees and vines were found destroyed on land belonging to five different villages in the West Bank.

In the last two months, ahead of the olive harvest, there has been an increase in the number of trees deliberately damaged. Yesh Din has found that the highest rate of failure to investigate politically-motivated crimes against Palestinians relates to damaging trees, usually olive trees.