A Palestinian man looks at graffiti scrawled at the entrance to a mosque that reads in Hebrew,
Jerusalem, AFP - The Roman Catholic church demanded Israeli action Wednesday after suspected Jewish extremists daubed hate graffiti on Vatican-owned offices in east Jerusalem just two weeks before a papal visit.
Israeli Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the government planned to use detention without trial against the suspected extremists as it comes under mounting pressure over its failure to secure a single prosecution in an intensifying wave of hate crime
Hebrew-language graffiti reading "Death to Arabs and Christians and those who hate Israel" was daubed over offices of the Assembly of Bishops at the Notre Dame center, a Vatican-owned complex opposite the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, on Monday, the Roman Catholic church said.
"The Notre Dame center is the property of the Holy See and this provocation comes two weeks before Pope Francis' visit to the Holy Land and Jerusalem," the Latin patriarchate said on its website
"Heads of the Churches in the Holy Land are preparing a series of actions aimed at informing local and international public opinion, and to make the authorities and law officials aware of their responsibilities."
Israeli police confirmed there had also been fresh hate attacks on Palestinian Muslim targets in northern Israel on Wednesday, the latest in a spate of such attacks mainly targeting Palestinian residential property but also targeting churches and mosques.
Israeli police caught a man as he punctured the tires of Palestinian-owned vehicles in the town of Yokneam, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
Investigators were seeking to establish if he was also responsible for vandalizing a Druze dentist's practice earlier in the day.
"Death to Arabs" and "Price Tag" were sprayed on his clinic windows, media said.
"Price tag" is a euphemism for the hate attacks by Jewish extremists.
The internal security minister said the Israeli government was preparing to allow the use of detention without charge against those suspected of such crimes, powers previously used almost exclusively against Palestinians.
"It is the government's intention to use administrative detention against those carrying out so-called 'price tag' attacks," Aharonovitch told army radio.
Administrative detention allows for suspects to be held without trial for up to six months. Such orders can be renewed indefinitely by court decision.
The US State Department's 2013 Country Reports on Terrorism included "price tag" attacks for the first time, citing UN figures of some "399 attacks by extremist Israeli settlers that resulted in Palestinian injuries or property damage."
Such attacks were "largely prosecuted," it said.
Although police have made scores of arrests, there have been no successful prosecutions for price tag attacks and the government has come up under mounting pressure to authorize the Shin Bet internal security agency to step in.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday she would back the idea of defining such crimes as "terrorism" after the US State Department for the first time included mention of price tag attacks in its global report on terror.
Livni and Aharonovitch held an emergency meeting on Wednesday with the attorney general and security chiefs to discuss the wave of attacks and how to combat them, a statement from Livni's office said.
It said that the ministers would brief the security cabinet on events in the past six months since the price tag phenomenon was officially outlawed and consider declaring those responsible as a terror group.
It said it would also mull increased use of restraining orders removing known suspects from their usual surroundings and arresting them if such orders were breached.
Israel: Anti-Christian Graffiti & “Price Tag” attacks rise before Papal visit
Ah, the delusional Israelis….. beliefs of ‘god given land’ and ‘choseness’ will always lead to a kind of twisted sense of entitlement. How many stories have I read, over the years, about the rabid haters in Israel and their innumerable crimes against Palestinians?- Both Christians and Muslim? Attacks on sites important to Christians? Quite a few over the years. But only on occasion does one of those news articles trickle in the consciousness of the western media audience. Israeli media does cover the crimes of it’s own citizens. But they lay blame on the ‘ultra-nationalists’ in Israel. The problem doesn’t just lie with the ultra-nationalists. It lies with the entire Israeli society and begins at the heart of it’s government. A government that has propagated a mythology to justify years of horrific abuse to be visited upon other people. Other belief systems. The eternal victimhood that always has to ‘fend’ off some potential persecution. Fear has created irrationality. Irrationality run amok creates a disturbed society.
-Note to all the zionist christians that support Israel unquestionably- The chosen ones do not support you back- OK?
-Note to all the zionist christians that support Israel unquestionably- The chosen ones do not support you back- OK?
The Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem, preparing for a papal visit later this month, has expressed alarm over threats to Christians scrawled by suspected Jewish extremists on church property in the Holy Land.
In an incident on Monday, “Death to Arabs and Christians and all those who hate Israel” was daubed in Hebrew on an outer column of the Office of the Assembly of Bishops at the Notre Dame Center in East Jerusalem.
“The wave of fanaticism and intimation against Christians continues,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem posted on its website, referring to so-called “price tag” incidents.
“Mere coincidence?””The Notre Dame Center is property of the Holy See and this provocation comes two weeks before Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land and Jerusalem.” the patriarchate statement asked.
In recent years, “price tag” attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Christian monasteries in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war and Palestinians seek as part of a future state.
“Price tagging” – a reference by ultranationalist Jews to making the government “pay” for any curbs on Jewish settlement on Palestinian land – has also occurred in Israeli military installations in the West Bank and Arab villages in Israel.
Pope Francis is due to tour the Holy Land from May 24 to 26, visiting Jordan, the West Bank and Jerusalem, where he will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
The pontiff, who like his predecessors John Paul and Benedict has friendly ties with Jewish religious leaders, is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Notre Dame Center, located just outside the walls of the old city.
PRICE TAG “TERRORISM”
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has described “price tag” attacks as terrorism and pledged to step up efforts to curb them.
The bishops’ statement said they “are very concerned about the lack of security” for Christian property and what they called the “lack of responsiveness from the political sector” after earlier attacks. They feared “an escalation of violence”.
The frequency of “price tag” attacks – 14 have been reported this year – has risen sharply over the past month since the Israeli military demolished structures in a West Bank settlement built without government authorisation.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said on Wednesday they would ask the cabinet to classify groups behind “price tag” attacks as terrorist organisations, opening the way for the possible use of detention without trial against members.
Despite dozens of arrests over the past year of suspected “price-taggers”, there have been few convictions. Police say there are only a few score culprits, many known by name, but about half of them are minors to whom courts show leniency.
The patriarchate said that the heads of churches in the Holy Land are preparing “a series of actions aimed at informing local and international public opinion, and to make the authorities and law officials aware of their responsibilities”.
As Mick Jagger would sing “I can’t get no satisfaction” And there will be no action.
 | |||
| “Revenge” sprayed on Christian cemetery in Jaffa |
No mention of these hate crimes by NBCCNNMSNBCABCCBCBBC or any of the either alphabet soup news outlets?! – Don’t they feel the billions served by the Catholic Church would be interested?
Have no fear, as stated, this is how Israel likes to keep things going- So nothing will be done- Nothing at all.
Keeping the hate going serves every Israeli leader just fine.
Keeping the hate going serves every Israeli leader just fine.
The former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency says its current leader does not take seriously recent vandalism by ultranationalist Jews of Palestinian and Arab Israeli property.
Nor does the security agency take serious the vandalism of Christian property.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment