Cemetery attacked near Jerusalem: Catholic officials

By Abdel-Raouf Arnaut

JERUSALEM (AA) - A Catholic cemetery west of Jerusalem was attacked on Wednesday by persons unknown who destroyed many tombs and broke several crosses, local church officials announced on Thursday.

“Cemetery of the Salesian Monastery at Beit Jamal, near Beit Shemesh west of Jerusalem, was vandalized on Wednesday [Oct.] 17, 2018, by unknown assailants who destroyed many tombs and broke several crosses,” the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL) said in a statement on its website.

The assembly added that the attack “comes two years after similar vandalism that targeted the same cemetery and one year after the desecration of the church of the same monastery last year.”

“In the two mentioned cases, the [Israeli] security services failed to bring anybody to justice for these acts, and we wonder if today’s incident will meet a similar fate,” the statement said.

Though the attackers were described as “unknown,” in recent years the assembly has accused Israeli settlers of attacking Christian holy sites and properties in eastern Jerusalem and Israel.

Many churches and historical Christian tombs dating back hundreds of years are located in western Jerusalem.