UPDATE - Jewish extremist attacks church in Jerusalem: Israeli police

UPDATES WITH DETAILS, REVISES TITLE, LEDE, EDITS THROUGH

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - A Jewish extremist on Thursday attacked a church in the Old City of East Jerusalem, said Israeli police.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that an "extremist" toppled a statue of Jesus in the Church of the Flagellation on the Via Dolorosa in the Old City.

The witnesses added that one of the guards at the church had managed to take control of the extremist before the Israeli police arrived at the church and arrested him.

Speaking to Anadolu, Majid al-Rishq, one of the church's guards, said he saw the perpetrator several times in the area, and this morning he saw him wearing a Jewish Kippah.

He said he stopped him while attempting to destroy a statue of Jesus with a hammer before the Israeli police came to arrest him.

Al-Rishq, who have been working in the church for 20 years, said the extremist entered the church with two tourist groups from Spain and Indonesia. After that, he heard a loud voice hitting, and when he rushed to the place, he found him trying to destroy the statue of Jesus.

He added that the extremist tried to assault him with the hammer but was able to control him and handed him to the Israeli police.

The Israeli police, for its part, said in a statement that it "arrested an American tourist suspected of vandalizing a statue in a church in the Old City of Jerusalem."

"The suspect was transferred for interrogation, and the Israeli police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the case," it said, adding that he "may be mentally ill."

"We deal seriously with the damage to religious institutions and sites. The police will continue to act against acts of violence and vandalism in the holy places of all religions," the Israeli police said.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli media outlets reported that Israeli extremists had attacked the church before the police statement was issued.
This is the latest attack on churches in East Jerusalem.

Last week, Israeli extremists attacked the residents and property of the Armenian Patriarchate, while last month, a Christian cemetery near the Old City was attacked.

Church leaders have repeatedly called on Israeli authorities to put an end to the attacks, which they described as "hate crimes."

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat and Ahmed Asmar