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Christian Church Set on Fire in Israel
Israeli church near Sea of Galilee set ablaze in possible attack by Jewish extremists.
A fire ripped through one of the most famous Catholic churches in Israel on Thursday, damaging the roof and burning prayer books in what authorities believe was an attack by Jewish extremists.
The fire broke out at the Church of the Multiplication in the middle of the night, causing extensive damage to the inside and outside of the building, said an Israeli police spokesman.
The modern building is built on the remains of a fifth-century Byzantine church. A Byzantine mosaic floor was left unharmed by the fire. The church, which marks the traditional spot of Jesus’s miracle of the loaves and fish, is located in Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel and is one of the most popular stops for Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.
Father Gregory Collins, head of the Order of Saint Benedict in Israel, which maintains the site, said more than 5,000 people visit the church daily. He said it would be closed for the next three days due to the fire damage.
“It’s deplorable, absolutely deplorable. I consider such an attack to be not just an attack on a religious site, on a sanctuary, but also on one of the most visited places in Israel,” he said. “It is also an attack on freedom of speech, democracy and the right to live here.”
Father Matthias Karl, a German monk at the church, said a souvenir shop, an office for pilgrims and a meeting room were badly damaged, and bibles and prayer books were destroyed. “The fire was very active,” he said, but added that the prayer area of the church was unaffected. A monk and a church volunteer were taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation , he said.
A passage from a Jewish prayer, calling for the elimination of idol worship, was found sprayed in red paint on a wall outside the church.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, condemned the incident and ordered the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency to “conduct a full and speedy investigation”.
“This morning’s outrageous arson attack on a church is an attack on us all. In Israel freedom of worship is one of our core values and is guaranteed under the law,” Netanyahu said. “Those responsible for this despicable crime will face the full force of the law. Hate and intolerance have no place in our society.”
The Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, said authorities would make every effort to apprehend those responsible. “Such terrible desecration of an ancient and holy place of prayer is an attack on the very fabric of life in our country, where people of different faiths seek to live together in harmony and mutual tolerance and respect,” he said.
Police said they initially arrested 16 youths, all religious Jewish seminary students from West Bank settlements, but released them shortly thereafter. Their lawyer, Itamar Ben Gvir, told Israeli Army Radio the police had no evidence against the youths and that they were under suspicion simply for looking like young settlers.
In recent years, mosques and churches have been targeted by vandals in similar attacks. They are often attributed to extremist Jews from West Bank settlements. Such attacks have been widely condemned across the political spectrum in Israel, though few arrests have been made.
Last year, a group of mostly Jewish youths attacked the Church of the Multiplication’s outdoor prayer area along the Sea of Galilee, pelting worshippers with stones, destroying a cross and throwing benches into the lake, Karl said.
Nahum Weisfish, a rabbi from Jerusalem, went to the church with an interfaith delegation to express sympathy and condemn the attack.
He said the site might have been targeted because it housed a synagogue some 2,000 years ago. “But either way it is forbidden for this to be done like this. We came to condemn this,” he said.
us news
16 West Bank youths questioned, released in connection with church fire
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Sixteen youths were detained by police for questioning over a suspected arson attack on a historic church in northern Israel.
The youths, reportedly all residents of the West Bank who were hiking in the area, were later released, according to reports.
Fire broke out early Thursday morning at the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, located on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, at the site where Jesus is believed to have fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The church is built on the site of a fifth-century church and contains restored mosaic floors from the time period. The mosaic floors reportedly were not damaged in the fire, according to Reuters.
Graffiti reading “False idols will be smashed” and “pagans” were found on the walls of the church,leading police to believe the fire was set deliberately as part of a hate crime. The Northern District Police are investigating the fire and graffiti.
The detained youths reportedly are being represented by the right-wing Honenu legal rights organization.
The Rabbis for Human Rights organization told Reuters that there have been 43 hate crime attacks against churches, mosques and monasteries in Israel, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem since 2009.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, saying, “In Israel, freedom of worship is one of our core values and is guaranteed under the law. Those responsible for this despicable crime will face the full force of the law.”
President Reuven Rivlin, in a call to Father Gregory Collins, head of the Order of Saint Benedict in Israel, called the incident “an attack on the very fabric of life in our country.”
The Council of Religious Institutions in the Holy Land condemned the attack in a statement, saying it “calls on the police forces and respective authorities to do their utmost to bring the perpetrators to justice, to prevent such attacks and restore safety and respect for Holy Sites of all religions.”
The statement said the council represents the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the heads of the local churches of the Holy Land and the courts of Sharia law in the Palestinian Authority.
Lawmakers in Israel and the country’s Ashkenazic chief rabbi, David Lau, also condemned the attack.
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