Israeli settlers attack Christian cemetery in Jerusalem

The Al-Aqsa Association for Waqf and Islamic Heritage denounced on Sunday the defacement and destruction of tombstones at a Christian cemetery in occupied Jerusalem.

Criticising the incident, which was carried out by Israeli settlers affiliated to the “Price Tag” movement, the Association called it a “terrorist act of cowardice”.

The Christian cemetery is located in the neighbourhood of the Al-Nabi Daud Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. Settlers often carry out such “Price Tag” attacks on Islamic and Christian sites in occupied Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in response to actions taken by the occupation authorities that the settlers deem objectionable.

Meanwhile, another group of Israeli settlers defaced eight cars owned by Palestinians in Jerusalem, causing severe damages.

The Association noted that such “systematic” aggressions are mainly targeting the Arabic Islamic and Christian existence in the holy city, and that most cases are either left unsolved or the perpetrators are never prosecuted. Therefore, the Association blamed the Israeli authorities for such aggressions because of its “soft policy” in dealing with them.

“This encourages those extremist youth to carry out more and more acts of aggression,” the Association said.

As a response to these attacks, the Association affirmed that the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Palestine are the roots of all Palestinians in the holy land. It stressed that such attacks increased Palestinians’ steadfastness to liberate their land, “which will remain Palestinian land forever.”