Israeli extremists attack Armenian patriarchate in Jerusalem

Israeli extremists attack Armenian patriarchate in Jerusalem

PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli extremists on Sunday, January 29 attacked the headquarters of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem and climbed the Patriarchate's walls to remove its flag, Fr. Aghan Gogchean has revealed.

On other occasions, extremist groups wrote racist graffiti on the walls of the Patriarchate and attacked on a monk in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The attack comes amid a string of similar acts of aggression against the Armenian community in Jerusalem.

The Armenian restaurant Taboon Wine Bar was earlier attacked by a group of Israeli extremists. The attack was caught on CCTV footage and showed the group shouting and carrying Israeli flags as a shoving match ensured and chairs were thrown violently toward patrons outside the Taboon Wine Bar restaurant. One agitator was seen with an aerosol can spraying an unknown liquid at those gathered outside the restaurant. Police reportedly arrived at the scene an hour after they had been informed about the attack. While they ordered the attackers to leave the area, none were arrested, The Christian Post reports.

Christian leaders in the Holy Land have already condemned the assaults, warning that the “radical aggression” is aimed at imposing an exclusively “Jewish character” on the city.

“This unprovoked violence instilled fear in the shopkeepers and residents of the Christian quarter as well as visitors,” the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, which brings together the leaders of the various Catholic churches in the region, said in a statement.

“It is only the latest in a series of episodes of religious violence that is affecting the symbols of the Christian community and beyond.”

The Christian leaders said they condemn such attacks and “express our concern for the escalation of violence in the Holy City.”

They noted that the incident took place in the street which leads to the Holy Sepulcher, the most sacred Christian place in the world, and in the Christian Quarter which hosts many monasteries and churches.

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