Outrage at desecration of historic Protestant Cemetery in Jerusalem
Police investigates the desecration of at least 30 tombstones by two Jewish-looking individuals at the 19th century Protestant Cemetery in Jerusalem.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby condemned on Wednesday the desecration of the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion calling the vandalism of at least 30 tombstones a "blasphemous act."
“The desecration of Christian graves in Jerusalem is a blasphemous act. I join the chief rabbi and religious leaders in Jerusalem in condemning it," the archbishop said.
The desecration of the cemetery was partially captured on camera on Tuesday. A video posted Tuesday on social media shows two individuals desecrating graves at the cemetery. The two individuals appear to be Orthodox Jews, as they wear traditional skullcaps and traditional Jewish four-fringe garments. They are seen pulling a stone cross out of its place, toppling it and then smashing it with heavy rocks. Other pictures from the cemetery show that at least 30 more graves were desecrated, including the one of former Bishop of Jerusalem Samuel Gobat, who served between 1846 until 1880.
