SWC Condemns Attempted Arson in Historic Church on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem

December 6, 2020

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemns the attacks on Israel and Jews in the wake of the attempted arson attack last Friday on the Church of All Nations on Mt. Zion by a lone deranged perpetrator. The arsonist, a suspect in arson attempts on Jewish property in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem - ‘in preparation for the imminent arrival of the messiah’ - poured a flammable liquid on the floor of the church and ignited it. Teams of Israeli firefighters quickly doused the flames, and police took the suspect (who has a psychiatric record) into custody.
 
The attack was attributed to the Palestinian Authority (PA), by Al-Azhar in Egypt (the flagship educational institution of the Sunni world), and by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch to extremist settlers acting on their racist beliefs. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry found Israel wanting in its protection of holy sites. Wadie Abunassar, adviser to the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries, said, “It seems that people here don’t really promote coexistence based on mutual respect of all faithful in the Holy Land.”
 
“The condemnation of Israel for the very opposite of its behavior amounts to shameless exploitation. These parties are guilty of the very thing they accuse Israel of. If the attack had been politically or religiously motivated, it would stand condemned in advance by the vast majority of Jews and Israelis. It runs counter to the teachings of Judaism, and against Israel’s decades-long track record of protecting the holy sites of all religions, in sharp contrast to the desecration and destruction of Jewish sites under Jordanian rule before 1967.  It is almost amusing to find out about contempt against Christians in a city that gives out free Christmas trees annually to its Christian residents. And the Simon Wiesenthal Center has spoken out where others have been silent about the global trend of hundreds of attacks on holy sites – especially churches in France, and even the United States,” stated Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action.
 
“As Jews, we are especially aware of the bitter fruit of hatred and intolerance,” added the Center’s director of interfaith affairs, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, continuing, “Those who have now condemned Israel and Jews have poured more gasoline on the flames of hatred than the single lunatic perpetrator. We are painfully aware of the toll that radical religious beliefs have taken on our generation. Many people get it – but not yet everyone. The reaction to the attack shows that there is work that still needs to be done. We are confident that our Museum of Tolerance-Jerusalem, now nearing completion, will become a powerful tool in teaching tolerance to generations of Israelis and visitors. In time, perhaps even the bigots outside of Israel will get the message.”

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).