The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemns in the strongest terms the vandalizing of a Trappist monastery at Latrun and lauds the swift, unequivocal response of Israel’s political leadership by calling for the quick apprehension and prosecution of those responsible.
Vandals on Tuesday set fire to the doors of the 19th century Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Sept-Douleurs. They sprayed anti-Christian graffiti on the walls, as well as a r eference to the Migron settlement recently evacuated by Israeli governmental order.
“On behalf of the more than 400,000 member families of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, we find this an intolerable attack not only on a religious site, but on the core values of democracy and tolerance that are sacrosanct to the vast majority of Israelis, both secular and religious,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Center. “The Israeli people recognize that Jews have a special obligation to protect the rights of everyone in the state of Israel to pray. The attack is a desecration not only of a Christian site, but of G-d’s Name,” he concluded.
“The monastery is built on the site where Joshua, according to the Bible, miraculously made the sun stand still,” added Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, the Center’s director of interfaith affairs. “Time must have stood still for these vandals for them not to recognize and value the gift of Christian support for Israel, and the bridges of friendship and cooperation that have been built in recent decades,” he added.
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).
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