ISRAELI youths reportedly vandalized a Christian cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem over the New Year holidays, smashing crosses and knocking down headstones on more than 30 graves.
News reports said the assault on the historic Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery happened at around 3.20pm on Sunday and was discovered on Tuesday evening.
At least two vandals were seen breaking into the cemetery and smashing crosses, throwing big rocks and pieces of marble onto the graves, and destroying iconography.
In a statement, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East said many of the destroyed gravestones belonged to historic figures, including the founder of the Jerusalem University College.
“Among the obliterated tombstones was one containing the bust of the Right Reverend Samuel Gobat, the second Protestant Bishop in Jerusalem and founder of the adjoining Jerusalem University College, formally known as the Gobat School,” the statement read.
At least three gravestones belonged to British police officers who died in Palestine during the British Mandate period.
Israeli police said the assailants’ identity remains unknown. However, it said it has opened an investigation.
The cemetery is one of Jerusalem’s iconic sites. It was established in 1848, adjacent to the Old City on Mount Zion, on a plot owned by the Jerusalem University College, which teaches courses on Christian theology. Christians believe Jesus’s Last Supper took place on Mount Zion.
The cemetery has 77 graves of British military personnel and 73 of Palestine Police who fell during the Second World War.
