By Daoud Kuttab

The Jerusalem diocese of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East issued a statement on December 4^th condemning the vandalism of its cemetery in Jerusalem’s Mount Zion.

The statement noted that security cameras “revealed that the crimes took place beginning around 15:20 on January 1^st and that perpetrators numbered at least two, both young males wearing kippahs and tallit katans.” (Religious Jewish garments)

The statement which “condemned these wanton acts of discrimination” noted that among the thirty tombstones that were vandalized was the bust of The Right Reverend Samuel Gobat, the second Protestant Bishop in Jerusalem. Also, three Commonwealth graves of Palestinian police officers were among those destroyed.

The Church’s statement called on relevant authorities to “search for, apprehend, and prosecute the perpetrators of these terrorist crimes to the fullest extent of the law including those laws pertaining to hate crimes.

The Episcopal Church welcomed statements of support by the Israeli president, chief rabbi, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry and invited “other political and religious leaders both in Jerusalem and around the world to join in condemning and combating these and other violent acts against sacred sites.”