A spate of hate crimes against Christian places of worship in Israel has prompted usually reticent Roman Catholic officials to speak out, hoping that intervention by authorities might bring an end to the vandalism.
In the early hours of September 4, vandals set fire to the door of a renowned Trappist monastery in Latrun (outside Jerusalem) and defaced it with anti-Christian graffiti, stating “Jesus is a monkey”.
In the two weeks which have elapsed since the act of desecration, no arrests have been made, despite police vows that the culprits would be brought to justice. Similar incidences of vandalism also occurred in the months preceding this attack.
The Rev. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, one of the church's top officials in the Holy Land, expressed deep concern over the state of relations between Jews and Christians.
In an interview with the Associated Press,
