A group of young religious Jews continues to vandalize a property of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, in the Old City of Jerusalem, but what occurred last Monday morning “was unprecedented”, Metropolitan of Capitolias Isichios Kontogiannis told CNA.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem protested about the vandalism in a chapel to Israeli authorities, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece issued a statement asking for the order to be restored.
“That morning, the Arab guardian of the building, which houses the Patriarchal School of Saint Zion, the Chapel of the catacomb of the 1st AD century and the Greek Orthodox cemetery, informed us that just outside the entrance, 50 to 60 young religious Jews set up tents and shouted that this place belongs to them” and threatened the guard.
Some of them started breaking through the iron gate, cutting the barbed wire and entering the area shouting slogans.
“This is not the first time that this has happened,” Metropolitan Isichios said, who is head of the patriarchal immovable property committee.
“In the last six months, there have been at least six such incidents. The situation is starting to get out of control lately and this time we decided to file a lawsuit with the police,” he said.
Noting that the locks of the main entrance have been violated more than 13 times, he said that they take advantage of the night, when there is no guard, adding that the property is located in a secluded site.
He continued by saying that by dawn the next morning, they find dirt inside the property, as the young people enter at night, urinate etc.
Despite the fact, he said, that the police promises to locate them, “this has never happened so far”.
“This time we took pictures while the young people were breaking into the entrance and climbing the fence. We feel unprotected, that is the truth,” he said, adding that when they saw the police arriving, they quickly picked up the tents they had set up and fled.
A lawsuit was filed the same day and according to Metropolitan Isichios, the Israeli police said that the photos will help locate and arrest them.
The photos were published at the website of the Press Office of the Patriarchate.
“Let’s see whether the police will be able to do something this time,” the Metropolitan concluded.
Source: Cyprus News Agency