A man has attacked a nun in the heart of Jerusalem, shoving her over and repeatedly kicking her.
Harrowing CCTV footage taken on Tuesday showed the as-yet-unidentified man sprinting up to the nun and giving her a heavy push.
The nun fell hard, and appeared to writhe in agony while clutching her head as her attacker walked away.
But he doubled back on himself, striding over to her and kicking her several times.
It was only after a bystander intervened that he stopped.
The assault occurred in front of the Cenacle, a building on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion considered holy to both Christians and Jews, the latter of whom regard it as the burial place of the biblical figure King David.
Israel’s police said on Wednesday they had arrested a man in connection with the case.
‘The suspect, a 36-year-old male, was identified and subsequently arrested by police,’ the force said in a statement, adding it viewed with ‘utmost severity’ any violent act ‘driven by potentially racist motives and directed toward members of the clergy’.
Police declined to disclose the suspect’s nationality, but said he was arrested ‘on suspicion of assault, with all potential motives under examination’.
The man ran up to her as she was walking, before shoving her down
Harrowing CCTV footage taken on Tuesday showed the as-yet-unidentified man sprinting up to the nun and giving her a heavy shove
The as-yet-unidentified man repeatedly kicked the nun after he pushed her down
Police video showed the nun bruised and the attacker wearing tzitzit, a fringed undergarment worn by some observant Jewish men.
The Times of Israel reported that the arrested suspect was Jewish.
Father Olivier Poquillon, director of Jerusalem’s French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, told AFP the 48-year-old nun was a researcher at the institution and does not wish to speak publicly.
‘Yesterday, around 17.45 … she felt someone come up behind her and throw her with full force onto a rock,’ Poquillon said, describing Tuesday’s attack.
‘While the sister was on the ground, the man began to kick her repeatedly,’ he said.
On Tuesday, Poquillon had denounced a ‘gratuitous assault’ in a statement on X, which was reposted by the French Consulate in Jerusalem with a statement ‘strongly condemning’ the incident.
He called the attack an ‘act of sectarian violence’ and said ‘the scourge of hatred is a common challenge’.
‘Pending the judicial follow-up, we thank the people who came to the aid of our sister during the attack she fell victim to, the diplomats, the academics, and all those who provided their support,’ he wrote on X.
Israel’s foreign ministry also condemned a ‘shameful act’ in a statement on X, and said Israel remained committed ‘to safeguarding freedom of religion and freedom of worship for all faiths’.
The Faculty of Humanities at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University in a statement expressed ‘profound shock and condemnation’ for the attack, and deplored its increasingly common nature.
‘This is not an isolated incident, but part of a troubling pattern of rising hostility toward the Christian community and its symbols,’ the faculty said.
The nun fell hard, and appeared to writhe in agony while clutching her head as her attacked walked away
She suffered heavy bruises to her face
A European diplomatic source in Jerusalem also noted the assault ‘occurred in a context where anti-Christian acts have become commonplace, with insults and spitting by [Jewish] extremists targeting clergy in religious dress on a daily basis.’
Wadie Abunassar, the coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, called attacks targetting Christians a growing phenomenon. He attributed the quick response to the attack on the nun to the fact that it was caught on video.
He said he felt ‘great anger on the system and great sadness because I feel that this will not end anytime soon’. One of the problems, he said, was the deterrence against such violence.
‘Many times in such cases there are no arrests and if there are arrests, sometimes after one or two days, (suspects) are released,’ he added.
‘In some cases, the police do not recommend the prosecution to file charges or to indict them. And in some cases, when there is indictment, the indictment is mild.’
Earlier this month, the military removed two soldiers from combat duty after they destroyed a statue of Jesus Christ in a southern Lebanon village, an act that drew widespread condemnation.
Earlier this month, the military removed two soldiers from combat duty after they destroyed a statue of Jesus Christ in a southern Lebanon village, an act that drew widespread condemnation
The IDF said it viewed the incident with ‘great severity’ and that ‘the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops’.
A photograph of the incident, taken in Debl, a Christian village in south Lebanon near the border with Israel, shows a soldier hitting the statue with what appears to be the butt of a heavy-duty maul axe.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East crisis in early March when the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in support of the Islamic Republic.
Israel responded with a bombing campaign across Lebanon and an invasion of the south.
Following the circulation of the photograph, the Israeli military said the incident was being investigated by the Northern Command and that the ‘IDF is working to assist the community in restoring the statue’.
‘Accordingly, it was decided that the soldier who damaged the Christian symbol and the soldier who photographed the act will be removed from combat duty and will receive 30 days of military detention,’ a statement said.
Six additional soldiers were present at the scene and did not act to stop the incident or report it, the military said.
These troops, ‘who stood by have been summoned for clarification discussions that will be held later on, after which further command-level measures will be determined’.
‘The IDF expresses deep regret over the incident and emphasizes that its operations in Lebanon are directed solely against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and other terrorist groups, and not against Lebanese civilians,’ the Israeli army said.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, criticised what he called a ‘shameful and disgraceful’ act.
‘I am confident that necessary severe measures will be taken against whoever committed this ugly act,’ he wrote on X.
‘We apologise for this incident and to every Christian whose feelings were hurt,’ he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the behaviour in a lengthy post on X, writing: ‘As the Jewish state, Israel cherishes and upholds the Jewish values of tolerance and mutual respect between Jews and worshippers of all faiths.
‘All religions flourish in our land and we view members of all faiths as equals in building our society and region. Yesterday, like the overwhelming majority of Israelis, I was stunned and saddened to learn that an IDF soldier damaged a Catholic religious icon in southern Lebanon.
‘I condemn the act in the strongest terms. Military authorities are conducting a criminal probe of the matter and will take appropriately harsh disciplinary action against the offender.’
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a staunch Christian, said Israel must take action against the ‘outrageous act’.