A Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem was set on fire in what is believed to be a hate crime.
Graffiti reading “Redemption of Zion” and disparaging Jesus were spray-painted on the walls of the seminary in the early Thursday morning attack. A room was damaged in the blaze; no one was injured.
“There is no room for such deplorable activity in Jerusalem,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said in a statement. “We must eradicate this behavior and bring those responsible to justice.”
Barkat said he asked the city’s police chief to speed up the investigation.
The attack comes a day after a mosque was set ablaze in the West Bank village of Jaba, near Bethlehem, in what is believed to be a nationalist attack.
“These attacks are a direct consequence of the calls for recognition of Israel as a ‘Jewish State’ and Jerusalem as the ‘eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish people,'” chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement issued by the Palestinian Authority. “We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for those attacks that aim at terrorizing our people in order to leave their land. We will not tolerate any attacks on our Christian and Muslim religious holy sites, including any graffiti attacking Jesus Christ or Prophet Muhammad.”
