Nazareth, Msgr. Marcuzzo: Shocked by attacks on Christian schools. Chaos in Israel worrying

Shots fired at the school and the Franciscan nuns' convent, raid by masked men at the Salesian nuns' institute with a demand to convert. Yesterday mass interrupted with a demand to recite the Koran. For the former vicar the clear condemnation of imams and Islamic leaders in the city  'positive' . The climate of heightened tension around the reform of justice 'wide ranging and worrying'.

Nazareth (AsiaNews) - A climate of tension "that has surprised everyone, even the Muslims themselves" and that represents a "novelty". This is how the former Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem of the Latins Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, still resident in the holy city and active in pastoral work, comments on the latest episodes of violence and anti-Christian intolerance that have taken place in Nazareth.

"First," he tells AsiaNews, "shots were fired at the school of the Franciscan nuns, then the raid on the Salesian nuns with the greeting 'Ramadan Kareem' and the exhortation to become Muslims. The latest yesterday morning, when they showed up at a church during mass and asked the deputy parish priest, a Maronite priest, to recite the Koran'.

When the priest refused, the young man 'started to pray' until a group of people arrived and 'convinced him to desist and leave' to avoid generating further tension. 

Three incidents in a few days against Christians in the city of Jesus, which is also - as Msgr. Marcuzzo explains - the most important centre "of the Muslim and Arab world in Israel". Of these, two involved educational institutes, which is why the general secretariat of Christian schools in Israel has called for a general strike in all the institutes in Nazareth for today.

For tomorrow, 'special educational activities' are planned with in-depth discussions on the topic of confessional violence and ways to counter fundamentalism in society. On 29 March, the Salzian Sisters School will hold a press conference entitled "No to violence", while the bishops on the same day "will publish an official note - the prelate anticipates - on the recent violence". 

The first attack dates back to 16 March, when around 6.30 p.m. some individuals fired gunshots in the direction of the school and the Franciscan nuns' convent. A gesture considered a "dangerous precedent", because for the first time it targeted a Christian educational institution in Israel, which until now had been spared.

The second took place on 24th March and involved the Salesian nuns' institute and house, attacked by masked people in a raid with a clear confessional matrix. The nuns recount that, after opening the gate, they found themselves in front of people with their faces covered by black masks who were calling on them to convert to Islam in this "holy month of Ramadan". At least five young men are said to have carried out the assault, who then fled when the guard arrived.

The assaults come in a climate of deep tension, starting with the wave of protests in Israel around the controversial justice reform. Added to this is the clash between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, fuelled by provocative gestures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir's walk to the Esplanade of Mosques, which risks turning into a new intifada and has already caused a record number of casualties.

Then there are the attacks against places of worship and Christian centres at the hands of Jewish extremists: the latest episode on 19 March at the Tomb of Mary, preceded by the raid in early February against the Church of the Flagellation, while at the beginning of the year extremist groups desecrated a cemetery on Mount Zion and before that hit other targets including a church near the Cenacle, the Basilica of Nazareth itself and Catholic and Greek Orthodox buildings.

"With reference to the episodes of intolerance in Nazareth in recent days," emphasises Msgr. Marcuzzo, "it is important to note the stance taken by two authoritative imams of the city, heads of mosques, who have strongly condemned these gestures.

They are mostly young people, perhaps driven by too much enthusiasm, who on the occasion of Ramadan [the Islamic month of fasting and prayer] want to make gestures of ... 'apostolic zeal', people who want to be noticed in a particular climate linked to the holy month'.

"Today the schools are on strike and tomorrow there will be seminars and moments of reflection in the institutes,' explains the former vicar, 'but as Church and Christian leaders we want to try to calm the situation, without making polemics. The real crux of the matter,' he concludes, 'is that these episodes are part of a broader and more worrying picture that is being experienced in Israel, an escalation of tension that has surprised for the speed with which it is taking place and that, at least for now, has not caused any victims. The concern, however, remains."