Vicar of Jerusalem denounces Israeli police violence against Copts
Msgr. Marcuzzo speaks of "evident disproportion" between the Copts demonstration and the response of the security forces. Protests provoked by controversy between Copts and Ethiopians over control of Deir al-Sultan monastery. Last week a Salesian cemetery was vandalized: "Worrying episodes". Israeli police use "two weights and two measures": blessing for Orthodox Jews; violence towards faithful of other religions.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The Israeli police response to the protest of Coptic monks reveals an "evidently disproportionate" use of force that "cannot be justified" and is a source of "serious concern", says Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, patriarchal vicar of Jerusalem, commenting on yesterday’s assault by Israeli agents on a group of Coptic Orthodox priests (click here for the video) near the monastery of Deir al-Sultan. "[The Copts] wanted to demonstrate peacefully - adds the prelate - and this violence was unnecessary and unjustified, especially towards monks who were not armed and had done nothing".
Yesterday there were moments of intense tension in the heart of Jerusalem involving a group of Orthodox Coptic monks and Israeli security forces. The protest involved control of the monastery of Deir al-Sultan, situated on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City.
Local sources say that the monastery is "occupied" by the Ethiopian Church, although it traditionally belongs to the Copts. Recently, the Ethiopians requested permission for renovation work inside the place of worship, meeting the strong opposition of the Copts. The refusal was motivated by concerns that any authorization for renovations would open the door to a "claim" by the Ethiopian Church to the control and ownership of the monastery itself.
Hence the decision of the Coptic Orthodox monks - who were once in communion with the Ethiopians, but who are now independent of each other - to promote a peaceful protest in the vicinity of the building yesterday morning. An event that has unleashed, as pointed out by Msgr. Marcuzzo, "a violent and disproportionate response" by the Israeli security forces.
An initial assessment of the operation speaks of at least three Egyptian Coptic monks with wounds of various kinds. In addition, five other priests were arrested and detained for hours, before being released.
"The act of exasperated violence - explains the patriarchal vicar of Jerusalem - I think can be attributed to a single and disproportionate gesture of the police intervention. I do not believe there are indications about a way of acting. The fact remains that it is a serious event and involves precise responsibilities of the leaders ". And so far, he adds, "nobody from the Israeli government, but especially the police forces and the Jerusalem municipality has felt compelled to apologize for what happened."
Even though this is an separate episode Msgr. Marcuzzo continues that it is not an "isolated case" but the result of a widespread tendency to abuse, violate, vandalize property and people. "Only last week - said the prelate - dozens of graves were vandalized in the cemetery of the Salesian convent of Beit Jamal " not far from the city of Beit Shemesh, in Israeli territory. On October 17, some religious of the convent, already targeted in the past with bombs, arson attacks and blasphemous slogans in "price tag" cases, discovered the desecration.
"Of course, such serious events do not happen every day - concludes Msgr. Marcuzzo - but these episodes reflect the general climate that exists in the country and which is affecting schools, associations, events. Lately the police seem to have two weights and two measures: if Orthodox Jews protest, attacks or abuses are spared; if believers of other religions protest, the response is violence".
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