Gethsemane church, in the Mount of Olives area in East Jerusalem is one of the oldest historical churches in Jerusalem and around the world, was not spared the attacks of settlers who tried to burn it on the eve of the New Year's Eve celebrations.

It is distinctive the most with its pillars in the front, at the top of which there is a mosaic symbolizing the Lord Jesus Christ as “a link between God and humanity,” according to Christians belief.

The church was built in the period between 1919 and 1924 with financial funding from 16 European countries. Therefore, it is known as the "Church of All Nations". Its garden includes eight olive trees related to the Roman period. The painting on the facade of the church is "the Doomsday Painting" by the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci.

According to Christian books, this church, which was built on the Rock of Pain and is only 200 meters from the Lions Gate, represents the last moments of the life of the lord Jesus Christ when he was sitting contemplating and realizing that he would be arrested. He felt distressed before his arrest by the Romans.

During the past years, the Church was subjected to several Israeli attacks, the last of which was yesterday when an extremist settler set fire in it which led to damage the floor and some seats, but it was quickly controlled. This arson attack resulted to a widespread Palestinian condemnation.

This attack is not the first one on the houses of worship and the Islamic and Christian holy places in Palestine in general, and Jerusalem in particular, but it has been preceded, in recent years, by many Israeli attacks and crimes that have targeted worshipers and many religious and Christian figures in the city.

Jerusalemites, daily, face settlers racism and systematic attacks that represented by storming Al-Aqsa Mosque, attacking, chasing, and deporting worshipers, targeting holy places, and attempting to seize homes.

“The attack on the Gethsemane Church is a clear violation of all international laws and covenants that guarantee the freedom of worship and the sanctity of the Holy Places, weakens the Palestinian Arab presence in Jerusalem, and distorts and excludes everything that is Christian and Islamic,” according to data from religious and human rights institutions.

Racist assault

The Secretary General of the Islamic Christian Organization for Supporting of Jerusalem and the Holy sites, Hanna Issa, says that the targeting of the Church of Gethsemane by an extremist constitutes a brutal racist attack, holding the Israeli authorities fully responsible for this sinful attack.

“The Israeli authorities want to make Jerusalem city purely Jewish, so that there are neither Muslims nor Christians in it. This is a systematic policy supported by the highest levels of the Israeli government aiming to eliminate the Palestinian presence in the city,” Issa added to “Safa” agency.

Since the outgoing US President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of "Israel", the Israeli authorities have been trying to implement its policy that aims to displacing Jerusalemites by various means and methods trying to deny the Islamic and Christian presence in Jerusalem.

“Israel, with its continuous attacks on the Islamic and Christian sanctities, antagonize all International laws, and the resolutions of the United Nations and Security Council.” he clarified.

According to Issa, “from 1948 until the present day, Israel and its settlers carried out about 300 attacks on Christian churches and 1500 attacks on Palestinian Islamic holy sites,”

The continued attacks on the worships houses and sanctities and the targeting of Islamic cemeteries, the last of which was the cemetery of the martyrs in Jerusalem, is an evidence of the barbarism and brutality of settlers who practice extremism and terrorism with the protection of the Israeli forces.

Issa says that Israel wants to judaizate and fully control the holy sites, so that they have a Jewish character. In addition, to obliterate the Arab identity in the city and establishing "Greater Jerusalem", calling for urgent action to stop and confront these attacks.

Creating a repulsive environment

The head of the Christian National Gathering in the Holy Lands, Dmitry Deliani, believes that the attempt to burn down the historic church, which is great importance to Christians all over the world, is a "terrorist act stemming from a racist environment nourished by the Israeli government through its support for settlers religious schools in the settlements.”

“The Israeli government is providing full support to these extremists and is working to create outposts of hate and settler terrorism, as it is a state based on a racist ideology that does not differentiate between Islamic or Christian places,” Deliani told "Safa" agency.

He added, "Israel considers that Muslims and Christians are undesirable in Jerusalem, so it is working hard to expel and displace them by targeting their sanctities.”

This attack comes within the framework of the Israeli efforts to create an environment that expels Muslims and Christians Palestinians from Jerusalem in particular, and Palestine in general.

Diliani says, “Gethsemane Church is located in a holy place and represents a shrine for Christian pilgrims from all over the world, and violating it is a special symbolism for all Christians.”

"We reject the encroachment on Islamic and Christian sanctities, and the Christian and Muslim Palestinian Jerusalemites stand in one trench to defend their city, their sanctities, and endowments," the Archbishop of Sebastia for the Greek Orthodox , Atallah Hanna said.

He added, “Jerusalem is in grave danger, and as Jerusalemites, we must be alert to what the Israelis is planning against Jerusalem, its sanctities, and our Palestinian presence in it. Moreover, these attacks will only increase our adherence to our values and principles, our original historical presence, and our human and national heritage.”