The attempt to set fire on the Gethsemane Church in Jerusalem by a Jewish settler came as a result of the hostile environment provided by the Israeli right-wing governments, in addition to the Arab regimes embracing normalization and international silence, Al-Quds International Institution said in a press statement.

"Planning for this crime is as dangerous as the crime itself since it reflects a great tendency within the settler community towards extremism, aggression, and encroachment on everything which is not Jewish in Jerusalem," the institution stated.

It added that "this increased aggression among settlers indicates an unprecedented level of attacks awaiting Palestinians, their property, homes, and lands as well as Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem."

The institution highlighted that such aggression comes within a recurring historical pattern of attacking Christian holy sites in the festive seasons, and around Christmas and New Year’s Day in particular.

Moreover, it underscored that the extremist settlers would not have gone that far in their aggression against holy sites had it not been for the international disregard for the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its settlers, the hostile environment provided by the Israeli right-wing governments and extremist Jewish groups in addition to the political and moral decline of some Arab regimes embracing normalization.

"All that has made settlers believe that no law could deter their crimes and that the Palestinians were left with no support or defense," it confirmed. "To defend Jerusalem, its people, and its Islamic and Christian holy sites against the attacks of extremist settlers and the illegal Israeli occupation policies, it is important for the Jerusalemites, and the Palestinians in general, to stand together in determination and resilience and to devise creative methods to confront settlers."

The institution stressed the need for the formation of popular committees to protect Palestinian holy sites and property, provide full support for Jerusalemites, and pursue the Israeli occupation in all available international forums at the diplomatic and legal levels besides other forms of pressure, accountability, and confrontation.

"We demand the Palestinian Authority and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to put more effort and to make all possible contacts to expose the recent attempted arson attack at the Gethsemane Church, and all Israeli crimes in Jerusalem. We also call on all media outlets as well as media people and activists to reveal this and other Israeli crimes to the world for it to act and stop this aggression so that it does not turn into a witness, and even an accomplice, to the destruction of human and cultural heritage in Jerusalem, should it remain silent on the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its settlers," it concluded.

It is worth noting that an Israeli settler sneaked into the Gethsemane Church, known as, the Church of All Nations, in the Mount of Olives area in Jerusalem, on 4/12/2020, poured flammable liquid there, and tried to set some of the wooden pews on fire but was thwarted by local Palestinian citizens.

Source : Safa