Israel’s former ambassador to India Daniel Carmon described an attack by an Israeli extremist on a French nun in occupied East Jerusalem as “Jewish terrorism”.
On Wednesday, a 36-year-old Israeli man was arrested after assaulting a nun in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli police, in an attack they called “racially motivated.”
“A nun, peacefully walking in a Jerusalem street, is identified as a non Jew, pushed, shoved, thrown to the ground , later kicked by the same perpetrator,” Carmon wrote on US social media platform X.
“If this is not Jewish Terrorism, then what is?” he questioned.
Also on Wednesday, the French Consulate in Jerusalem said Paris “strongly condemns the attack against a French nun (identity not specified),” adding: “We are closely monitoring her health condition and call for the perpetrator to be brought to justice.”
Police, who have been criticized for not acting in previous similar cases, released an image showing the nun with a head injury.
They said they “view all forms of violence with seriousness, particularly attacks motivated by racism targeting clergy.”
Hundreds of clergy and nuns from around the world serve in churches and religious institutions in occupied East Jerusalem.
Recent years have seen a noticeable rise in attacks by Israelis on Muslim and Christian clergy and on holy sites in Jerusalem.
Church leaders in Jerusalem have repeatedly called on Israeli authorities to act decisively to stop such attacks.
The attack follows a video last month showing an Israeli soldier hitting with a sledgehammer a statue of Jesus.
Violence by Israeli forces and occupiers in the occupied West Bank since October 2023 has killed at least 1,155 Palestinians, wounded around 11,750, and led to the arrest of about 22,000 others, according to Palestinian figures. – AA