#HolyLand – In the early hours of Sunday, six young Jewish Israeli men approached the entrance of the Saint James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and carried out a coordinated act of harassment against the historic Christian site.
At approximately 1:00 a.m., the group took turns spitting on the monastery’s entrance and the ground in front of it. When an Armenian woman living nearby began filming the incident from her window, the men turned their attention toward her. They threw stones at the window and shouted insults, including “Get back inside, you daughter of a whore!”
Israeli police responded to the scene after being alerted by residents. Officers detained the six suspects. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem later filed a formal complaint with the authorities, describing the episode as an attack on a sacred Christian site and on members of the local Armenian community.
According to official police records, three of the detainees were issued restraining orders that barred them from entering the Old City of Jerusalem for 15 days. The remaining three were released without such restrictions. No serious injuries were reported.
The incident took place at the historic Saint James Monastery (also known as the Cathedral of St. James), a central institution of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Holy Land and one of the most important Christian landmarks in the Armenian Quarter. Community leaders condemned the attack and called for stronger measures to prevent repeated harassment of Christian clergy and holy sites in the Old City.
Israeli police stated that the case was being treated as a public-order offence and that investigations into similar incidents in the area remained ongoing.
Image: Saint James Monastery in Jerusalem.
