{"id":180935,"date":"2026-05-01T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/?p=180935"},"modified":"2026-04-30T21:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T18:22:29","slug":"jerusalem-nun-attack-sparks-outrage-wave-of-condemnations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-nun-attack-sparks-outrage-wave-of-condemnations\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem nun attack sparks outrage: wave of condemnations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The attack on a nun, reportedly on racist grounds, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, shortly after she passed near King David\u2019s Tomb in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, continues to generate outrage, drawing a wave of condemnations. In the eyes of the Christian world, the incident is not seen as an isolated criminal act, but as a reflection of rising religious and political tensions in Jerusalem during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The location of the attack is considered symbolic &#8211; near the Room of the Last Supper (the Cenacle) on Mount Zion, where Jesus dined before being arrested by soldiers of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate and led to crucifixion. The nun herself is also a researcher at the \u00c9cole Biblique et Arch\u00e9ologique Fran\u00e7aise de J\u00e9rusalem, a French academic institution located within the Saint Stephen\u2019s Monastery compound on Nablus Road in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is this an isolated incident or part of rising tensions against Christians in Jerusalem?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Father Olivier-Thomas Venard, head of the institution, was among the first to report the incident, describing it as \u201csectarian violence\u201d and calling on authorities to act decisively against the attacker. On his X account, he also shared an image of the nun during her academic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\"><p lang=\"iw\" dir=\"rtl\">\u05ea\u05d9\u05e2\u05d5\u05d3 &#8211; \u05ea\u05e7\u05d9\u05e4\u05d4 \u05d4\u05e0\u05d6\u05d9\u05e8\u05d4 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d6\u05d5\u05e8 \u05e7\u05d1\u05e8 \u05d3\u05d5\u05d3 \u05d1\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05e9\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sQzwUAQ1Yc\">pic.twitter.com\/sQzwUAQ1Yc<\/a><\/p>&mdash; jerusalem online (@Jlmonline) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jlmonline\/status\/2049916470730031376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> \n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the French Consulate in Jerusalem strongly condemned the aggression against the French citizen, wished her a speedy recovery, and demanded that justice be served. The Vatican, through the Apostolic Nunciature in Israel, issued an official statement saying that violence against Christians in Jerusalem has \u201ccrossed a red line.\u201d The Vatican\u2019s representative called on Israeli authorities to strengthen enforcement and bring charges against those inciting violence. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, spoke sharply, stating that the current political climate is giving \u201clegitimacy to discrimination and violence\u201d against the Christian community.<br><br><a href=\"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-on-edge-nun-attacked-near-davids-tomb\/\"><\/a><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-on-edge-nun-attacked-near-davids-tomb\/\">Jerusalem on Edge: Nun attacked near David\u2019s Tomb<\/a><\/strong><br><br>In addition, the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem released a report condemning the recent \u0633\u0644\u0633\u0644\u0629 of attacks, including the assault on the nun, describing it as an attempt to undermine the Christian presence in the city. The Custody of the Holy Land also expressed deep concern over the personal safety of clergy in public spaces in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How did institutions in Israel respond to the Jerusalem incident?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In Israel, the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University joined the condemnation, issuing an official statement denouncing the extremists responsible for the attack. The faculty noted that the French Biblical School, where the nun conducts research, is a partner institution, and described the incident as part of a \u201ctroubling pattern of growing hostility\u201d toward the Christian community, undermining Jerusalem\u2019s pluralistic values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid the international backlash, Israel\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a strong condemnation on its X account, calling the attack \u201cdespicable\u201d and stressing that it has no place in Israeli society. The ministry expressed solidarity with the Latin Patriarchate and pledged to uphold freedom of worship for all religions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The attack on a nun, reportedly on racist grounds, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, shortly after she passed near King David\u2019s Tomb in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, continues to generate outrage, drawing a wave of condemnations. In the eyes of the Christian world, the incident is not seen as an isolated criminal act, but as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":180933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9320","_seopress_titles_title":"Jerusalem nun attack sparks outrage: wave of condemnations","_seopress_titles_desc":"International criticism follows the attack on a nun near King David\u2019s Tomb in Jerusalem this past week","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,184,68],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-180935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking","8":"category-184","9":"category-68"},"acf":{"subtitle":"International criticism follows the attack on a nun near King David\u2019s Tomb in Jerusalem this past week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180960,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180935\/revisions\/180960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}