JERUSALEM, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 (WAFA) – The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem today condemned the attack of a clergy by Jewish settlers in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Patriarchate said in a press communiqué that it “strictly condemns the attack on Very Reverend Father Arbag Sarukhanyan by young Jews in the middle of the night, when Fr. Arbag was heading to the Holy Sepulchre Church.”

Koryun Baghdasarian, Chancellor at Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said that Sarukhanian was injured in the attack. He was rushed to hospital and was discharged after receiving the necessary treatment.

The Patriarchate has filed a formal complaint with the police, after which three of the attackers were arrested.

“The Armenian Patriarchate complained to the Police for this rude attack and demanded fair investigation for punishment to the guilty, in order to avoid such incidents from occurring in the future,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Supreme Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Churches Affairs, Ramzi Khoury, condemned the aggressive attack against the priest.

Khoury slammed the attack as “racist” and “savage”, while pointing that “these recurrent attacks lie at the core of the Israeli apartheid government’s approach” and “stem from hatred instilled in Israeli [Zionist] Jewish settlers and perpetuated by their upbringing against Christian and Muslim clerics and holy sites as well as the Palestinian people in Jerusalem”.   

K.F.

K.F.