Armenian priest assaulted by Yeshiva students

Jerusalem Post
Jan. 6, 2005 19:04

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

An Armenian Priest was assaulted by four yeshiva students in the Old City of
Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, in the second such attack in the last three
months, police said.

The altercation began when the priest, Father Avedis, was spat on by one of
the yeshiva students in front of the Armenian Monastery where he lives in the
Armenian Quarter of the Old City, the priest said.

The Jewish assailant refused to go to police with the priest, and the two got
into a scuffle.

Meanwhile, a couple more yeshiva students came by, and got into a heated
argument with the priest over who attacked whom, the priest recounted.

A foreign ministry official, accompanied by an Israeli security guard, who
was passing by came to the aid of the priest, and summoned police.

The four haredi suspects subsequently scuffled with the Israeli security
guard who tried to detain them before police arrived, police said.

The four were subsequently placed under arrest, and will be remanded in a
Jerusalem court on Friday morning.

The priest was not hurt, and did not require medical treatment in the
incident.

The assault on the priest was immediately condemned by the New York-based
Anti Defamation League, and, later, by the Mayor of Jerusalem.

“This kind of behavior is outrageous, inappropriate and goes against all
Jewish teachings, said the Co- Director of the ADL’s Israel Office Laura Kam
Issacharoff.

She added that such attacks are not as incidental as they seem, and that
Jerusalem yeshiva students must be taught respect and tolerance of others.

Later Thursday evening, Jerusalem Mayor Uri
Lupolianski also condemned the attack which he called a “despicable act”
which is “likely to harm the delicate relations that exist in Jerusalem.”

In a statement, he added that the “Jewish people,
which was subject to centuries of persecution abroad, should be the first to
show tolerance and moderation to others.”

The attack on the Armenian priest was the second such incident in the Old
City of Jerusalem in the last three months.

In October, another yeshiva student spat at a Sunday morning procession of
Armenian clergymen in
Jerusalem’s Old City and then scuffled with a priest.

He later apologized.