Video of attack on French nun in Jerusalem causes widespread condemnation

A video of an attack on a French Catholic nun and archeological researcher in Jerusalem has caused widespread revulsion and been denounced as a “shameful act” by Israel’s foreign ministry. In the video, a man runs up behind the nun as she walks down a street and pushes her over with force, so that the victim comes close to hitting her head on a block of stone. After walking away a few paces, the attacker, who appears to be Jewish, returns to kick the nun as she lies on the ground and only stops when a passerby intervenes. The nun’s face was grazed but she was not reported to be seriously injured. The Israeli police said they had arrested a 36-year-old man, and that the force would “continue to act with a heavy hand and zero tolerance in order to preserve and maintain the proper and safe fabric of life for all ethnicities and religions in the city of Jerusalem”. The attack took place on Mount Zion, near the site revered by Jewish people as King David’s tomb, and the Cenacle, traditionally held by Christians to be site of the Last Supper. The French consulate strongly condemned the attack and said on X : “France calls for the perpetrator of the aggression to be brought to justice for this act and for justice to be served.” The director of the French School of Biblical and Archeological Research in Jerusalem, Father Olivier Poquillon, said the nun was a researcher at the school, and added that he expected a firm response from the authorities. …