Attack on Christian Housing Project in Jerusalem Ignored

When an unknown individual spray painted the phrase “Jesus is a monkey” in Hebrew on the doors of a Trappist monastery in Latroun on Sept. 5, 2012, it made the papers all over the world.

The desecration, thought to be perpetrated by an Israeli Jew angry over the evacuation of Migron in the West Bank, was covered in the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and a number of other news outlets, throughout the world. It was covered in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, for example.

CNN and NBC News also covered the desecration.

The desecration was newsworthy, no doubt about it.

What people have not heard about is a much more violent attack on a Roman Catholic housing project in the neighborhood of Bethpage in Jerusalem that took place in August. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem provides the following details in a story written by Laurent Charnin:

Bethphage –The Episcopal Commission for Media of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land condemned a violent incident in the Christian housing complex of Bethphage in Jerusalem.
 
This occurred on Monday, August 20, from 8:00 p.m. to midnight when a group of fifty boys attacked the residential complex for 79 families which is part of a project of the Franciscans of the Holy Land.Following a brawl between young people of the Christian area and some neighbors, friends were called and they all attacked the complex, yelling, throwing stones, smashing cars and windows of houses. A number of residents were injured and one had to be hospitalized for treatment.”They do so because they know that we will not respond with violence!” protested David Josef, a father of five children, as he emphasized: “This is the third time this happened to us in two years …”
 
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm and Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem, William Shomali accompanied by Priests and Franciscan Friars visited Bethphage on Wednesday morning to show their solidarity with the residents. They heard the complaints and sentiments expressed by the population and saw first-hand the damage resulting from these unlawful actions.
 
All agreed in condemning these events and to take necessary measures to prevent recurrence. The importance of good neighbor relations was emphasized between the residents of the housing complex and their Muslim neighbors.

A close reading of the news article published by the Latin Patriarchate indicates the attack was an episode of Muslim-on-Christian violence.

A Nexis search for the words “Bethpage” and “Patriarchate” in major world newspapers published after Aug. 19, 2012 yields no results, indicating that the world press ignored the story. A similar search for “Bethpage” and “attack” yields a total of 10 stories, all of which deal with local stories that have nothing to do with the attack described by the Patriarchate in Jerusalem.

A Nexis search for the word “Patriarchate” in major world newspapers published after Aug. 19, 2012 yields six results which do not have anything to do with the attacked described above.

The Latin Patriarchate published another story about the attack here, and a Youtube video about the attack can be seen here. The Algemeiner referenced the attack in an article here.

So now you know, no thanks to the news organizations that purport to keep you informed.

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