A Catholic church by the Sea of Galilee, traditionally held to be the place where Jesus performed the miracles of the loaves and fishes, was seriously damaged by a fire, believed to have been started by Jewish extremists. Graffiti on the walls called for idols to be “cut down”. This is one of 37 such attacks in the last three years, none of which have resulted in indictments.

Tag Meir, a coalition of organisations working to counter the so-called “Tag Mechir” (“price tag”) attacks, strongly condemned the attacks, visiting the church and expressing solidarity with Christians.

Tag Meir commented:
“Our activists came to express our sorrow at such a wicked act, and to show the real face of Judaism and humanity to the members of the Christian faith.
Father Nikodemus Schnabel ‘If there’s a positive takeaway, it was in the outpouring of support we have received from Israelis of all faiths.’”

Tag Meir, with the support of NIF, continue to condemn such attacks, putting pressure on the Israeli authorities to investigate such hate crimes more thoroughly and procure justice for the victims.