Four Arrested Over Spitting at Armenian Cathedral in Jerusalem

Israeli police arrested four people over the weekend on suspicion of spitting at the Armenian Cathedral of St. James in Jerusalem’s Old City, weeks after six others were detained in a similar incident at the same church.

Police said the four were among seven suspects arrested over the weekend in cases involving religious sites and burial grounds in Jerusalem. Three others were detained on suspicion of vandalizing Muslim graves.

The latest arrests follow a separate incident earlier this month in which six people were accused of throwing stones and spitting at St. James Cathedral. Police said five of those suspects were minors and one was an adult.

Jerusalem-based Armenian journalist Kegham Balian reported that the group also threw stones at the window of an Armenian woman who was filming the incident. According to Balian, the suspects shouted an obscene insult at the woman and told her to go back inside.

The Cathedral of St. James is the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and stands at the center of the Armenian Quarter, home to one of the world’s oldest continuous Armenian communities.

The incidents add to concerns among Armenian Christians in Jerusalem over harassment in and around the Old City, where clergy and members of the community have previously reported being spat at and verbally abused.

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