By MÉLANIE LIDMAN
Three Palestinians were arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging part of the nativity scene at a Catholic church in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian Authority police said.
Police said Wednesday evening that the arrests were made after reviewing surveillance footage. Police said they seized tools from the suspects that they believed were used in the attack, and condemned the apparent attempt to incite sectarian and religious tensions in the West Bank.
The Church of the Holy Redeemer in Jenin posted photos of the arson on social media, showing the skeleton of a synthetic Christmas tree whose green plastic branches had been emptied, with red and gold ornaments strewn across the yard. The church said the attack happened around 3 a.m. Monday and also damaged part of the nursery.
The church quickly cleaned up the burned tree and erected a new Christmas tree the next day, in time for Christmas mass. The church held a special ceremony attended by local Muslim and Christian leaders and politicians. The Rev. Amer Jubran, the church’s local priest, said the fire was an isolated incident and stressed the unity of the town.
“This occasion reaffirmed that attempts to harm religious symbols will never diminish the spirit of the city or the faith of its residents,” the Church of the Holy Redeemer said in a statement. The church did not respond to requests for additional comment.
The West Bank’s small Christian community faces growing threats of extremism from multiple sides, including Israeli settlers and Palestinian extremists, leading them to leave the region en masse.
Christians represent between 1 and 2% of the West Bank’s approximately 3 million inhabitants, including a large Muslim majority. Across the Middle East, the Christian population has steadily declined as people fled conflict and attacks.
Israel, whose founding declaration includes safeguarding religious freedom and all holy sites, sees itself as an island of religious tolerance in a volatile region. But some church authorities and watchdog groups have lamented a recent increase in anti-Christian sentiments and harassment, particularly in Jerusalem’s Old City. Extremist Israeli settlers have also vandalized and burned areas around Christian churches and villages.
The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has sparked a wave of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military targeting militants in large-scale operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. This coincided with an increase in settler violence and Palestinian attacks against Israelis. Palestinian militants have attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank.
Israel conquered the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Jenin, a northern West Bank city known as a militant stronghold.
