The leadership of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) has condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent desecration of holy sites in Israel, sacred to Muslims and Jews. WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: “The recent so-called ‘price-tag’ desecration, destruction and burning of mosques and holy Muslim books in the Galilee and in Jaffa is a disgrace to the core values of Judaism and the most fundamental principles of democracy and freedom of the State of Israel. It is unconscionable that such acts are perpetrated by Jews and even more so during the High Holidays .They are a desecration and disgrace of the profound moral tradition of Judaism.”
In Jaffa, Israeli police found smashed headstones and graffiti scrawled on Muslim and Christian graves calling for "death to Arabs" as Jews around the world marked Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The attack followed last week’s arson attack on a mosque in northern Israel, which left the building and holy books inside damaged.
Lauder further stated that “these were the actions of a few extremists who are hijacking the moral fiber of the entire Jewish state and stain Israel’s unique character as the only religiously tolerant country in the Middle East.”
World Jewish Congress Secretary General Dan Diker added: “We unequivocally support the efforts undertaken by the government of Israel to find the perpetrators of this outrageous criminal activity and bring them to justice. The World Jewish Congress also unequivocally condemns ongoing attacks against Jewish holy sites by Palestinians, most recently the smearing of swastikas on Joseph’s Tomb, as well as repeated assaults for years on Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem that is sacred to both Jews and Christians. We call on the Israeli government to find those responsible and bring them to justice.”
Israel's President Shimon Peres told CNN after the Jaffa cemetery vandalism: "I am shocked. We should not permit it. It was done by a tiny minority, but the crime is terrible. To try and violate the holiness of a cemetery is against everything that we stand for, so both in public terms and religious terms, we shall take all the measures to get hold of these criminals and put an end to it."
