March 06, 2006
By setting off several minor explosions with firecrackers during a prayer service at the Basilica of the Annunciation, one of Christianity's most revered sites, in the Israeli city of Nazareth on Friday, an Israeli couple, accompanied by their daughter, has set off a riot that left two dozen people hurt, including 13 police officers. The couple, now in jail, told court officials their attack was not religiously motivated, and was a ploy for attention in their scheme to recover their children from welfare officials. But some Christian and Muslim residents of Israel have accused authorities of failing to protect holy sites, and thousands of protesters took to the streets after the attack.
Israel's acting prime minister Ehud Olmert asked for everyone to use restraint and not make the incident into a religious conflict. "There is an attempt to reap political capital here," Olmert said at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "There is something almost ludicrous about Muslim leaders who are hardly a paragon of tolerance toward Christians, or this church, leading the protests over an incident caused by an eccentric couple. We will serve as a bulwark to the holy shrines and will not let anyone jeopardize freedom of religion and worship."
