👹
Controversy over Israel's 'Christian hate crime': nun is shoved over
and repeatedly kicked in Jerusalem after fury over Jesus statue
sledgehammer attack .
THIS is the
shocking moment a defenceless nun is brutally attacked by a man in
the heart of Jerusalem.
Harrowing CCTV
footage shows the unsuspecting nun walking alone when a man suddenly
sprints towards her from behind and violently shoves her with full
force.
The nun, who
was wearing a tunic, is hurled to the floor and viciously kicked in
broad daylight.
She is seen
writhing in pain and clutching her head as the attacker walks away
then suddenly strides back towards her.
He begins to
repeatedly kick the stricken woman as she lies helplessly on the
ground.
The assault
only stops when a bystander rushes in to intervene.
The attack took
place in front of the Cenacle on Mount Zion – a deeply significant
religious site for both Christians and Jews.
Some Christians
believe Jesus held the Last Supper at this location.
Police
confirmed a suspect has now been arrested.
“The suspect,
a 36-year-old male, was identified and subsequently arrested by
police,” the force said, adding it viewed with “utmost severity”
any violent act “driven by potentially racist motives and directed
toward members of the clergy”.
Footage
released by police showed the nun visibly bruised, while the attacker
appeared to be wearing tzitzit – a garment associated with
observant Jewish men.
The Times of
Israel reported that the arrested suspect was Jewish.
The victim –
a 48-year-old nun – has been left deeply shaken by the ordeal.
Father Olivier
Poquillon said: “Yesterday, around 17.45 … she felt someone come
up behind her and throw her with full force onto a rock.
“While the
sister was on the ground, the man began to kick her repeatedly.”
He had earlier
blasted the incident as a “gratuitous assault”, describing it as
an “act of sectarian violence” and warning that “the scourge of
hatred is a common challenge”.
‘Pending the
judicial follow-up, we thank the people who came to the aid of our
sister during the attack she fell victim to, the diplomats, the
academics, and all those who provided their support,’ he wrote.
The French
Consulate in Jerusalem also issued a statement “strongly
condemning” the attack.
Israel’s
foreign ministry branded the assault a “shameful act”, insisting
the country remains committed “to safeguarding freedom of religion
and freedom of worship for all faiths”.
The Faculty of
Humanities at Hebrew University said it was not an isolated case,
warning of a “troubling pattern” of hostility towards Christians.
A European
diplomatic source echoed those fears, claiming anti-Christian abuse –
including insults and spitting at clergy – has become a daily
occurrence.
Wadie
Abunassar, coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Forum, said attacks
targeting Christians are on the rise – but warned perpetrators
often escape serious consequences.
He said he felt
“great anger on the system and great sadness because I feel that
this will not end anytime soon”.
“Many times
in such cases there are no arrests and if there are arrests,
sometimes after one or two days, [suspects] are released,” he
added.
“In some
cases, the police do not recommend the prosecution to file charges or
to indict them. And in some cases, when there is indictment, the
indictment is mild.”
Meanwhile,
authorities said those involved in the sledgehammer attack would face
disciplinary action, while efforts were underway to restore the
damaged statue.
Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the act, saying: “I
condemn the act in the strongest terms.”
👉 Courtesy: France24 +AFP,
by Dylan GAMBA and Solan KOLLI, Apr 29, 2026
On a vast,
sun-scorched plain in Djibouti, dozens of men made the days-long trek
home after their plan failed to cross one of the world's deadliest
migration routes from Africa to the Gulf.Their faces drawn, their
bodies emaciated, some had not eaten in days.
On a vast,
sun-scorched plain in Djibouti, dozens of men made the days-long trek
home after their plan failed to cross one of the world's deadliest
migration routes from Africa to the Gulf.
Their faces
drawn, their bodies emaciated, some had not eaten in days. A few
withered acacia trees offer the only occasional shade in Djibouti's
April "winter", when temperatures still hit 35C.
Jemal Ibrahim
Hassan hoped to find work in one of the wealthy Gulf monarchies by
travelling from Djibouti on the Horn of Africa to Yemen across the
narrow but deadly Bab-el-Mandab Strait.
Like the vast
majority of migrants, Hassan comes from neighbouring Ethiopia, a
country of 130 million people beset by entrenched poverty and
multiple armed conflicts.
"We had no
place to stay in peace," said the 25-year-old former farmer when
AFP met him in northern Djibouti.
Djibouti
coastguard commander Ismail Hassan Dirieh with one of the boats
seized from smugglers.
He walked for
15 days, covering some 550 kilometres (340 miles), his feet "swollen
and blistered", before boarding an overcrowded boat. But it was
stopped by the coastguard and he ended up in a Yemeni detention
centre.
"There was
no food, nothing. We stayed there for eight days and they brought us
back," he said.
Jemal almost
died when a storm struck on the return journey, and was now walking
again, this time back to Ethiopia.
- Deadliest on
record -
Tens of
thousands of migrants brave this so-called Eastern Route each year,
most leaving from Djibouti, which lies just 30 kilometres from Yemen
at the closest point.
More than 900
died or disappeared along the route in 2025 -- the deadliest year on
record, according to the UN International Organization for Migration
(IOM).
The latest
shipwreck in late March left at least nine dead and 45 missing when a
boat capsized near Obock.
Many Ethiopians
do not survive the gruelling trek to the coast
On board was
Zinab Gebrekristos, 20, who fled Tigray in northern Ethiopia, an
unstable region that emerged from a bloody war in 2022.
She paid a
smuggler 50,000 birr ($320), a huge sum in a country where 40 percent
live below the poverty line. She was robbed of her money and phone en
route, and then had to wait three days on the Djibouti coast "without
food or water -- just the desert".
On the evening
of March 24, the smugglers crammed 320 people onto a small boat,
which quickly began to sink.
"Many
people died right in front of our eyes -- friends and family
members," said Zinab, speaking at an IOM-run centre in Obock. "I
can't even remember how I managed to get off."
- Bodies in the
sand -
At Gehere
beach, a regular departure point north of Obock, clothes, flip-flops
and shoes litter the sand.
Youssouf Moussa
Mohamed, head of IOM's Obock office, pointed to two mass graves on
the beach and said there were others nearby.
"More than
200 bodies are buried around here," he said.
These days,
they have permission to use the cemetery at Obock. Dozens more
unmarked graves bear witness to the horrors of the route.
The unmarked
graves of migrants at the cemetery in Obock
Some 98 percent
of the migrants Youssouf encounters are Ethiopian. Coming from a
landlocked country, most have never seen the sea before attempting
the crossing.
Between June
and August, temperatures climb to 45C, and violent sandstorms blind
migrants, leaving them lost in the desert. Some take their own lives
in despair.
"We
recovered about 20 bodies a month during the last hot season,"
said Youssouf.
The Djibouti
coastguard has increased patrols against smugglers, who are mostly
Yemeni, and a dozen seized boats were parked outside.
But with 200 to
300 migrants arriving in Obock every day, the coastguard and IOM
cannot cope.
"Each year
is more deadly than the last," said Youssouf. "And we don't
know how long it will continue."
- Abandoned on
the way -
Genet
Gebremeskel Gebremariam, 30, could not provide for her four children
and mother with the $1 to $2 she earned daily as a farm labourer in
Tigray.
She crossed the
desert and cliffs on foot with dozens of others.
"No one
picks up those who are tired or fall; they leave them behind. We were
forced to march like soldiers while being beaten with sticks from
behind. Many women grew weak from thirst and hunger and were left
behind in the desert," said Genet.
It was too much
for her and she decided to turn back.
More than 900
died on the Eastern Route last year, the deadliest on record
"Whether
it's day labour or domestic work, my former life is better than this
suffering," she said.
Others are too
desperate to give up.
Muiaz Abaroge,
19, from western Ethiopia, still hoped to reach Saudi Arabia.
"It's
frightening, but I have no other choice," he told AFP on the
road to Obock.
"I know
many people have perished, but I must get through this hardship."
