Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Thursday arrested an American tourist after he allegedly knocked down and broke a statue of Jesus in a church in Jerusalem's Old City. Images on social media showed the statue laying horizontally on the floor after apparently being pulled down from a stand at the church. The incident occurred in the Church of the Flagellation, which is located on the Via Dolorosa, the route believed to have been walked by Jesus to his crucifixion. Police said they made the arrest with the assistance of a church security guard. Video on social media showed a man sitting atop the alleged vandal who is heard saying “you can't have idols in Jerusalem, this is the holy city.” Police said the man's mental health was being assessed. The American Embassy declined to comment. The incident came as tensions run high in Jerusalem and the region following a bloody week. An Israeli military raid in the West Bank killed 10 Palestinians, mostly militants but also a … [Read more...] about Israeli police: American arrested for vandalizing church

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — An Israeli group that assists Jewish prisoners convicted in some of the country’s most notorious hate crimes has halted its fund-raising efforts through a U.S.-based Jewish charity following an investigation by The Associated Press and the Israeli nonprofit news organization Shomrim. The fund-raising through the Lakewood, New Jersey-based World of Tzedaka had allowed American donors to make tax-exempt contributions to the hard-line Israeli group, and suggested that Israel’s far right was making new inroads into the U.S. World of Tzedaka confirmed that it was no longer working with Shlom Asiraich, while a fund-raising link on the Israeli group’s website that connected donors to the American nonprofit has stopped working. “We don’t do any business with them anymore, so we don’t have anything else to do with them,” said Yaakov Cohen, who identified himself as a … [Read more...] about Extremist Israeli group halts fund-raising effort in US