Quote Originally Posted by Kyriakos View Post
So what exactly happened here?
I am not a practicing christian, but surely arresting (looks more like abduction by thugs) the consul's bodyguard (who should also have diplomatic immunity?) inside the church during a holy day for orthodox christians (resurrection of Christ) is about the stupidest thing Israel can do.
What's the excuse for arresting him, then?
There have been more serious cases against Christians in Jerusalem that went largely unnoticed or people just don't care if its Israel's doing.

Jerusalem Christians rally round Armenian Church over land deal
The heads of the Christian Churches in Jerusalem issued a rare joint appeal at the weekend, warning that a contested land deal could erase the centuries-old presence of the Armenian community within the Old City.
However Armenians say they risk being uprooted by a deal to lease about 25% of their area to developers who want to build a luxury hotel on the site.
The deal was signed by the head of the Armenian Church in Jerusalem in July 2021, but members of his community said the first they heard of it was when surveyors started work in the area this year.
He has told his congregation that he was misled and has started legal action to get the contract annulled. The priest who brokered the accord on his behalf was defrocked by the Church Synod in May and he has left Jerusalem.
Despite the legal challenge, bulldozers arrived last week and started tearing up a carpark, which covers some of the contested land. When protesters blocked the work, armed Israeli Jewish settlers turned up in a failed effort to disperse the demonstration.
Jerusalem: Armenian Christians fight controversial land deal
When Israeli bulldozers arrived at the contested site to try to begin demolition, Armenians rushed to block it. The next month, there were claims of intimidation as the developer arrived with several armed men.
Further attempted incursions came after the protest tent was set up. The most violent was last month when masked men came to the car park beating people with sticks and using tear gas. A priest, Father Diran Hagopian, broadcast events on Facebook Live.
"They were shouting, 'you should go out from this land'," he later told the BBC. "One of their leaders was shouting: 'You can break their legs, you can even kill them, but they should leave.'"
The apparent involvement of known Jewish settlers in attacks alongside other evidence has increased long-held suspicions that a powerful settler organisation is involved in the attempted land takeover.


Jerusalem ‘land grab’: Armenian community fear eviction after contentious deal
Last autumn, Xana sent bull*dozers, flanked by armed settlers, into the plot they say was signed over. The pile of *rubble on which priests said new year prayers was created on one of these incursions.
Armenian activists have so far managed to hold them at bay. Young Armenians raced to the site to serve as human shields; they have since set up a permanent camp, with security guards and a tent offering warmth, food and tea.
Many Armenians see echoes of the controversial sale by the Greek patriarchate of two large hotels in the Old City to Ateret Cohanim, which promotes and funds Jewish settlements in and around the Old City. The church challenged the deal, saying it involved bribery and *conspiracy, but lost its case.
Many in the Armenian community think it is no coincidence that an issue that had been brewing for years erupted when world attention was focused on the Israel-Gaza war.
There were an average 10 demolitions of housing units a month in the first nine months of 2023, but after the 7 October attacks by Hamas, the average monthly rate of demolitions increased to 17, Haaretz reported.