Loading ...Church burning highlights danger to Palestinian heritage from Israeli extremists
A fire that badly damaged a church containing fifth-century mosaics, in Tabgha in the Galilee in the north of present-day Israel, has underlined the threat to Palestinian history and culture – as well as to lives and livelihoods – posed by extremists in Israel.
The fire was said to have started in several places around the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, a strong indication that it was set deliberately, according to investigators.
Hebrew graffiti painted on the outside of the church invoked biblical passages calling on the faithful to destroy the “idols” of pagans.
Christian tradition holds that the church marks the place where Jesus performed the miracle of the feeding of 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fishes. The modern-day church was built in the 1980s over early Christian remains, including a set of famous Byzantine mosaics depicting the miraculous fishes. The mosaics were not damaged in the blaze.
Images of the destruction show a completely burnt-out roof, but stone walls still standing. A local fire chief told Reuters that there was “extensive damage, both inside and out.”
Desiree Bellars, a volunteer at the church from South Africa who lives at the site, told Reuters that the blaze erupted in middle of the night: “All the electricity went out, the fire raged and the flames shot up into the sky.”
Source: electronicintifada.net