Note Asking Forgiveness Found on Altar After Maronite Prayer Hall Smashed in Nahariya, Israel
Israeli police opened an investigation. The community's spokesman says it forgives whoever did it, though the motive is still unclear.
See where this is ›NAHARIYA, Israel —
Statues, religious images, furniture and wall coverings were smashed or damaged over the weekend at a Maronite prayer hall in the Nahariya Christian center in northern Israel, All Israel News reported Nov. 2. A note in English left on the altar read: “I am so sorry, I don't know what came over me to make me do that. Please forgive me.”
Father Yosef Yaakov, spokesman for the Maronite community in Israel, said members were shocked and hurt but forgive the vandals. He said it is too early to call the act religious hatred. He also said some congregants feel unwelcome in the city and voiced concern for families with children. The Maronite Archdiocese in Haifa called for a thorough investigation and said the community will keep using the hall, stating, “We do not respond to harm with harm, and we do not respond to destruction with hatred.”
The Israel Police opened an investigation and said the hall is part of a complex of buildings and gardens owned and maintained by the municipality. The hall is used mainly by South Lebanon Army veterans and their families, who came to Israel after the Israeli military left southern Lebanon in July 2000. About 1,100 Maronites live in Israel.
What we don't know yet: Who damaged the hall and why, and whether the note was written by the person responsible. The report gave conflicting accounts of how the damage was found, though both place it on Sunday, and Watchman News has not independently confirmed the details.
