RSS
American tourist arrested for smashing Roman-era statues at Israel Museum
(JTA) — An American Jewish tourist was arrested in Israel for allegedly destroying two Roman-era statues inside the Israel Museum, claiming to police that they were “idolatrous and contrary to the Torah.”
The suspect’s alleged actions caused “substantial damage” to the nearly 2,000-year-old pieces, police said.
Police officers were called to the prestigious Jerusalem cultural institution Thursday evening after a visitor, identified as a 40-year-old American Jewish man, intentionally smashed the statues, which were part of the permanent exhibition in the museum’s archaeology wing.
The museum provided a photo of a stick they said the suspect was carrying as he walked throughout the museum, and which he may have used to damage the statues, according to the Times of Israel. The damaged sculptures dated to the 2nd century and depicted the head of the goddess Athena (the Roman Minerva) and what appeared to be a statue of a griffin clutching the wheel of fate, representing the goddess Nemesis.
The damaged statues are being repaired by the museum’s conservation department, and the museum was open to the public on Friday morning.
“The Israel Museum considers this incident a troubling and unusual event,” a statement from the museum said. “The museum’s management condemns all forms of violence and hopes such incidents will not recur.”
Despite the suspect’s assertion to police about the statues’ “idolatrous” nature, his lawyer, Nick Kaufman, denied that his client had acted out of religious fanaticism. The suspect’s name is not being released due to a gag order, according to the Associated Press.
Instead, Kaufman claimed that his client was suffering from “Jerusalem syndrome,” a mental phenomenon seen in tourists to the city and characterized by “religious excitement induced by proximity to the holy places of Jerusalem,” according to a paper written in 2000 by a group of Israeli researchers. He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Rabbinic legend has it that Abraham, the biblical patriarch, smashed his father’s idols, and aversion to idol worship has historically been a strong impulse among traditionally observant Jews. However, in the present day virtually no Jewish authorities endorse smashing idols or vandalizing cultural or religious institutions.
But this is not the first time this year that non-Jewish religious objects have been damaged in Jerusalem. In February, an American tourist was arrested for damaging a statue of Jesus inside the Old City, and in January, two Israeli teenagers defaced 30 tombstones at a prominent Old City Christian cemetery.
“This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values,” said Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “We see with concern the fact that cultural values are being destroyed by religiously motivated extremists.”
—
The post American tourist arrested for smashing Roman-era statues at Israel Museum appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”
The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.
Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.
Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home
Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.
He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.
Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.
Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.
His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.
His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.
“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.
“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.
The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.
The post Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.