The Guardian reported on a peculiar incident in the war in Southern Lebanon, in which an Israeli soldier was photographed striking the head of a statue of the crucified Jesus with a sledgehammer.
Lebanon is a country of many communities – partly because of its history of Muslim Turkish rule resulting in its being part of the Ottoman Empire, but including the Christian Crusades launched by the Franks from Western Europe. As a result most people are either Muslim (53%) or Christian (41%).
The incident occurred in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon near the border with Israel, during wider Israeli attacks on Southern Lebanon, as part of its attempt to drive out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
What is interesting is the response of the Israeli government, who’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has condemned the attack and said that “harsh disciplinary action” will be taken against the individual responsible. This seems so strange when the Israels soldiers, as the article points out, “have damaged … mosques and historical religious sites as part of their invasion of south Lebanon, but Israeli officials made no statements about the destruction of these places of worship.”
The Guardian quoted Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life from 2016 to 2025, interviewed by Italian broadcaster La7: “What is the real problem today? The risk is that a lack of culture infects every other dimension of life. Religious fundamentalism, or even civic or political fundamentalism, all share the same root: a total absence of culture. What matters (in today’s world) is imposing oneself through force and violence.”
Read the Guardian article here.