Social media customers condemn Western silence on assaults on non secular symbols and websites by way of Israeli squaddies and settlers.
Revealed On 19 Apr 2026
A viral {photograph} appearing an Israeli soldier hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon with a sledgehammer has sparked outrage.
In a commentary on Monday, the Israeli army showed the authenticity of the picture that was once extensively shared on-line, garnering greater than 5 million perspectives on X.
It mentioned that following an preliminary assessment, it was once decided that the {photograph} confirmed an Israeli soldier “working in southern Lebanon”, the place Israel final month introduced a floor invasion along with aerial bombardment amid its joint war with the United States on Iran.
The army added that an investigation were opened and that “suitable measures will likely be taken towards the ones concerned based on the findings”.
Commenting on social media, Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament, wrote pointedly: “We’ll wait to listen to the police spokesperson declare that ‘the soldier felt threatened by way of Jesus’.”
Ahmad Tibi, every other Palestinian member of the Knesset, wrote on Fb that those that blow up mosques and church buildings in Gaza and spit on Christian clergy in Jerusalem with out punishment don’t seem to be afraid to ruin a statue of Jesus Christ and post it.
“Most likely those racists have additionally realized from Donald Trump to insult Jesus Christ and insult Pope Leo?” he requested, relating to the USA president’s fresh controversies, together with his now-deleted AI-generated image that portrayed him as a Jesus-like determine and his feud with the top of the Roman Catholic Church, who has criticised the struggle on Iran.
A number of activists, teachers and writers additionally criticised the desecration of the statue, which was once positioned at the outskirts of the village of Debl in southern Lebanon, close to the border with Israel.
Social media customers additionally condemned the global silence following assaults by way of Israeli squaddies and settlers towards non secular websites and logos.
“When the Western global stays silent, racists move additional,” mentioned Tibi.
Israeli forces repeatedly attacked non secular websites, together with mosques and church buildings, right through Israel’s genocidal struggle on Gaza. Within the occupied West Financial institution, in the meantime, settlers vandalised or attacked 45 mosques final yr, in line with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Spiritual Affairs.
One by one, the Spiritual Freedom Knowledge Middle (RFDC) documented a minimum of 201 incidents of violence towards Christians, essentially dedicated by way of Orthodox Jews focused on global clergy or people exhibiting Christian symbols, between January 2024 and September 2025.
Nearly all of those incidents, which incorporated more than one varieties of harassment, together with spitting, verbal abuse, vandalism and attacks, came about in Jerusalem’s Outdated Town, positioned in occupied East Jerusalem.
