Anglican Church, UK condemn desecration of Jerusalem graves

The Anglican Church and the United Kingdom have expressed "dismay" at an attack on a historic cemetery close to Jerusalem's walled Old City.

More than 30 graves at the Protestant Cemetery on Mount Zion were desecrated on January 1. Crosses were broken and headstones toppled and smashed, BBC News reports.

Jewish extremists have been blamed for the vandalism.

"We have noticed that hate speech and hatred crimes are on the rise," Anglican Archbishop Hosam Naoum said.

Standing next to the vandalised grave of the second Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Samuel Gobat, he said there had been a recent increase in spitting at Christians and attacks on their holy sites.

"This is only an indication that we are not in a place where people can tolerate each other or accept each other," Archbishop Naoum added.

"We see more exclusion, more segregation and that is what really grieves us in this city of Jerusalem."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, called the desecration of the graves "a blasphemous act" and expressed hope that those responsible would be brought swiftly to justice.

In a tweet, the British consulate in Jerusalem said: "This is the latest in a string of attacks against Christians and their property in and around the Old City. The perpetrators of religiously motivated attacks should be held accountable."

The Israeli ministry of foreign affairs also condemned the vandalism at the cemetery. "This immoral act is an affront to religion and the perpetrators should be prosecuted," it tweeted.

Security camera footage shows two young men carrying out the attack. They are wearing kippahs, or skullcaps, and knotted fringes known as tzitzit on their clothes, indicating they are religious Jews.