3 Palestinians arrested over torching of Christmas tree at West Bank Catholic church

Palestinian Authority police say arson was attempt to incite sectarian and religious tensions; Holy Redeemer Church of Jenin hastily finds replacement in time for Christmas Mass

Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree at a Catholic Church in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian Authority police have said.

Police said late Wednesday that the arrests were made after reviewing surveillance footage. Police said they seized tools from the suspects that they believe were used in the attack, and condemned the apparent attempt to incite sectarian and religious tensions in the West Bank.

The Holy Redeemer Church of Jenin posted photos on social media of the arson, showing the skeleton of a green synthetic Christmas tree that had been gutted, with red and gold ornaments strewn across the courtyard. The church said that the attack occurred around 3 a.m. Monday, and also damaged part of the Nativity scene.

The church quickly cleared away the burned tree and erected a new one a day later, in time for Christmas Mass. The church held a special ceremony attended by local Muslim and Christian leaders and politicians. Rev. Amer Jubran, the local priest at the church, said the torching was an isolated incident and stressed the city’s unity.

“This occasion reaffirmed that attempts to harm religious symbols will never diminish the spirit of the city nor the faith of its people,” the Holy Redeemer Church said in a statement. The church didn’t respond to additional requests for comment.

Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, told the Vatican News outlet on Tuesday that the incident “is a big, heavy shadow on the Christmas spirit’s joy.”

“We cannot accept people who are lost in their ideologies of selfishness,” he said. “We condemn this act, but we will not allow it to steal from us the deep joy we have.”

The tiny Christian community in the West Bank is facing growing threats of extremism from multiple sides, including Palestinian extremists and Israeli settler extremists, leading its members to leave the region in droves.

Christians account for between 1 percent and 2% of the West Bank’s roughly 3 million residents. Across the wider Middle East, the Christian population has steadily declined as people have fled conflict and attacks.

Israel, whose founding declaration includes safeguarding freedom of religion and all holy places, sees itself as an island of religious tolerance in a volatile region. But some church authorities and monitoring groups have lamented a recent increase in anti-Christian sentiment and harassment, particularly in Jerusalem’s Old City. Extremist Israeli settlers have also vandalized and torched areas around churches and Christian villages.

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military targeting terrorists in large-scale operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Palestinian terrorists have attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank known as a terror stronghold.