Israeli police have arrested an American tourist at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem after he hurled works of art to the floor, defacing two second-century Roman statues.
The vandalism late Thursday raised questions about the safety of Israel’s priceless collections and stirred concern about a rise in attacks on cultural heritage in Jerusalem.
Police identified the suspect as a radical 40-year-old Jewish American tourist and said initial questioning suggested he smashed the statues because he considered them “to be idolatrous and contrary to the Torah.”
The man’s lawyer, Nick Kaufman, denied that he had acted out of religious fanaticism.
STOP DESTROYING HISTORY BECAUSE OF YOUR SUPERSTITIONS, ASSHOLES!
Also, there simply isn’t a Jewish rule about defacing non-Jewish idols. It is 100% completely, utterly irrelevant to the Jewish religion when a goy declares a statue to be of their deity, e.g. Athena. The only relevant law in Judaism bans jews from worshipping idols.
Instead, Kaufman said, the tourist was suffering from a mental disorder that psychiatrists have labeled the Jerusalem syndrome. The condition — a form of disorientation believed to be induced by the religious magnetism of the city, which is sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims — is said to cause foreign pilgrims to believe they are figures from the Bible.
Well that’s a new one
Simpsons already did it
Ah well that explains why everyone who visits the city tries to destroy it. Wait, what do you mean they don’t?
That’s as ridiculous as saying that because not everyone who eats spoiled food gets ill, no one that eats spoiled food gets ill… 🤦♀️
People are different. 🤯
Ah so it’s not everyone but still common?
Obviously common enough to have a disorder named after it.
Go fuck yourself, Nick. Can we just shove all the religious zealots onto an island and laugh as they rip each other to shreds?
Sadly, that would have to be one huge island.
Something like North America
We’d also need a big peninsula. Like the middle east
Which is peskily not much of an island
The Panama canal made it an island, although it will be a poor defense against the theistic hordes
That’s why Im saying it isn’t much of one.
Ooh, a new Snake Pliskin movie!
That sounds like a ring of hell
That’s… kind of Isreal / Jerusalem. Just not an island
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Please include lawyers and I’m all in.
he considered them “to be idolatrous and contrary to the Torah.”
The man’s lawyer, Nick Kaufman, denied that he had acted out of religious fanaticism.
Can’t you just pick one thing? smh
the best prosecutor is usually the defendant
Just another American religious nutcase. The only surprise here is that he is not an evangelical nut job for a change.
Athena and Athens by proxy are probably older then the Torah, jackass. Shesh some people are just fucking idiots.
Anyways, the Athena imagery from the ancient times is always so cool. She was one of the gods that actually looked out of the people, why would you want to destroy something dedicated to her?
Arachne and Medusa says WTF do you mean Athena looked out for people? Athena was petty AF
I hope he gets to pay a badrillion dollar or they make him in to an art piece or something.
Why is there no pictures of the statues?
New display at the museum: Vandal in Carbonite; mixed media, 2023
Why is there no pictures of the statues?
Because they were smashed, silly
Lel, still salty about Titus & Hadrian I see.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The vandalism late Thursday raised questions about the safety of Israel’s priceless collections and stirred concern about a rise in attacks on cultural heritage in Jerusalem.
Police identified the suspect as a radical 40-year-old Jewish American tourist and said initial questioning suggested he smashed the statues because he considered them “to be idolatrous and contrary to the Torah.”
Museum photos showed the marble head of the goddess Athena knocked off its pedestal onto the floor and a statue of a pagan deity shattered into fragments.
The Israeli government expressed alarm over the defacement, which officials also attributed to Jewish iconoclasm in obedience to early prohibitions against idolatry.
“This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values,” said Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
On Friday morning, about 16 hours after the defacement at the museum, the doors opened to the public at the regularly scheduled time.
The original article contains 455 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
