Security cameras in Bethlehem caught a Muslim man attacking a Catholic priest at a well known shrine and tourist area in Bethelem. The site where it happened, the Milk Grotto, is the place where the Holy Family hid during Herod’s massacre of the Holy Innocents as they were fleeing to Egypt:
An unidentified man in Bethlehem lunged at a Catholic priest with what appears to be a knife on Friday (June 1) in a rare attack on a clergyman in the Palestinian Territories.
At Bethlehem’s Milk Grotto, the Rev. Fadi Shallufi on Friday afternoon opened the chapel gates to foreign tourists, including women who were being harassed by two men, according to Arabic press reports. Chapel security footage shows the Franciscan friar exchanging words with the two men through the bars of the closed gates.
One of the men pulls what appears to be knife from his pocket and strikes Shallufi as the Franciscan clergyman backs away, the footage shows.
The Jerusalem Post reported that a knowledgeable source confirmed the attack on Shallufi, and that Bishop Atallah Hannah condemned it in an online statement.
“We thank God that the injury was minor, but this action is a criminal act that is far from our human, moral and national values,” Hannah said. “We reject attacks against clerics.”
Palestinian police reportedly detained two men after receiving a complaint. The source told the Post that Palestinian authorities take such incidents seriously as they can harm tourism. (source)