A 36-year-old man was arrested April 29 after he allegedly threw a French Catholic nun to the ground and kicked her near the Cenacle on Jerusalem's Mount Zion in what the director of the nun's institution called an act of "sectarian violence.”
The nun, a 48-year-old researcher at Jerusalem's French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, was walking near the Cenacle when a man came up behind her without warning. The Cenacle is the site believed to be the location of the Last Supper, sitting on Mount Zion.
"She felt someone come up behind her and throw her with full force onto a rock," said Father Olivier Poquillon, director of the school, speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP). "While the sister was on the ground, the man began to kick her repeatedly."
As seen in photographs that have since widely circulated on social media, she sustained bruising to the right side of her face. Fr. Poquillon said she does not wish to speak publicly.
A photo of the Catholic nun who was attacked yesterday by an Israeli extremist.
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 29, 2026
A 36-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the attack. https://t.co/4gMfAcEKnv pic.twitter.com/VkEm5jZ5vi
In a statement on X, Fr. Poquillon called it an “unprovoked assault" and said the school "strongly condemns this act of sectarian violence and expects the authorities to act swiftly and decisively."
‼️Jérusalem : en fin d’après-midi, à proximité du Cénacle, une religieuse chercheuse à @EBAFJerusalem a été victime d’une agression gratuite. Nous condamnons vivement cet acte de violence sectaire et attendons des autorités qu’elles agissent vite et avec fermeté. #HateCrimeData pic.twitter.com/7b9ULswHaI
— fr. Olivier Poquillon OP (@OPoquillon) April 28, 2026
Israeli police confirmed the arrest to AFP April 29, saying the suspect was identified and taken into custody on suspicion of assault. The police said "all potential motives under examination,” but declined to disclose the suspect’s nationality.
The al‑Baidar Human Rights Organization told the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) that the attack was carried out by an Israeli colonizer and reflects a well-documented pattern of assaults by extremist Israelis against Christian clergy and institutions in the Old City, where harassment, vandalism, and physical attacks have gone largely unpursued by Israeli authorities.
Anti-Christian acts as ‘commonplace’
The Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem also told AFP that the assault was consistent with a broader pattern of acts of hatred towards Christians in the region.
"This is not an isolated incident, but part of a troubling pattern of rising hostility toward the Christian community and its symbols," the faculty said in a statement, expressing "profound shock and condemnation."
A European diplomat in Jerusalem, speaking to AFP, said the attack "occurred in a context where anti-Christian acts have become commonplace, with insults and spitting by (Jewish) extremists targeting clergy in religious dress on a daily basis."
Cardinal Pizzaballa’s advocacy
The assault comes as Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, is raising alarm about the pressures bearing down on Christian communities in the Holy Land.
As Zeale News reported, the Latin Patriarchate held a field meeting with Israeli military authorities and civil administrators over settler encroachments on Christian-owned lands April 23.
In a pastoral letter published a few days later, the cardinal warned of deteriorating conditions across the region, including settler fences restricting Palestinian access to schools and basic movement in the West Bank. He cautioned against what he described as a "permanent occupation" taking hold in Gaza.