Nahariya prayer hall serving Lebanese Maronites who fought alongside IDF vandalized

The Maronite Catholic prayer hall in Nahariya was vandalized last night by an unknown assailant who also left an apology.

Members of the 1200-strong community, made up of former South Lebanon Army members and their families, arrived at the prayer hall of Saints Peter and Paul at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday evening, community leader Father Rudy Noura tells The Times of Israel.

The South Lebanon Army was a Christian-led force that fought against Hezbollah alongside the IDF while Israel held a security zone in southern Lebanon from 1985-2000. Thousands of its members found refuge in Israel after the IDF pulled out of Lebanon.

Icons, including one of Jesus on the cross, were slashed, and statues were shattered.

“We consider this a grave and unacceptable attack, not only on Church property, but above all on the sanctity of a place dedicated to worship and on the right of the faithful to practice their religion freely, safely, and with dignity,” says the Maronite Archeparchy of Haifa in a statement. “Places of worship, whatever their denomination or religion, must be safeguarded and protected from violence, vandalism, and desecration.”

“The sanctity of God’s houses is not open to compromise or negotiation, and freedom of worship is a sacred right that must be respected and protected for everyone, without exception,” says the church.

In a bizarre twist, the vandal left an apology note on the altar. “To a deeply valued community,” the perpetrator wrote in English. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me to make me do that.”

“Please forgive me,” the attacker concluded, adding a heart and cross.

Noura says he arrived at 6:10 p.m. and witnessed the destruction. “I said, this person, I am to forgive him, to love him, to hug him even.”

“We can repair everything,” the priest continues. “This is someone who needs love. Someone who is angry because something happened in his life.”

“God arranged this so we can be an instrument for this person to rejoice in his life,” says Noura.

He stresses that the Nahariya municipality, the police, and the Foreign Ministry were in touch immediately and have offered all the assistance the community needs.

“The vandalism of the Christian place of prayer in Nahariya is disgraceful. All the more painful because it belongs to a community of Lebanese Christians who stood alongside Israel and found a home here,” Ambassador George Deek, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy to the Christian world, tells The Times of Israel.

“I spoke with Father Rudy Noura, head of the community, to express my solidarity and offer whatever assistance may be needed,” he says.

“Those responsible must be identified and brought to justice,” Deek continues. “There can be no tolerance for attacks on places of worship, anywhere or against anyone.”

“Any attack on a place of worship, of any faith, is an attack on the freedom and dignity we must protect.”