A photo showing an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in the village of Dibil, southern Lebanon. (Photo shared on social media)
SOUTH LEBANON — “The Israelis show no consideration or respect for people or religious symbols”: the desecration of a statue of the Virgin Mary in Dibil (Bint Jbeil), southern Lebanon, by an Israeli soldier has caused outrage among the village residents of the village, according to reports by our correspondent in the region.
Widely shared on social media, a photo taken by an Israeli soldier shows a fellow soldier placing a lit cigarette in the statue’s mouth. The photo emerged nearly three weeks after another Israeli soldier vandalized a statue of Jesus Christ in the same village.
“We have started to get used to these kinds of scenes, because the Israelis show no consideration or respect for people or religious symbols — not even for stones or trees,” a Dibil resident said Friday. He said the image was taken inside a house located on the outskirts of the Christian village, within the “buffer zone” that Israel occupies over more than 600 square kilometers in southern Lebanon, from which residents are unable to leave. “Unfortunately, we can do nothing, and our state is absent. What we are seeing is very sad, because it reflects the scale of the violations we face against everything that exists,” he added.
The Israeli army has announced that it has opened an investigation into the incident. According to military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani, the photo in question was taken “several weeks ago,” and its review may result “in disciplinary measures against the soldier” involved.
Despite repeated condemnations from Israeli officials, the destruction and desecration of buildings or religious symbols — whether Christian or Muslim — committed by Israeli troops have been recurrent since the beginning of the invasion of southern Lebanon on March 2.
In addition to the vandalism of the statue of Jesus Christ, which was taken down from its cross and destroyed with a sledgehammer by another soldier, the recent Israeli demolition of a monastery and religious school in the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil) also triggered widespread condemnation.
Israel continues attacks on southern Lebanon, demolishes buildings in Bint Jbeil