Posted on 10/06/2023 12:17:43 PM PDT by Cronos
An American citizen was detained by security forces in the museum after being observed shattering the statues, which he claimed were "in violation of the Torah."
... tourist in his 40s was arrested by Israel Police on Thursday for damaging and destroying ancient Roman statues displayed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
According to initial police suspicion, the tourist intentionally destroyed the statues due to them being "blasphemous" and "in violation of the Torah."
The suspect, an American citizen, was detained by security forces in the museum after being observed shattering the statues, which police said hold "sentimental" value. On Friday, the suspect's arrest was extended until Monday.
According to the museum, the suspect caused damage to two ancient Roman sculptures dating to the 2nd century CE, that were placed on display at the archaeological department's permanent exhibition. Police shared footage of sculptures shattered on the ground at the Israel Museum
(Excerpt) Read more at m.jpost.com ...
The Shrine of The Book is pretty amazing. Home of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
What tour company are you using?
Philistine? Hardly. An American Jew.
Makes no sense. That isn’t blasphemy or idolatry, it’s history. Ancient Israel and Ancient Rome had centuries of relations, trade, population commingling, and of course political discord. Some people are just nuts.
There’s a hospital wing at Har Nof, west end of Jerusalem, that is dedicated to ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’. Usually people who believe they are the Messiah.
I did a little digging around the web after being unsatisfied with the J Post's failure to identify the vandal. Here's what the Summarizer says:
Stephen Edward Porth, a 40-year-old man from California, was arrested by the police after he smashed two Roman statues in a museum, claiming to have experienced Jerusalem Syndrome, a condition where visitors to the city fall into a religious psychosis.1 Dr. Stephen Porth is a professor of management in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University and the Senior Editor of the Journal of Jesuit Business Education.02 He has chaired three academic departments at SJU, including Management, Food Marketing, and Pharmaceutical Marketing, and served for 17 years as Associate Dean and Executive Director of graduate programs in the Haub School of Business.
So this man may not even be a Jew. In either case, his behavior is deplorable. But does it really call for such draconian measures as injuring him or killing him as suggested by some of the people here? Certainly he needs to do some jail time, pay some reparations of some sort and be banned from the museum, but offering him bodily harm is beyond the pale.
My “Philistine” comment was intended as sarcasm...
I’d wager it’s an Evangelical.
SMH.
Hopefully a diagnosis of Jerusalem Syndrome doesn't free him from liability.
We don’t want him. He’s yours.
“The Ugly American” just became “The Uglier MFing American. Destroying ancient history artifacts should be a capital offense. String the offensive biatch up. The world doesn’t need his ass around.
He’s a “Jesuit”, whatever that is.
I have no idea what denomination that is, but I’m confident it’s not Jewish.
I envy you. If my wife and I can get past our hip replacements, we’d like to visit Israel.
Regent
Could’ve fooled me. I thought it had to be an “American” from Dearbornistan.
He would’ve been locked up immediately for doing donuts on the literal street “art” of officially sanctioned BLM and LGBT “murals”.
A Jesuits are a Catholic order.
Where did you get that? Another source? I don’t see “Jesuit” written anywhere.
Neither is “Jewish”, but his reference to the Torah points that way.
I wonder. During the COVID debacle the British Museum put out a series of videos featuring curators going over interesting aspects of the most treasured items. One was talking about the famed Sutton-Hoo saxon helmet and she mentioned that she was handling the real one but a perfect replica was on display because it was too precious to be out in a public space. So basically they display a fake.
Which of course makes me wonder just what is real in these museums?
I agree.
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