Four Arab teens arrested for vandalizing Jewish graves

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Jerusalem police have arrested four Arab teens from east Jerusalem suspected of vandalizing six graves on the city's ancient Mount of Olives cemetery, police said Wednesday. The suspects, residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras el Amud who range in age from 14 to 16, have been released from police custody following their interrogation but will be indicted. Three of the four suspects have confessed to the vandalism, and told investigators they carried out the attack since "Jews were buried there," Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Hundreds of Jewish graves have been vandalized at the east Jerusalem cemetery, which is located adjacent to a couple Arab neighborhoods, over the last several years. Jewish tradition holds that the resurrection of the dead will begin at the cemetery on the Mount of Olives.