While the clock ticks away towards the anniversary of the Gaza carnage of last year, Israeli agression continues apace in the West Bank:
Abbas: West Bank mosque torching a despicable crime: Ha’aretz
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday said that Israel must rein in settlers’ provocative actions, after assailants vandalized a mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf, torching furniture and spraying Nazi slogans in Hebrew on the premises.
“The torching of the mosque in Yasuf is a despicable crime, and the settlers are behaving with brutality,” said Abbas, who called the act a violation of religious freedom.
“The settlers’ unruly behavior must be stopped,” Abbas added after meeting on Friday with United Arab List-Ta?al chairman Ahmed Tibi in Amman.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday condemned the vandalization of the West Bank mosque, allegedly at the hands of of settlers protesting Israel’s temporary freeze on settlement construction.
“This is an extremist act geared toward harming the government’s efforts to advance the political process for the sake of Israel’s future,” said Barak.
Investigation into the incident points to the likelihood that settlers are behind the attack, police said, but the vandals have not yet been caught.
Settler extremists have recently attacked Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government moves to curb settlement construction. These protesters have dubbed the attacks the “price tag” policy.
Israel Defense Forces officers in the West Bank have expressed concerned that settlers may escalate their acts of opposition to the temporary freeze on settlement construction by targeting the Palestinian population.
The assailants entered the village of Yasuf before dawn Friday, according to Israel Police and Munir Abushi, the Palestinian governor of the district where the village is located.
They burned prayer carpets and a book stand with Muslim holy texts, and left graffiti on the floor reading, “Price tag – greetings from Effi”. Effi is a Hebrew name.
The vandals escaped. The IDF said it views the incident gravely and is investigating along with the police.
After villagers discovered the damage, they briefly threw stones at Israeli forces that entered Yasuf, Abushi said. He said two villagers were hurt in the skirmish.
Abushi met with Israeli police and army officers and expressed his dismay over repeated settler attacks.
“Israeli security forces have done little to protect Palestinian civilians from the settlers,” he said.
In an apparent attempt to placate settlers over the construction slowdown, Netanyahu has proposed including tens of thousands of settlers, including many living in isolated settlements deep in the West Bank, in a government program that bestows monetary incentives on residents and businesses.
The move has drawn criticism from Netanyahu’s coalition partner, the
Labor Party, which has indicated it will vote against the move at a Cabinet meeting next week.
Fire attack on West Bank mosque: BBC
A mosque in a village in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank has been damaged in an arson attack.
Attackers set fire to bookshelves and a large area of carpet in the mosque, and sprayed graffiti in Hebrew on a wall.
Palestinian residents of the village of Yasuf clashed with Israeli soldiers investigating the attack. Eyewitnesses say settlers were responsible.
Attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers are increasing. A number of incidents have been captured on video.
One of the slogans sprayed on the wall of the mosque in Yasuf read: “Get ready to pay the price,” Israeli public radio reported. Another read: “We will burn you all.”
Some hard-line settlers advocate a “price tag” policy under which they attack Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements.
The village is located near the Jewish settlement of Tappuah.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it “views the incident gravely” and that security forces were working to locate the perpetrators.
But the local Palestinian governor, Munir Abushi, accused the Israeli security forces of doing too little to protect Palestinians from settler attacks.
A settler organisation in the area denied that settlers were behind the attack.
Meanwhile one rabbi from the south of the West Bank, Mechachem Froman, has offered to help renovate the mosque, saying attacks against holy buildings were against Jewish law.
Israeli human rights groups have accused the police and army of running inadequate investigations into attacks by settlers on Palestinians.
One group reported that nine out of 10 investigations into alleged attacks on Palestinians by settlers ended without anyone being charged.
Settlement curb call
On Wednesday, thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters staged a rally in Jerusalem in protest at a recently announced curb on settlement building in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a 10-month lull in permits for new settlement homes in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem.
The order followed US and Palestinian calls for a total freeze in settlement building.
Palestinian officials have refused to rejoin peace talks until a total freeze is imposed.
All Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.