Extremist Jewish settlers last night set a mosque on fire and sprayed racist graffiti on its walls in the village of Beit Safafa, southwest of Jerusalem, according to witnesses.
A group of Jewish settlers sneaked into the village before predawn, torched Al-Badriya Mosque causing partial damages to it. The settlers also spray racist slogans on its walls, such as “death to Arabs” and “death to Palestinians”.
Update: a mosque was just found in Jerusalem burnt and vandalized. It says in Hebrew: “destroy arabs” pic.twitter.com/NoG5cwyAoG
— yousef (@yousefslym) January 24, 2020
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Awqaf, in charge of running mosques affairs, condemned the attack as a “heinous crime which is evidence of the brutality of the Israeli racist incitement machine towards Islamic and Christian sanctities in Palestine.”
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
As journalist and author Ramzy Baroud commented:
“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely.”
#Jewish Settlers Attack #Palestinian Commuters in West Bank https://t.co/Usmp9hePFN via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/4IGSRTt2VL
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 31, 2019
“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinians casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
