Description

Photos:
Scene. Published by Maan News
______

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the Aqraba village in eastern Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, before dawn on Friday.

Local activist Youssef Deiriyeh told Ma’an that surveillance cameras showed two masked figures wearing backpacks entering the Sheikh Saadeh mosque in western Aqraba at 2 a.m.

The two masked figures, allegedly Israeli settlers, poured flammable materials on the building's entrance and set it on fire before fleeing the scene.
Pictures of the aftermath showed fire and smoke damage to the front entrance of the mosque, as well as the words “death” and “price tag,” which had been spray painted onto the outside walls of the mosque.
No one was injured as a result of the attack.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, highlighting that Israeli settlers have repeatedly torched mosques and churches across the occupied Palestinian territories, and that “such serious crimes are committed by terrorist settlers under the Israeli forces’ nose and protection.”

He stressed that his office would approach all relevant international institutions to ensure these “terrorists” are punished and protection is provided to the Palestinian people and religious sites.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Endowment and Religious Affairs, Sheikh Youssef Ideis, condemned the incident stressing that “such acts are terrorist acts,” which he said “are driven by organized Israeli incitement against the Palestinian people.”

Many Palestinian activists and rights groups have accused Israel of fostering a “culture of impunity” for Israelis committing violent acts against Palestinians.

Better known as "price tag" attacks, extremist Israeli settlers use violent acts of retribution on Palestinians and their property to demonstrate their opposition to Israeli restrictions on settlements and their outposts in the occupied West Bank.

In March 2017, Israeli NGO Yesh Din revealed that Israeli authorities served indictments in only 8.2 percent of cases of Israeli settlers committing anti-Palestinian crimes in the occupied West Bank in the past three years.

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, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
_____

West Bank Mosque Hit With Attempted Arson in Possible Hate Crime

None hurt in attempt to set mosque near Nablus in West Bank on fire ■ 'Death' and 'Price tag' daubed on external walls

by Yotam Berger for Haaretz

Unknown vandals attempted to set a West Bank mosque on fire overnight Thursday, in a possible hate crime against Palestinians.

To really understand Israel and the Palestinians - subscribe to Haaretz

The incident took place in the village of Aqraba, north of Nablus, and saw the words "Death" and "Price tag" daubed on the mosque's external walls. No one was hurt in the incident.

West Bank mosque targeted by unknown vandals in suspected hate crime in village of Aqraba, near Nablus, April 13 2018 Zachariah Sade
West Bank mosque targeted by unknown vandals in suspected hate crime in village of Aqraba, near Nablus, April 13 2018 Zachariah Sade
Referred to in Israel as “price-tag attacks”, the attacks are wanton reprisals undertaken by extremist Jews in response to Palestinian violence against Israelis or government curbs on unauthorized West Bank settlement building. Two such possible cases were reported at the beginning of this month.

The damage to the mosque was limited and locals said that because it did not have a large carpet as is sometimes customary the entire structure did not catch fire.

The village of Aqraba is a relatively small community, with a few hundred residents, mostly farmers. None reported any damage to their property or lands ahead of the incident – which seems restricted to the mosque.

In a security camera recording of the incident, two vandals wearing hoodies can be seen starting the fire and fleeing the scene.

Residents told Haaretz that this is not the first time this mosque has been targeted, and they claimed another attempt to set it on fire took place five years ago. They also claim they suspect that settlers from the nearby Kochav Hashahar settlement are behind the attack, in revenge for a terror attack conducted by a resident of the Palestinian village in which one of the settlement's residents was killed.

Zachariah Sade, an investigator for Rabbis for Human Rights, arrived at the scene early in the morning and alerted Israeli authorities. As of Friday morning, no Israeli forces have arrived at the scene. The incident took place at roughly 2 AM.

On April 5, several vehicles in a Palestinian-majority East Jerusalem neighborhood were vandalized on Wednesday night, Israeli police said. The incident is similar to one that took place a day earlier in the West Bank that Palestinian villagers blamed on Israeli settlers.