» 12/16/2011 15:27 PALESTINE – ISRAEL Confessional conflict a real danger after settlers torch West Bank mosques Two incidents in three days occur in Jerusalem and Ramallah. At least eight cases have been recorded in the past few months. Israel’s government comes under fire for its soft approach to Jewish extremists in the settlements.
Ramallah (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A mosque in Burqa, a village near Ramallah, was desecrated and set on fire the other night, with Jewish settlers as the most likely culprits. Overnight, two Palestinian-owned cars also suffered the same fate. The mosque incident is the second in three days, the eight in the past few months.
At dawn on Thursday, someone broke into the Burqa mosque. Prayer carpets and furniture were set on fire. Racist graffiti were scrawled on the wall (“A good Arab is a dead Arab”), following a pattern of anti-Palestinian attacks set by Jewish settlers.
The Burqa incident comes in the heels of Wednesday arson in a mosque in Jerusalem. The climate of violence has led Israeli President Shimon Peres to summon settler leaders and rabbis to warn them that the wave of violence is a “disaster” and that the provocations and illegal actions by Jewish extremists must “be stopped immediately”.
Palestinians want more than simple warnings. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the attack “is a declaration of war”. He held the Israeli government responsible for not preventing it, calling on the international community to take concrete steps.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu vowed to crack down on settler violence. However, daily Haaretz quoted military sources saying that Netanyahu is too soft on the law of silence that protects settler extremists.
For Israel’s former deputy chief military prosecutor Ilan Katz, the PM is just bluffing, and that he does not intend to defeat the substantial impunity militant settlers enjoy.
Arab-Israeli Members of the Knesset have also come out strongly against the government. MK Talab El-Sana, who came to the mosque, said, “Whoever carried out this act is a person with no God and no values. He is the enemy of Islam and Judaism. This is a criminal act and should be seen as an act of terror.”
In his view, “It is the government's responsibility to protect the holy places. Whoever tried to burn this mosque wants to create war in this region and the government's silence gives them a green light to do so.”
In attempt to downplay the problem, Netanyahu described the arsonists as “anarchists more than terrorists.” But for the Head of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz, the PM’s is just soft-pedalling the issue. Instead, “the time for denouncements is over. Now it's time for action. Put an end to this sub-criminal and terrorist activity.”
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