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Vandals attack mosque in
northern Israeli village
Arson attack on mosque in Arab village of Tuba-Zangaria
believed to have been 'price tag' strike by Israeli settlers
A woman inspects the damage after the mosque arson attack. Photograph: Ancho
Gosh/AFP/Getty Images
Vandals have set fire to a mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel,
provoking protests and clashes with police. Graffiti spraypainted on the
walls of the building suggested Jewish radicals were involved.
About 200 residents of the village of Tuba-Zangaria, Arab citizens of Israel,
marched to a major junction nearby with the intention of blocking roads in
protest, Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said.
Some of the demonstrators set tyres on fire and threw stones at police
officers, who dispersed the crowd using teargas, Rosenfeld said. No one
was injured.
Police were mobilised to prevent further disturbances and were meeting
village leaders in an attempt to defuse tensions, he added.
Rosenfeld said a carpet in the mosque was set on fire, damaging interior
walls. Copies of the Qu'ran were burned, Israeli media reported.
Rosenfeld said the words "price tag" had been spraypainted on the building
– a reference to a settler practice of attacking Palestinians and their
property in retaliation for Palestinian attacks and government operations
against settlements.
Several weeks ago, the government destroyed structures in an
unauthorised Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The operation was
immediately followed by an arson attack on a mosque.
Army Radio reported that the family name of a settler and his infant son
who were killed in a car crash near the West Bank town of Hebron last
week was also scrawled on a wall.
Israeli police said rocks were thrown at the man by Palestinians, hitting him
around the head and causing him to lose control of the car.
Rosenfeld said security was heightened across northern Israel following the
attack. Large numbers of Israeli Arabs live in northern Israel.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, denounced the mosque
attack and ordered the Shin Bet internal security agency to act quickly to
locate the attackers. A message from his office said he was "fuming" when
he saw the pictures, and said the attack "ran counter to the values of the
state of Israel".
Vandals attack mosque in northern Israeli village | World news | The Guardian
northern Israeli village
Arson attack on mosque in Arab village of Tuba-Zangaria
believed to have been 'price tag' strike by Israeli settlers
A woman inspects the damage after the mosque arson attack. Photograph: Ancho
Gosh/AFP/Getty Images
Vandals have set fire to a mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel,
provoking protests and clashes with police. Graffiti spraypainted on the
walls of the building suggested Jewish radicals were involved.
About 200 residents of the village of Tuba-Zangaria, Arab citizens of Israel,
marched to a major junction nearby with the intention of blocking roads in
protest, Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, said.
Some of the demonstrators set tyres on fire and threw stones at police
officers, who dispersed the crowd using teargas, Rosenfeld said. No one
was injured.
Police were mobilised to prevent further disturbances and were meeting
village leaders in an attempt to defuse tensions, he added.
Rosenfeld said a carpet in the mosque was set on fire, damaging interior
walls. Copies of the Qu'ran were burned, Israeli media reported.
Rosenfeld said the words "price tag" had been spraypainted on the building
– a reference to a settler practice of attacking Palestinians and their
property in retaliation for Palestinian attacks and government operations
against settlements.
Several weeks ago, the government destroyed structures in an
unauthorised Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The operation was
immediately followed by an arson attack on a mosque.
Army Radio reported that the family name of a settler and his infant son
who were killed in a car crash near the West Bank town of Hebron last
week was also scrawled on a wall.
Israeli police said rocks were thrown at the man by Palestinians, hitting him
around the head and causing him to lose control of the car.
Rosenfeld said security was heightened across northern Israel following the
attack. Large numbers of Israeli Arabs live in northern Israel.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, denounced the mosque
attack and ordered the Shin Bet internal security agency to act quickly to
locate the attackers. A message from his office said he was "fuming" when
he saw the pictures, and said the attack "ran counter to the values of the
state of Israel".
Vandals attack mosque in northern Israeli village | World news | The Guardian
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