Settlers Torch a Mosque Near Salfit

Friday December 11, 2009 10:22 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Salfir Mosque Burnt - Maan Images

A group of fundamentalist Jewish settlers burnt on Friday at dawn large sections of the “Great Mosque” in Yasuf village, near the central West Bank city of Salfit. The settlers also sprayed “Price Tag” and “We Will Burn You All” on the walls of the mosque.

Head of Yasuf village council, Abdul-Rahim Musleh, told the Maan News Agency that the settlers torched the second floor of the mosque located in the center of the village.

Musleh added that the settlers first broke into the mosque by smashing its main door and then poured fuel in it before setting it ablaze.

He said that the fire consumed the library of the mosque and most of the carpets before the villagers and local firefighters rushed to put it off.

Musleh stated that the settlers wrote graffiti on the walls of the mosque, some calling for “revenge”, other calling for burning all Palestinians, and added that the Palestinian police and the Israeli army opened investigations into the attack.

The settlers likely came from Tapoah illegal settlement located near the village.
The torched mosque is one of four in the village which is surrounded by Israeli settlements.

Head of the so-called Civil Administration Office, which is controlled by the Israeli military, denounced the attack and “vowed to apprehend the assailants and prosecute them”.

Arab member of Knesset, Ahmad Tibi, head of the United Arab List – Ta’al faction, said that Israel’s Defense Minister and the Israeli army must be held accountable for this attack and the ongoing state of lawlessness of the fundamentalist settlers.

He added that the settlers already started their “revenge” several months ago and burnt Palestinian orchards.

Clashes were reported between the settlers and the residents near the eastern entrance of the village; one resident was injured.

Yasuf, as well as many villages and towns, is subjected to repeated attacks by fundamentalist settlers who burn lands, stole livestock and uprooted trees.

salfit | holy sites | news report saed at imemc dot org