MuslimMatters.org Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life
Graffiti with the words 'price tag' found on wall of the mosque in northern Israel; Northern District Police Commander describe incident as 'very serious.'
By Jack Khoury and Eli Ashkenazi from Haaretz.com. It is thought that the attackers arrived at the mosque at approximately 1.30 A.M. and set it alight.The entire interior of the mosque went up in flames, causing heavy damage. Holy books inside the mosque were burned.
Graffiti with the words “price tag” was found on the wall of the mosque.
Northern District Police Commander Major-General Roni Atia who was on the scene described the incident as “very serious in the context of 'price tag' attacks.” Atia has set up a special team to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Residents of the village also described the attack as “very serious.”
“It is obvious that Jewish extremists did this; despite the internal divisions we have, no one here would dare harm the mosque,” one of the residents said.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni commented on the incident, saying that if it was indeed a “price tag” act, then it must be condemned.
“Burning mosques contradicts Israel's values as a Jewish state,” she said. “Such serious incidents obligate us to conduct a national self-examination.”
Related stories:
- Mosque torched in Upper Galilee
- 'Price Tag': Olive trees uprooted near Hebron
- Rabbis slam 'price tag' activities
Indeed this is a very sad report! Its nice to hear that some of the Israeli authorities have condemed this attack but I just wish that they would take more action in order to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people.
palestinian suffering is the norm…..May Allah help ease the pain and suffering of the muslimeen thalimeen…the oppressed muslims….
The attack in Galilee (Tuba Mosque) should not be viewed as something new, as some sinister development in right wing Jewish Israeli society. It is just a continuation of the decades-old aggression against Palestinians. Those who assume that Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are somehow immune to the attacks of individuals or the policies of a nation that would rather see them expelled, are being naïve.
Following the declaration of Israel as a state in 1948, and the armistice in 1949, when the Jewish forces swept across Palestine, not only did they expel 750,000 Palestinians, they also destroyed over 500 villages, towns and neighbourhoods. They attempted to erase the Palestinian-ness of the landscape, replacing it with a Hebrew identity that actually only covered the surface, it could not remove the age-old roots of people who’d existed there for many centuries.
This deliberate policy to deny Palestinians an identity has been used ever since. So as the rise in attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank are increasing, so too will the attacks against Palestinians who are citizens of Israel.
Today is but a continuation of the Nakba; 1948 is ongoing, it was never finished. The policies of the Zionists are not new, their tactics are not new, and their aims are not new. In 1948 the international community failed to protect the majority Arab population of Palestine. There is now an opportunity to make up for that failure, but are any of the Western powers capable of taking such a stand? The signs, so far, are not favourable. The signs point to 1948 not just continuing but increasing in intensity. While the burning of the mosque in Tubas was nothing new, it does herald the darkest of times to come.
Please could you explain what a “price tag” attack mean? This is the first time I hear this term.
Worthy of comment also in Palestine are the news that the Congress wants to suspend his aid to the Palestinian Authority because they asked to be recognised by the UN.