PA urges Israel to act after monastery arson

September 4, 2012 by occupiedpalestine 0 Comments

Maan News Agency | Sept 4, 2012
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday called on Israel to act against an arson attack on a Jerusalem-area monastery and to bring those responsible to justice.

Vandals torched the wooden door of the Latrun Monastery and pro-settler graffiti daubed in Hebrew was discovered on the building’s stone walls, Israeli police say.

“The Israeli government must take responsibility for the continuous settler violence towards religious sites. Several mosques have been attacked in recent months, but little or no action taken,” a statement from the Palestinian Government Media Center said.

“Extremist Israeli government policies — marred with bigotry — encourage settler hate crimes against Palestinians and their places of worship,” the statement said.

“This is not the first time settlers attack the Palestinian Christians sanctuaries,” it added.

PLO official Ahmed Qurei also slammed the attack, while Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement accusing the Israeli government of not doing enough to prosecute the attackers.

Palestinian Christian academic Bernard Sabella said the attack, and others like it, had been carried out by “groups of extremist Jews who do not want Muslims or Christian to remain in this country”.

An Israeli police spokesman said authorities had opened a special investigation into the attack, in which the words “Migron and “Jesus is a monkey” were scrawled on the holy site not far from the occupied West Bank.

In August, PA official Ghassan Daghlas warned Palestinians to be cautious of settler attacks ahead of the planned evacuation of illegal Israeli outpost Migron, near Ramallah.

The evacuation of the illegal Ulpana outpost in June led to a spate of “price tag” attacks on mosques, Palestinians and their property.

Israeli security officials had also expressed concern about possible acts of retribution by a suspected settler vigilante group known as “Price Tag,” for Sunday’s court-ordered eviction of 50 families from the illegal outpost.

“Price Tag” attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Israeli military installations in the occupied West Bank.

In February, Jewish extremists wrote “Death to Christianity” on two churches at Jerusalem. The graffiti also included profanity about Jesus, and the vandals slashed the tires of several cars parked in a church compound.

An ancient mosque in Jerusalem was torched on Dec. 13, and sprayed with the Star of David, “price tag,” “Muhammad is a pig” and “A good Arab is a dead Arab” in Hebrew.

Photos

: An Israeli border guard inspects the Christian Catholic Latrun monastery between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on September 4, 2012, after unknown people set the monasteryâs door ablaze and vandalized its wall . AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA

: Tourists look at a burnt door as they walk past grafitti reading in Hebrew, “mutual guarantee, Ramat Migron and Maoz Ester” (West Bank settlements), which was sprayed on the wall of the Christian Catholic Latrun monastery between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on September 4, 2012, after unknown people set the monasteryâs door ablaze and vandalized its wall . AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA

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