Violation: The burning of a mosque and the writing of anti-Islamic and racist remarks.
Date: October 4th 2010.
Location: The entrance of the town of Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem Governorate.
Details:
At the dawn of the 4th of October, 2010, a group of Israeli colonists torched Al Anbiya’a (The Prophets) Mosque in the town of Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem Governorate. The group reached the mosque in a Peugeot 205 car, broke into it, spread flammable materials throughout it and placed numerous copies of the Holy Qura’an in its midst and then set it on fire. The carpets of the mosque were destroyed while internal tiles went out of its place due to the intense heat caused by the fire.
Pictures 1+2: Palestinians checking out the damage that befell the mosque due to the arson.
Pictures 3+4: Damage caused by the fire set by the colonists.
Land Research Center (LRC)’s field researcher met with the Bethlehem Awqaf (religious trust) Manager who stated the following:
At about 2:00 AM I was told that the mosque was burning. A number of nearby residents told me that 6 people wearing masks sped away from the mosque in a car that headed towards Gush Etzion. When we reached the mosque we found that at least 12 copies of the Holy Qur’an were burnt as well as the new carpets of the mosque as well as its tiles. The estimated cost of the damages surpassed NIS 50,000.
Moreover, the field researcher saw some writings that indicated that “This mosque is number 18 that is burnt” in addition to anti-Islamic phrases including “This is a bathroom, not a mosque” and ‘revenge”.
Picture 5: “This is Mosque No. 18” written by the assailant colonists.
Mosque Burning Series Continues Unabated:
The phrases written on the walls of the mosque points to the existence of an underground colonist organization that targets mosques as this arson is not the first of its kind as the series has started as early as 1969 when Al Aqsa Mosque was targeted while in 1994 a colonists killed 29 kneeling worshippers in the Ibrahimi Mosque.
LRC has documented a number of attacks carried out by either Israeli occupation forces or Israeli colonists. The documented cases include the following:
1. In March 2009 a mosque in the area of Beit Einoon of Hebron City was threatened to be demolished by the Israeli “Civil” Administration.
2. In April 2009, Al Ras Mosque (located opposite to the Israeli colony of Kiryat Arba in Hebron) was vandalized while racist and anti-Islam phrases were written on its walls by Israeli colonists occupying Al Rajabi House nearby.
3. In December 2009, Israeli colonists of Tappuh burnt down the mosque of the village of Yasuf in Salfeet Governorate.
4. In January 2010 Israeli colonists threatened to demolish the Salman Al Farisi mosque in Burin. They continue to demand its destruction.
5. In April 2010 the colonists of Yetzhar vandalized the Bilal Ibn Rabah mosque in Hiwara while writing offensive phrases on its walls.
6. In May 2010 the main mosque in Al Lubban Al Sharqiya was burnt down.
7. In August 2010 a mosque in Khirbet Yezra in Tubas Governorate was threatened to be demolished.
8. Also in August 2010 another mosque in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan was threatened to be demolished.
Beit Fajjar:
The town is located 20 kilometers south of the city of Bethlehem. Its total area is 17,116 dunums of which 1,415 dunums are its built-up area. Its population was 11,004 in 2007. Israeli occupation authorities confiscated more than 50 dunums of its lands for colonial purposes especially to establish the colony of Migdal Oz.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
