Christian as Muslim worshiping sites are universally known as sacred places, which are prohibited to violate whatsoever for they symbolize the dogmas and beliefs of certain people; the violation of which cause a wide-range anger and hatred.
It has been recently noticed that the fanatic colonists of Israel have escalated their attacks on religious sites. Such attacks were represented in setting religious sites ablaze. This became as reoccurring as the attacks on olives after the violations against al-Aqsa mosque took a new extreme.
Israeli colonists torch a mosque in Ramallah-area village Right-wing
The Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir near Ramallah witnessed on Wednesday November 12th 2014 a new crime of torching Othman Bin Affan mosque. The gangsters of Price Tag carried out this attack, which comes as the second one after they burnt down the grand mosque of the village three years ago. The mosque of Othman was established in 1990 and by 1995 another floor of 180m2 was annexed to it.
The chairman of the village council Faraj al-Na'san told Land Research Center the story as follows: " at 1:30 a.m. , a group of fanatic colonists accompanied by a patrol of military jeeps sneaked to the center of the village where they headed towards the mosque and broke its windows, throwing a flammable substance inside. The result was the total burn down of the first floor and its facilities. As for the second floor, the flames caused it to crack as per the high temperature. People of the town noticed the glow of fire and rushed to the place to extinguish it with help of Civil Defense which came late to the place but managed to control the fire.
2014: the year of time division of al-Aqsa mosque
As a matter of fact, the most targeted mosque in occupied Jerusalem is al-Aqsa where the Abraham mosque "tomb of the patriarchs " is the one in Hebron. Systematic violations against al-Aqsa mosque escalated during September 2014. The number of colonists allowed in al-Aqsa mosque has notably increased. Colonists have been breaking into al-Aqsa mosque and wandering through its compound where Palestinians were banned from entering the mosque at all . This is the policy of time division, which the state of the occupation has been working on for years.
As for the Abraham mosque of Hebron, the military of Israeli occupation announced on January 2014 its intention to take over the compound of the mosque in addition to the properties surrounding it. This came as the occupation hanged a statement on the mosque walls indicating the takeover plan. Noteworthy, the surrounding area of the Abraham mosque are known as the most targeted place in Hebron. The reason behind this firm targeting is to implement a colonial plan of transferring the heart of Hebron city into a colonial city and separating the mosque from its Palestinian periphery.
Attacks on the mosques during 2014 :
The occupation exchanged roles with right-wing colonists in conducting attacks on worshiping places in the areas of West Bank and Jerusalem as well. LRC documented 14 attacks on mosques including ( burning down 3 mosques, demolishing 2 mosques, smashing and sabotaging mosques and raiding 3 mosques). The following tables shows information about the targeted mosques :
| Governorate | No. of attacked mosques | Name of attacked mosques | Type of attack | Perpetrators | ||||
| Demolition | Threatening of demolition | Torching | Sabotaging and firing gas and sound bombs | Drawing inciting-hatred slogans | ||||
| Jerusalem | 2 | Al-Aqsa mosque | 1 | Colonists and the Israeli military | ||||
| Al-Rahma mosque | 1 | The municipality of the occupation | ||||||
| Hebron | 4 | The Abraham mosque | 1 | Colonists and the Israeli military | ||||
| Omar Bin al-Khatab mosque | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||||
| Nabi Younis mosque | 1 | Colonists and the Israeli military | ||||||
| Ghwayen mosque | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||||
| Bethlehem | 1 | Bilal Bin Rabah mosque | 1 | Colonists and the Israeli military | ||||
| Ramallah | 2 | Al-Hadi Mohammad mosque | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||
| Othman Bin Affan mosque | 1 | Right-wing colonists | ||||||
| Nablus | 2 | Khirbet al-Taweel mosque | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||
| Abu Bakir es-Sidik | 1 | Right-wing colonists | ||||||
| Salfit | 3 | Ali Bin Abi Taleb | 1 | Right-wing colonists | ||||
| Omar Bin al-Khatab | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||||
| Al-Junid mosque | 1 | The Israeli military | ||||||
| Total | 14 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ||
Land Research Center sees in the colonists attack on this religious site as on others under the heavy protection and support of the Israeli army a direct breach and violation of the international conventions that asserted the right to worship as follows :
Geneva fourth Convention
Article 27:
- Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity.
CONVENTION RESPECTING THE LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR ON LAND
Article 56:
- The property of municipalities, that of institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, even when State property, shall be treated as private property.
- All seizure of, destruction or wilful damage done to institutions of this character, historic monuments, works of art and science, is forbidden, and should be made the subject of legal proceedings.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
