Arab Mosque Torched In The Galilee by Israeli "Price Tag" Campaigners

Galilee,(IMEMC)- On Sunday night, vandals set fire to a mosque at the entrance of the Arab village of Toba Zanghriyya in the Galilee region of Israel. The walls were marred with graffiti saying "price tag" and "revenge," the Arabs48 news website reported. These attacks mimic similar acts of vandalism that occurred last week near the West Bank town of Hebron.

The fires spread through the mosque consuming most of its property while hundreds of residents rushed in an attempt to extinguish it.

Following the attack, the villages held a protest and marched in the streets of the village while confirming that they will not be silenced. A number of youth also burnt tires and closed the main entrance of the village.

The Israeli Police said it would form an investigation committee in an attempt to identify the assailants.

Israeli TV, Channel 10, reported that the attack was likely carried out by extremist Israeli right-wingers.

Sheikh Kamal Khatib, deputy-head of the Northern Branch on the Islamic Movement, stated that “racism is controlling the Jewish sector in Israel”, and held the Israeli government responsible for the attack, adding that “the Israeli government encourages hatred towards Muslims”.

In June this year, racist graffiti was found on the walls of a mosque in a village close to Haifa. The graffiti included “Price Tag”, “demolish”, and “War against the West Bank”. The attackers also drew the Star of David on the walls of the mosque, the Arabs48 added.

Under the "price tag" campaign, Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank, attacked and torched several mosques, in addition to torching Palestinian orchards and farmlands.

Israeli settlers launched the "price tag" campaign in 2010 in retaliation to the Israeli government's decisions to freeze some illegal settlement building. Whenever settlements are restricted anywhere in the lands occupied by Israel in 1967, settlers constantly threaten and attack Palestinians and their properties.

The recent attack likely reflects a new policy the campaign is undertaking, in proliferating attacks and vandalism not only in the West Bank, but also against Arab villages and towns in Israel proper.