Perilous Times
ISRAELI PM Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted with fury
after Israeli mosque attacked
* From: AFP
* October 03, 2011 6:47PM
ISRAELI PM Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted with fury after seeing
pictures of a mosque in northern Israel which was torched
overnight, a statement from his office says.
Netanyahu was "furious" when he saw the pictures of the mosque in
the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangaria in the northern Galilee
region which sustained heavy damage in an overnight arson attack,
with the words "tag" and "revenge" scrawled on its walls.
"The images are shocking and do not belong in the state of
Israel," the statement quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Police described the attack as "a very severe price tag incident"
- a term which usually refers to acts of vengeance against
Palestinians and their property by Jewish settlers in the West
Bank.
"This is an act which is against the values of the state of
Israel, which places supreme importance on freedom of religion and
freedom of worship," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
The attackers also graffitied the word "Palmer" on the walls in an
apparent reference to Asher Palmer, an Israeli settler who died
with his infant son in the southern West Bank on September 23
after his car was hit by stones thrown by Palestinians, causing it
to crash.
Although such acts of vengeance normally occur in the occupied
West Bank, a similar attack took place in Ibtin, another Arab
Israeli village in Galilee, last year.
The attack sparked anger in the village, with a few hundred
residents burning tyres and trying to block a road in the area,
police said.
Protesters threw stones at police, who used tear gas to disperse
the crowds, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, saying police
representatives were talking to village leaders "in an effort to
calm things down".
Northern District Police Commander Roni Attia described the attack
as "a very severe price tag incident" and set up a special
investigation team to deal with it, police said.
He also called on residents of the area to preserve public order
and allow the police to investigate without disturbances.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch strongly condemned
the incident.
"An attack on holy places is an atrocious and despicable act, that
cannot be ignored," he said in a statement.
"I spoke with the police commissioner and was updated on the
police's treatment of the event and on their determination to
swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice."