4 Yeshiva students suspected of mosque vandalism
Police arrest 18-year-old students suspected of spraying graffiti slogans reading 'Up for demolition,' 'Price tag'
Ahiya Raved • Ynet
Police forces arrested four Yeshiva students from Kfar Hasidim, suspected of spraying graffiti on a mosque in the adjacent town of Ibtin late Tuesday.
The four 18-year-olds are suspected of spraying graffiti slogan that read: "Up for demolition," "Price tag," and "War will break out in Judea and Samaria." Star of David signs were also sprayed on the building.
The suspects were transferred for questioning at the Hof District Police Central Unit offices, and their rooms were searched by the unit's officers.
Ibtin residents discovered the desecration prior to Wednesday's morning prayer.
"It's not easy reading such things, especially given the fact that the village's mosque was already torched in 1988," the mosque's keeper Muahmmad Umriyeh said.
Zevulun Regional Council, which contains Ibtin, has sent representatives to ease tensions and erase the graffiti.Council Head Dov Yeshurun told Ynet that the perpetrators were "provocateurs whose only aim is to stir up incitement between Jews ad Arabs in the region."
Ha'aretz's report:
Mosque vandalized in Bedouin village near Haifa
Graffiti spray-painted on the building's walls; village resident: Attack is result of anti-Arab incitement in Israel.
By Jack Khoury • Ha'aretz
A mosque in the Bedouin village of Ibtin, east of Haifa, was vandalized overnight Tuesday with graffiti.
The graffiti was discovered by village residents at 4:30 AM.
The 3 slogans spray-painted on the building's walls read: "There will be a war over Judea and Samaria," "price tag" and "this structure is destined for demolition."
"This is a serious crime that cannot be ignored," Mohammed Omaria, a village resident who works at the mosque, told Haaretz. Omria also said the crime was the result of the recent wave of anti-Arab incitement in Israel.
A village resident who lives near the mosque said he saw three yarmulke-wearing youths in the mosque's vicinity at around 2 AM Wednesday, and that when he asked them what they were doing there, they answered that they were searching for their dog.
Dozens of village residents and Muslims from nearby villages flocked to the mosque to inspect the damage.
The village's leaders said they plan to involve Israeli Arab MKs in the affair and hold a conference at the mosque.
The mosque has come under attack in the past when arsonists set fire to it in 1988.