Alaa Tamimi arrived at the scene of the suspected arson attack against the Al-Anbiya Mosque in the Beit Fajjar town and said investigations would be launched into it “and all settler assaults against Palestinians are being documented as requested by Attorney Muhammad Al-Mughanni.”

Locals told Ma’an on Monday that several settlers ransacked mosque overnight and set fire to carpets inside. Muhammad Taqatqa, who lives next to the mosque, said he saw a white car with Israel license plates leaving the town after the mosque was set on fire, heading west toward the Etzion crossroads.

Taqatqa said 15 versions of the Quran were burned in the incident and that stones surrounding pillars inside the mosque collapsed. Anti-Palestinian slogans were further written across the mosque’s walls, he said.

Residents hurried to extinguish the fire until Palestinian firefighters and police arrived at the scene, adding that locals clashed with assailants following the arson, prompting Israeli forces to deploy in the town to contain the fight.

Israeli army ‘searching for culprits’

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma’an that Israeli police in the West Bank have begun operating in the area to locate the assailants.

She further said head of Israel’s Civil Administration Yoav Mordechai “personally spoke with Palestinian Authority officials” to inform them that the Israeli army takes the incident “seriously” and are working on “tracking down the culprits [who will be] severely punished by authorities.”

PA official: Arson part of campaign against everything Palestinian

Director of PA Ministry of Religious Endowment in Bethlehem Muhammad Ayish denounced the attack, describing it as part of a “campaign against everything Palestinian.”

“Israel responds to peace by arson, judaisation, settlement construction and land confiscation. This arson reminds us of the arson against Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969.”

Israeli settlement of Migdal Oz is a kilometer away from the mosque and there have been several skirmishes between settlers and residents of Beit Fajjar in the past.

(This article was UPDATED to include a statement from the Israeli army.)

The rest of the demonstration proceeded, and was met with soldiers and barbed wire, stopping the demonstration from reaching the village’s agricultural lands. They then gave speeches in Arabic, English and Hebrew, at the end of which the newlyweds appeared right behind the soldiers’ line – marching from the lands towards the village.

The soldiers, now trapped between the marriage procession and the couples, stormed and attacked the demonstrators, hitting them with rifles. Three Israeli activists were arrested, and one of them was beaten badly. All three were charged with assault of the Major who was commanding the soldiers, and with violation of a closed military zone. All three were later released, but are now banned to return to the area for two weeks. The activist who was beaten required medical attention and was taken to a hospital.

Meanwhile the demonstration concluded with no further arrests or wounded. However, the so-called “assaulted” Major pronounced that next week a curfew will be enforced in the village on Friday at 5AM, to prevent any more demonstrations.

The march was stopped by a line of nearly thirty Israeli soldiers, who had stretched a razor wire barrier across the road. The demonstrators gave speeches condemning the Wall and demanding an end to the occupation. At one point, several demonstrators climbed onto a pile of rocks by the side of the road and began to speak out against Israel’s violence and oppression. An army jeep turned on its siren in an attempt to drown out the message, but the crowd roared back, drumming and screaming louder than the siren.

Soldiers then began to push the speakers off the rocks, shoving them back down onto the road. Another speech was given by an elderly woman at the front of the crowd, and the demonstrators climbed back onto the rocks to translate her speech into English. The demonstration continued for nearly two hours before dispersing.

Severe restrictions were put in place around Um Salamuna in an attempt to keep international and Israeli supporters from attending the demonstration. Regardless, more than 100 people, including a large contingent of women, marched. Friday was Mothers Day throughout the Middle East. In Al-Khadr, more than 50 people gathered near Route 60 to demonstrate against the confiscation of more 90% of their land for the construction of the Annexation Barrier. Though Israeli snipers were seen in the hills above the demonstration, no shots were fired.

Both Al-Khadr and Um Salamuna are directly affected by the Annexation Barrier’s route around the settlement of Efrat, in the Etzion settlement bloc. Efrat’s mayor recently announced the construction of a new ‘neighborhood’ in Efrat, confiscating even more Palestinian land.

Also today in Al-Khadr the movement against the Annexation Wall, which is already partially completed in the area and will by its completion take 90% of Al-Khadr’s land, continued to build its momentum. Hundreds of Palestinian residents of Al-Khadr and neighboring towns were joined by solidarity activists as they once again attempted to march towards the site of construction. They were joined by Taysir Khalid, a member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) which celebrated its 39th anniversary. Mr. Khalid commended the steadfastness of the people of Al-Khadr and all Palestinians struggling against the Apartheid Wall and theft of their land. He also emphasized the importance of national unity in the face of the occupation, a theme that was also addressed in a speech by Al-Khadr mayor, Ramzi Saleh.
Dozens of Israeli Occupation Forces confronted the march near the road to the Efrat settlement. They rained down rubber-coated steel bullets and noxious gas on the demonstrators. The gas shot was not the “normal” tear gas used in abundance by the IOF. This gas caused several people to faint, vomit, and have convulsions. Reportedly 18 people were hospitalized due to injuries and gas inhalation. Still, though the residents of Al-Khadr have been met by intense repression, the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements reaffirmed their conviction to struggle against the theft of Palestinian land, saying that they are determined that “the Wall will fall.”

The Palestinians then held their Friday prayer on the land near Route 60 and several people spoke about their commitment to continuing the struggle and continuing to build bonds between solidarity activists and the Palestinian people.