WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers and Palestinians clash near near West Bank village, whose mosque was burnt
Record ID:
560182
WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers and Palestinians clash near near West Bank village, whose mosque was burnt
- Title: WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers and Palestinians clash near near West Bank village, whose mosque was burnt
- Date: 6th October 2010
- Summary: BEIT FAJJAR, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 5, 2010) (REUTERS) DOZENS OF PALESTINIAN YOUTHS HURLING STONES ISRAELI SOLDIER FIRING TEAR GAS GRENADES PALESTINIAN YOUTHS HURLING STONES, HOLDING PALESTINIAN FLAG ISRAELI SOLDIER FIRING TEAR GAS GRENADES MORE OF PALESTINIANS HURLING STONES, FIRE AND SMOKE IN BACKGROUND MORE OF SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS GRENADES MORE OF SMOKE BILLOWING / PALESTINIAN YOUTHS IN BACKGROUND JEWS, ONE OF THEM A RABBI, HOLD A DEMONSTRATION CALLING FOR CO-EXISTENCE WITH PALESTINIANS DEMONSTRATOR HOLDING BANNER READING IN HEBREW AND ARABIC "ALL MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS WANT TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY" DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNER BANNER READING IN ENGLISH AND HEBREW "PEACE IS THE NAME OF GOD IN JUDAISM AND ISLAM" ISRAELI SOLDIERS
- Embargoed: 21st October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA1GT3EGVWEVUP4M5W6PLYQ0HH1
- Story Text: Clashes erupted on Tuesday (October 5) between stone-hurling Palestinians and Israeli soldiers near a West Bank village whose mosque was burnt on Monday (October 4).
A short while earlier, Jewish settlers gave new copies of the Koran to the Palestinian residents in the village and held a demonstration calling for co-existence.
Several copies of Islam's holy book were scorched and threats in Hebrew were scrawled on the wall of the mosque of Beit Fajjar in Monday's attack.
Suspicion immediately fell on settler militants opposed to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, in which some settlements would be turned over to a Palestinian state.
The village of Beit Fajjar sits on the edge of the sprawling Jewish settlement bloc of Gush Etzion.
The clashes came shortly after a group of Rabbis and Jews who advocate coexistence with Palestinians held a demonstration by a busy West Bank highway junction, displaying banners saying: "Peace is the name of God in Judaism and Islam". Fewer than 20 people turned up.
Eye-witnesses said that when Israeli security forces prevented Beit Fajjar Palestinians from joining what was supposed to be a joint demonstration, Palestinians youths threw stones at the troops who fired tear-gas in response. The Israeli army spokesperson unit said the soldiers used riot dispersal means against violent rioters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called for calm while the Israeli and Palestinian leaders try to avert the collapse of U.S.-backed peace negotiations, condemned the mosque attack and urged police to track down the arsonists.
Any flare-up of violence in the West Bank poses a direct threat to peace talks that were launched just a month ago but suspended by the Palestinians last week when a 10-month Israeli moratorium on building new houses in West Bank Jewish settlements expired.
On the eve of a Washington summit to launch the direct negotiations on September 2, four Jewish settlers were killed in a shooting attack for which the militant Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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