Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 3 m 10s || 2.90 MB ||
Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Thursday December 15, 2011.
Another mosque is set alight by extremist Israeli settlers, and Israeli police clash with settler youth in connection to the recent wave of Price Tag attacks, these stories and more coming up; so stay tuned.
Early on Thursday morning, Israeli soldiers demolished constructions in an illegal settlement outpost, known as Mitzpeh Yitzhar, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that the army declared the area a closed military zone in an attempt to prevent the settlers from obstructing the removal of the illegal structures, and added that one of the two removed structures was residential.
The action was on the orders of the Israeli High Court, who issued the ruling in August. These actions have spurred on settler Youth, whose Price Tagging campaign has gathered momentum in attacks on Palestinians, holy sites, and even the Israeli Army.
A group of extremist Israeli settlers have targeted another mosque for an arson attack, this time striking Borqa village, just east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
The mosque has received substantial fire damage, and the walls were sprayed with racist graffiti.
Eye witnesses stated that the first and second floors of the mosque were burnt, and the graffiti targeted Palestinians and the Prophet Mohammed. The attack comes only days after a mosque were attacked in Jerusalem, and only a week after another mosque in the West Bank was hit.
The settlers hold the Palestinians and Israeli peace groups responsible for the evacuation of illegal outposts in the West Bank and the Price Tag attacks are carried out against the Palestinians, their property and holy sites, and against peace groups and leftist figures in Israel.
In related news, clashes occurred in Jerusalem late on Wednesday, between Israeli police and right-wing settler youth, who have continued attacking property and holy sites for three days running.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told the Army Radio that he considered the recent attacks to be the work of Quote- “Jewish terrorists” –Unquote.
Police arrived at a flat last night to arrest several youth in relation to last night’s mosque burning, and the attack on the military base near Qalqilia. The settlers responded by clashing with the police, slashing tires and vandalizing police cars, after dozens of settlers arrived and blocked the entry to the flat.
The police forced their way in, and arrested six settler youth, to take them in for questioning.
That’s all for today from the IMEMC News, this was the Thursday December 15 daily roundup of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope you will join us again tomorrow. This was brought to you by Husam Qassis, and me, William Gibson.
