West Bank mosque torched in "price tag" attack

The mosque in the West Bank village of Maghayer (also rendered al-Mughayyir) suffered damage and threatening graffiti in a vandal attack in the wee hours of June 7. Burning tires were rolled into the mosque near Ramallah, setting rugs in the building on fire, and the walls were scrawled with anti-Arab slogans. The words "Alei Ayin" were also spray-painted on the walls, which is the name of a nearby Jewish settlement outpost demolished by Israeli police last week, sparking clashes with the settlers.

Other slogans spray painted on the wall include "Price Tag," and "This is only the beginning." "Price tag" refers to the strategy extremist settlers have adopted to exact a price in attacks on Palestinians in retribution for moves against settlements or incidents such as the Itamar attack.

Several West Bank mosques have been torched in the past year; most incidents were blamed on Jewish settlers. Israeli authorities say they are investigating the Maghayer attack. (Ma'an News Agency, JTA, June 7)