and the sins of the fathers…
Last month a West Bank Mosque was vandalism and torched and the news story was carried around the world. I have chosen Ynet New account owing to Ynet News well-known and defined anti-settler bias.
Fire was set to a large mosque in the West Bank Palestinian village of Yasuf, east of Salfit, Thursday night. Hebrew slurs were sprayed on the walls that said: “We will burn all of you.” The words “price tag” were also scrawled on the walls.
“Price tag” is the slogan adopted some months ago by extremist settlers who carry out reprisals against Palestinians in response to the evacuation of settlement structures by Israeli defense forces.
The Palestinians are pointing fingers at settlers in the area as the main culprits. Following a complaint, a joint investigation was launched that includes security forces in the area. The defense establishment said to Ynet that they view this as a serious offense and intend to bring the perpetrators to justice.
It outraged not only the Palestinians but the Israelis. It was automatically assumed to be the work of rogue settlers and the denunciations of the culprits came from a united Israeli front. The criminal act became a political issue so it was only logical for those who walk the corridors to power to arrest a political symbol and who better able to appease the political echelon of both the Israelis and Palestinians than the teenage grandson of the notorious Rabbi Meir Kahane? A teenager, who as a child, lost his own parents in a terrorist attack.
I am going to confess that I know very little about Rabbi Meir Kahane and ins and outs of his political philosophy. I do know he was elemental in the fight to free Soviet Jewry but most of what I know comes from second or third hand sources and much of which is very biased against him. I am not overtly familiar with the social culture of the Israelis at that time so its not easy for me to put him into context. Sure, I watched and listened to a few of his speeches and I have to admit to feeling a weird disconnect when doing so. He doesn’t quite seem to be the demon everyone makes him out to be. I can’t shake the feeling I am missing some piece of the big picture which everyone gets but me. I don’t fret over it and I am not particularly motivated to study the man and his philosophy – although, perhaps I should given how some of my critics liken me to a Kahanists. Anyhow, there is very few Israeli political figures which polarize the Israeli body politic like Kahane and the Israeli papers were ecstatic when the Shin Bet released the news of the arrest of the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane for the mosque attack, and again, the newspapers of the world carried the story.
A relative of former Kach Chairman, Rabbi Meir Kahane, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of torching a mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf about three weeks ago. He was detained at around 12 pm by the Judea and Samaria Police at the Tapuach Junction. The suspect was taken in for questioning. Sources close to him told Ynet, “We hope the Shin Bet and police won’t treat him like settlers have been treated recently.”
(…)Attorney Yehuda Shushan, representing the suspect told Ynet that his client – a minor – adamantly denies all the allegations against him, adding that he was “traumatized by the arrest.” According to the Shushan, the youth was arrested while driving near the Tapuach Junction. He did not resist arrest and during the initial investigation, was told that he was suspected of arson.
“The investigators kept telling him that they know what they know based on intelligence, saying ‘we know you didn’t do it, but we know you know who did, so just tell us who did it,’” said Shushan. The youth denied any connection to the arson and according to his attorney provided an alibi, after which he invoked his right to remain silent. Shushan claimed his client was denied his rights as a minor in police custody, i.e. – having an adult family member present during questioning. “The police would be better spending their time tracking down the real suspects, instead of arresting a minor who has nothing to do with this. I hope they right this wrong and release him before he is arraigned.”
But very few foreign news agencies carried the story of his release. In fact, I can’t think of one which did. Ynet News
The youth suspected of torching the mosque in the West Bank village of Yasuf was released on bail Thursday evening, after the police verified his alibi. Nevertheless, the minor’s involvement in the case is still investigated. The youth, who is a relative of Kach founder Rabbi Meir Kahane, was arrested in the morning hours and interrogated for several hours.
Attorney Yehuda Shushan, representing the suspect told Ynet that his client has no criminal record and that he adamantly denies all the allegations against him, adding that he was “traumatized by the arrest.” The investigators kept telling him that they know what they know based on intelligence, saying ‘we know you didn’t do it, but we know you know who did, so just tell us who did it’,” said Shushan.
Now remember, the Israeli police have vertified his ‘alibi’ but they refuse to drop the charges against the minor. So the score is now one west bank mosque damaged and one false arrest. This brings us to events in the Mosque saga. Ynet News
The police and Shin Bet on Sunday night detained 10 people in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, on suspicion of being involved in the torching of a mosque in the Palestinian village of Yasuf last month and in other offenses.
The police reported that Zvi Sukkot of Yitzhar, Eliran Elgali of Yitzhar and Shlomo Gilbert of Elon Moreh, all 20 years old, are suspected of badly damaging Palestinian property. Two yeshiva students were also detained.
During the arrest, the police searched a yeshiva in the settlement and found violent measures, including spikes. Five other suspects, four of them minors, were arrested on suspicion of rioting in the Samaria area. The fifth is also suspected of demonstrating outside the home of a Civil Administration inspector.
According to local residents, more than 100 members of the security forces arrived at the community in order to carry out the arrests. One of the detainees was said to have lost his consciousness during the arrest. All the suspects were taken in for questioning.
An Yitzhar resident told Ynet, “Where have the human rights organizations gone? What happened tonight in Yitzhar was a pogrom. The police would not let themselves behave this way with any other population in the State of Israel. They beat us, damaged property and even confiscated cameras ocumenting their actions. Good morning, Iran.”
I suppose a detainee losing consciousness during an arrest is now an doublespeak for the police using excessive physical force. Got to love when the state grants legitimacy to thugs to carry out their politicking. The Yitzhar resident does bring up an interesting question; just why have the civil rights associations in Israel gone silent? And the answer; is why I routinely refer to the Associations for Human Rights in Israel – for everyone but Jews. But the mosque sage doesn’t end here but goes a few steps further down the road. Ynet News
The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court extended by seven days the remand of the four Yeshiva students from Yitzhar suspected of involvement in the arson of a mosque in the Palestinian village of Yasuf last month. The suspects are not cooperating with detectives, and deny all allegations against them.
Reading the article until the end leaves me with the nagging suspicion that the remanding of four out of the initial 10 Yeshiva students has more to do with their exercising of their legal rights, lack of airtight alibis for the time period for vandalism at the mosque, and the police using this opportunity to settle a few scores rather than the search for the culprits in the attack. And how convenient for the police to confiscate the cameras documenting their no doubt ‘righteous’ arrests.
