Israel sees increasing incidents of anti-Arab hate graffiti

[Scurrilous]

Hate-graffiti reported across Israel after Tuba-Zangaria mosque arson last week; Police Commissioner meets with Muslim, Christian community leaders after tense weekend in Jaffa.

<snip>

"Jaffa was quiet on Sunday following a tense weekend in which vandals spray-painted slogans such as "Death to Arabs" in two cemeteries - one Muslim and one Christian - and hurled a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue.

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino sought an urgent meeting with the leaders of Jaffa's Muslim and Christian communities on Sunday, and the meeting was quickly set for that evening in Jaffa. By the time it occurred, police had also learned about similar graffiti in nearby Bat Yam, along with new slogans such as "There will be no Arabs on Maccabi Haifa" (a soccer team) and "Death to Russians." But Bat Yam residents say this graffiti is more than two weeks old.

Police said that ever since last week's torching of a mosque in Tuba-Zangaria, in northern Israel, they have been receiving reports of hate-graffiti from all over the country."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-sees-increasing-incidents-of-anti-arab-hate-graffiti-1.389051

[oberliner]

1. Glad that the Israeli government and police are taking this as seriously as they are

Hopefully something positive will come from these meetings.

[Jefferson23]

2. Op-ed: Israel’s leadership must unite to confront menace threatening very fabric of society

* Dr. Edward Rettig is Director of AJC-Jerusalem

Rabbi David Rosen is AJC's International Director of Interreligious Affairs

A burning house of God

A burned house of worship, in this case a mosque in the Israeli Arab town of Tuba Zangaria, and a desecrated Arab cemetery in Jaffa, were together an ominous opening to the New Year. To be sure, the responses from the local authorities on up to the prime minister and president Israel have been exemplary.



But in the face of what appears to be a political assault on a mosque and either anti-Arab political violence or sheer hooliganism expressed in the appalling slogans written on grave markers in Jaffa, much more is needed. Whether it is fair to demand more is not the question. Rather, the urgent question is what will be effective in preventing further outbreaks of violent religious and ethnic bigotry.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4133711,00.html