Israeli Settlers Torch Mosques in Violent Attacks on Palestinian Towns and Villages in the Occupied West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers torched two mosques over the weekend in the latest wave of violent attacks on several Palestinian towns and villages. This is a resident of Qusra. Amad Albaik: “This is a religious crime. It is a moral crime and all. They are thieves, and you can call them with all the bad descriptions, because there is no human on the planet that torches a religious place.” This comes as Israeli military forces on Saturday detained over 70 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank. The arrests and attack on the mosques followed the killing of at least four Palestinians in the town of Tal on Friday, when Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire on residents attempting to protect their homes. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed. Several Israeli activists were arrested in Tel Aviv over the weekend during a protest against intensifying Israeli settler violence on Palestinians. Some of the protesters held signs that read “resist Zionist terror.” Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, has condemned the Israeli settler attacks as “pogroms against defenseless civilians.” www.democracynow.org