Israeli man vandalises entrance to Palestinian Christian village ahead of Christmas
An Israeli man has vandalised the entrance to a Palestinian Christian village in the Galilee, just days before the Christmas holiday.
According to the Shams Radio website, the man defaced the Virgin Mary statue at the entrance of the village of Fassouta on Friday, damaging its glass casing and other decorations around it.
The suspect, who was described as a "religious Jewish man" by locals, was caught by a young man from Fassouta and handed over to Israeli police in the city of Maalot-Tarshiha.
Shams Radio spoke to Father Michael Assi, the priest of the Fassouta parish, who confirmed that the attack happened in the early hours of Friday morning.
"We condemn this provocative action, especially as it comes ahead of Christmas," Assi told the news outlet.
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In a similar act of vandalism, Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank province of Salfit.
The settlers stormed the eastern part of the Marda village on Friday morning, spray-painted racist and Islamophobic slogans on the walls of the Bir al-Walidain Mosque and then set it on fire.
Residents were able to put out the fire and no injuries were reported as a result of the attack.
The governor of Salfit, Abdullah Kmeil, condemned what he called a "heinous crime", holding the Israeli far-right government fully responsible, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
He added that such attacks are a byproduct of racist sentiments and ongoing incitement from extremist religious figures and government ministers in Israel.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said in a Facebook post that the arson attack took place around 3am, with the director of religious affairs in the governate, Sheikh Othman al-Din, calling for people to stay vigilant amid the possibilty of similar crimes happening.
"The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs called on the international community and human rights institutions to work to prevent the recurrence of these heinous acts that violate human rights, especially the right to worship," the ministry said.
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