An act of arson? Vandalism? Act of revenge? Nothing has been proven, but mainstream media already claims to know who the culprits are: Jews, of course.

A mosque caught on fire early Wednesday morning at Al-Mughayir, a village near Ramallah.

Local Arabs immediately began to riot, claiming that the mosque had been torched by “settlers” as an act of revenge against the recent wave of violence perpetrated by Arab terrorists.

The fire broke out at around 2:30 a.m., according to Arab media. Sources claim that extensive damage was caused to furniture on the first floor, which included a library of Islamic holy books.

Israeli police and firefighters arrived at the scene to investigate but were barred from entering the town by the rioting Arabs. Israeli arson investigators did eventually meet with their Palestinian counterparts, but the meeting was held outside the village and far away from the scene of the alleged crime, thus rendering their work ineffective.

Reports at the scene indicated that there was no further vandalism. This is unusual, because in previous suspected incidents of arson, the vandals had left behind a graffiti message.

No Witnesses or Indication of Israeli Complicity

The only alleged eyewitness to the incident was an elderly Arab woman who claims she saw two white jeeps drive up to the mosque before the fire broke out.

The mainstream media immediately tagged the incident as a hate crime, although there is no clear indication that this was the case.

Speaking on IDF Radio later in the morning, Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika stated that “if a Jew committed the attack, then this is very grave. However, past experience proves that the Palestinians have tried several times to frame the settlers.”

Mesika pointed out that “no one [Israeli] has been caught even once in all the commotion and festivals around the mosques,” referring to previous alleged incidents of arson.

He mentioned an incident in Tuba-Zangaria in 2012 in which a mosque was allegedly torched by a Jew. There was a loud public outcry, but eventually it was proven to be an inside job by an Arab, part of a local family feud. “There have been such things in the past. In Zangaria, people from the village did it,” Mesika said.

He expressed confidence that the burning of the mosque near Ramallah was not done by a “settler” as an act of revenge, saying, “I know the police, I am aware of their abilities…if there was a lead that a Jew did it he would have long been put in jail.”

In fact, arsonists threw a firebomb at the ancient synagogue of Shefar’am in the Galilee late Tuesday night. The bomb exploded, causing some damage, but no one was hurt. There was no mention in this case of a hate crime in the mainstream media.

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Author: United with Israel staff