ISRAELI EXTREMISTS SET FIRE TO CHRISTIAN SEMINARY IN AL QUDS

Photo: Ma’an News Agency

Al-Quds, 8 Jumadil Awwal 1436/27 February 2015 (MINA)–  Suspected Israeli extremists set fire to a Greek Orthodox seminary in the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday and sprayed hate slogans on the walls, police said.

Israeli spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said that the fire was started at 4:00 a.m and caused damage to a bathroom and shower room before firefighters controlled the blaze.

Israeli media reported that the assailants poured flammable liquid into the bathroom window before lighting it and fleeing the scene, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Orthodox seminary is located near Jaffa Gate.

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“Jesus is a son of a whore” and “Redemption of Zion” were sprayed on the walls.

On Tuesday, extremist Jewish settlers set fire to a mosque in the southern West Bank town of al-Jaba west of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said the attack was tantamount to “an official declaration of religious war,” the official WAFA news agency reported.

Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinians across the West Bank overnight on Wednesday, an Israeli army spokeswoman and prisoner rights groups said.

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Mutaz Abd al-Latif Tayeh, 21, from southern Jenin, was detained after being summoned by Israeli forces to Salem DCO, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.

Locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces detained Sinan Ahmad Mujahed Radwan, 18, and his brother Muhammad, 22, after raiding their homes in the Azzun village of eastern Qalqiliya.

Their arrests mark continued activity by Israeli forces in Azzun, following the arrest of two teens the previous night after forces raided the village, searching dozens of homes.

Witnesses added that Israeli forces have closed all entrances to Azzun for the third day in a row.

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An Israeli spokeswoman said 11 Palestinians were detained on suspicion of “terror activity.”

Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, usually on the pretext of security questioning.

Around 40 percent of the male Palestinian population has been detained by Israeli forces, according to prisoner rights group Addameer. (T/P010/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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