Vandals target West Bank mosque, university

Vandals sprayed graffiti on the walls of a mosque and a university in the West Bank town of Birzeit near Ramallah on Friday in attacks by suspected Israeli settlers. Palestinian security officials told AFP that "Death to the Arabs" and slogans insulting the Prophet Mohammed were painted in Hebrew and that they suspected settlers were to blame. It was the third mosque to be daubed with graffiti Hebrew since Monday, when Israeli troops demolished three homes in the settlement outpost of Migron. Hardline settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government measures against settlements. Hours after the Migron demolitions, the mosque in Qusra village, southeast of Nablus, was damaged when two tyres were set alight on its ground floor storage area, residents said, blaming Jewish settlers. Hebrew graffiti on the outside walls included insults against the Prophet Mohammed, a Star of David, and the word "Migron". On Thursday, attackers in the northern West Bank staged a similar mosque attack, torched two Palestinian cars and uprooted olive trees. The mosque in Yatma village, south of Nablus was spray-painted with Hebrew reading "price tag" and "Migron". Also on Thursday two cars were torched in the nearby village of Qabalan, with witnesses telling AFP they had seen "settlers" fleeing after setting a BMW alight. Several kilometres (miles) further north, dozens of olive trees were uprooted in a grove between Huwwara village and the hardline Yitzhar settlement, a Palestinian security source told AFP. On Wednesday the Israeli army said unidentified "vandals" had attacked military vehicles on a base near Ramallah, slashing tyres and spraying them with the words "price tag." Sugar was also poured into the fuel tanks of two heavy machinery vehicles which participated in the Migron demolitions, the army said on Thursday.