One of the dominant stories of the past few days has been the torching of the Beit Fajar mosque, presumably by those referred to as “settlers.” While there has been no definitive proof they were the culprits, almost everyone – including the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister – is assuming this to be the case. Even some prominent “settler” Rabbis – one of whom I learned under in my younger days – have publicly condemned the attack and given palestinians a box of Korans as a gesture of solidarity.
I also unequivocally condemn the attack, although I am not so fast to blame it on Israelis, given the palestinian proclivity to lie. Heck, if they are willing to blow up their own women and children, they sure as hell may be willing to set fire to their own mosques to frame Jews.
Having said that, I have no proof of this either, and am therefore not ruling out the possibility that some Jews committed this despicable act.
The anti-Israel crowd – including those in the media – are going after the “settlers”, continuing on from their attacks on them as “obstacles to peace” and, in one case, engaging in deceptive conduct to do so.
Here is an Al Jazeera report on the attack. Pay special attention to the footage from 3:11-3:26 tagged as “Latest Pictures.”
Now here is an Al Jazeera report on a previous arson attack on a mosque from May. Check out the footage from 0:31-0:46. It is identical to the footage billed as “latest pictures” from the recent attack!
Perhaps Al Jazeera did not have footage from the latest attack, or the damage was less severe than that of the previous attack. Either way, they seem to be engaging in deceptive conduct in order to promote their anti-Israel agenda and incite people against Israel.
(Thanks to nurdmyth for noticing the reused footage).
