Ref: 66/2012

Date: 20 June 2012

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
strongly condemns the following crime, in which extremist Israeli settlers set
fire to the Zaid Bin Hareth Mosque in Jaba’ village, northeast of occupied
Jerusalem.  PCHR notes that the Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) – by providing support, protection and not applying all
applicable laws – is giving implied permission to settlers and, in fact,
encouraging them to commit systematic crimes against Palestinian civilians.  In view of the current escalation of crimes
committed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, the international community is
required to take prompt and immediate effective steps to provide protection to
Palestinian civilians from Israeli settlers and their crimes.  Crimes that are committed by the settlers add
to all the crimes that are committed by the IOF themselves, which continue
without perpetrators being held accountable.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR,
at approximately 01:30 on Tuesday, 19 June 2012, a number of the locals in
Jaba’ village noticed intense smoke coming from a window in the northwestern
part of the Zaid Ben Hareth Mosque.  These locals immediately rushed to the
one-storey Mosque, which is located in the eastern part of Jaba’ village, to
extinguish the fire.  According to eyewitnesses,
one of the windows in the Mosque and the carpets inside the Mosque were on
fire.  The locals were able to extinguish
the fire, which destroyed the glass of that window and some of the carpets, in
addition to damage done to walls and the frame of that window.  Hebrew writing was found on one of the
external walls of the Mosque, which referred to war and revenge.  The Hebrew writing shows a connection between
this crime and the evacuation of the Olbana neighborhood in the Beit Eil
settlement, north of Ramallah and al-Bireh.  It should also be noted that the Adam
settlement is located approximately 500 meters to the east of the Zaid Ben
Hareth Mosque.

Having previously warned of the escalation of
attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property,
PCHR renews its strong condemnation of the act of setting fire to the Zaid Ben
Hareth Mosque, and all the attacks launched by Israeli settlers in the West
Bank, and:

1. Calls for an end to the protection provided by the IOF to
settlers, and to the impunity provided by the IOF to settlers’ crimes against
Palestinian civilians and their property, which encourage settlers to commit
more crimes;

2. Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the
government of Israel to fulfill its obligations under international law and put
an end to all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT);

3. Reminds the international community that settlement is a war
crime, in accordance to international law.  Thus, the High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, individually or collectively, must
assume their legal and moral responsibilities and fulfill their obligations by
ensuring Israel’s respect for the Convention in the OPT, as per Article 1 of
the Convention.