Who desecrated Arab graves?

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Who desecrated Arab graves?

Palestinians claim Jewish worshippers, IDF escort responsible for vandalizing cemetery. Military says past complaints turned out to be deliberate Palestinian provocations, but will look into allegations

Hanan Greenberg
Published:    01.21.10, 00:53 / Israel News

The Palestinians claim that Jewish worshipers escorted by IDF troops vandalized graves, sprayed graffiti and shattered tombstones at the West Bank village of Awarta Tuesday.

The Jewish groups that held the pilgrimage denied the allegations, while IDF officials said they were shocked by the possibility that soldiers escorting the worshipers might be behind the controversial acts.

Others pointed the finger at the Palestinians and human rights organization B'Tselem that filed the complaint, claim the acts were an attempt to create a "provocation."



One of the vandalized graves (Photo: B'Tselem)

The cemetery sustained damages that included three shattered tombstones, empty plastic bottles and rubbish that was left behind and offensive graffiti slogans written in Hebrew, English and Russian and directed against Arabs.

Sources in the IDF noted that they have received similar complaints in the past, but those turned out to be deliberate launch a Military Police investigation if necessary.

Pilgrimage organizers were shocked to hear about the allegations and stressed that they make sure no Palestinian property is damaged by worshipers during the pilgrimage.

"We organize pilgrimages to the tombs of tzadikim, only in order to pray. We have no right wing or anti-Arab ideology, and if someone from our group is found responsible for these acts, we would be the first to condemn them," said one of the organizers.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report