Arab-Israeli school in Jerusalem 'set on fire' and walls sprayed with racist graffiti
The source of the fire is believed to have been found in a pre-school classroom
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A Jerusalem school was set ablaze last night by "extremists" who daubed walls with racist slogans against Arabs in a suspected arson attack.
The Max Rayne Hand in Hand School, which has 624 Arab and Israeli students from East and West Jerusalem up to 12th grade, shows signs of having been intentionally set on fire as two classrooms were severely burned.
The source of the fire was found to have been in one of the two nursery classes, in the largest Arabic-Hebrew bilingual institution in the Israeli-run state, which had walls and books charred by flames.
Graffiti in Hebrew was found spray-painted on the walls, in the Pat neighbourhood of Jerusalem, with slogans such as "You can’t coexist with a cancer," "[anti-Arab rabbi Meir] Kahane was right," "Enough with assimilation" and "Death to Arabs," according to Haaretz.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said: "We will not allow pyromaniacs and criminals who take the law into their own hands to disrupt our daily lives."
"We will continue to denounce the extremists and do whatever it takes to restore the quiet to Jerusalem," he added.
At a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and pledged to act "forcefully" to return "the rule of law" across all parts of the city which has experienced intense disruption after both Arab and Israeli teenagers have been killed - with some described as alleged "acts of revenge".
Students returned to the school today but this is not the first time it has been the target of hate crimes, although this is the first time an attack has happened indoors.
The school CEO Shuli Dichter said, as reported by the Jewish Press: "This is not the first time that our shared civic endeavor has been targeted. Even when they stain our school walls, they will not succeed in destroying our work.
"In addition to strong condemnations and expressions of support, we invite the Israeli public to join us in building civic cooperation among Jews and Arabs in Israel."
Around 300 people rallied outside the school to show their support with banners in Arabic and Hebrew saying "Spread light instead of terror" and "No to hatred, no to racism, yes to coexistence, yes to partnership."
The Balad party, who reject the idea of a solely Israeli country and support the idea of a bi-national state, fiercely condemned the attack as "an act of terror" and criticised the Israeli authorities over their alleged inaction to find the perpetrators.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments