Settler teen arrested over West Bank mosque arson, then freed

Palestinian children have been detained for up to six months without formal charges for much lesser offenses. There are times when this has been done on only the word of a settler. I agree on expeditious justice that is evidence based. Perhaps Israel could treat Palestinians and Israelis equally. After all are we not the promoters of truth and justice in our faith?

"Bloodletting is very natural to them" (Palestinians) Spilling the blood of the women and children of Gaza came quite naturally to the IDF during Cast Lead, isn't that correct? Try not to be such a racist, Tomy.

what happened the last thousand years preceeding 1947??? and can you blame them for wanting their own place to call home after nearly being annihilated??? Israel exists for a reason and its location was chosen for that same exact reason too. can you say what would happened if Jews chose to have their own homeland in Central Africa/Latin America etc??? they worked hard for it,toiled swamps where nobody would live,made barren land bloom the land thefts you talking about took place after the war of independence which Israel fought off all Arab army's and the British mandate beforehand and also similtanously. Israel is not going anywhere and the sooner you get thaat into your head the better.

We shouldn't be willing to give the Palestinians all the credit for conducting massacres and terrorist attacks. So perhaps we should include these massacres of Palestinians by Jews. Yehida- 12-13 Dec47. 19 dead. Khisas- 18Dec47. 10 dead. Qazaza-19Dec47. 5 children Al-Sheikh-1Jan48. 40 dead Deir Yassin- 9-10 Apr48. 250 dead. Naser Al-Din- 13-14 Apr48. 123 dead Beit Daras- 21May48 All women and children Dahmash Mosque-11Jul48 80-100 dead Lydda & Ramle- ? Jul48 350 dead Dawayma- 29Oct48 80-100 dead..a rape Sharaft 7Feb51 10 dead Kibya-14Oct53 75 dead Kafr Qasem- 29Oct56 48 dead Al-Sammou- 13Nov66 18 dead Oyon Qara- 20May90 13 dead Al-Aqsa Mosque- 8Oct90 22 dead Jabalia-28Mar94 6 dead Eretz Checkpoint 17Jul94 11 dead

are we to assume then, that acts of violence against israelis(called "terror" when they do it), carried out by countless palestinians who have had loved ones killed by israeli forces, are understandable considering their traumatic circumstances? after all, it's common for many of them to have never been involved with "terrorist" groups...until a family member(s) and/or close friend(s) have been killed by idf actions. or does the infamous israeli "double standard" apply; wherein only THEY are permitted to allow grief and despair to foment a burning resolve to avenge their losses? with THAT being said, now consider THIS: IF the kid did it, he's got a foolproof defense. all his lawyer has to do is cite the boy's losses, and then make the claim that he "thought" random/collective vengeance against palestinians wasn't necessarily unlawful...since the state of israel does it all the time with it's punitive strikes against them(more often than not, involving multiple innocent casualties). he could also bolster this claim with the fact that settlers, among whom the boy was raised, normally get away with this sort of malicious act virtually unquestioned by law enforcement, and the only reason this one is being singled out for action is the media attention it's attracted because of its connection to the so-called "settlement freeze". the lawyer can further place the burden of responsibility on the state, IF he can show that those responsible for the deaths of the boy's family had themselves lost loved ones at the hands of the idf, or other israeli security forces, thereby creating the motivation for the murderous act which had led to the boy's actions.

Arabs are the ones who unleashed this murder spree since Israel was created . Every war they started to get rid of Jews . They did not achieve it by open warfare , then they resorted to terror murdering thousands . Israel is forced to act out of necessity . Please , do not put those who defend lives an those who take lives on the same page . Just look around what is happening in Arab/Muslim world everywhere , every day . Hundreds of people are being murdered without a blink . Bloodletting is very natural to them .

conquering one less advanced." Yes, Steve, this explains and justifies Israel's existence. The advanced Jews conquered the less advanced native Arabs, who, because of their backwardness, deserve genocide and extinction just like the Iroquois, Sioux, Mayans, Aztecs, Tainos, Caraibes, Incas, Aracaunas, etc. The master race needs room to multiply.

Or both?

"He is just LUCKY his name is not Abu Ahmed". He's LUCKY he did not travel with parents when they met Abu Ahmeds even if that ment less joy and sweets in the streets of the Great Palestine.

The young man was arrested on grounds of suspicion and later released due to lack of evidence. Absolutely correct, the judicial system works fine. But seeing the number of Pals held in Israeli prisons without a trial, one may wonder why the judicial system only works for some. Where would this young guy be, had he not been living in a settlement but a few kilometers outside of it ?

Whoever burned the mosque wasn't acting through a terror organization with tens of thousands of members, regularly plotting the deaths of as many civilians as possible.

Two points. 1. Would you accede the same tolerance to a Palestinian youth whose parents were killed by Jews? 2. As to comparing Arab disposition to murder to Jewish, I would submit that it really doesn't make any difference to the person being murdered. Remember: murder is still murder, whether done with a knife or from 20,000 feet with a bomb.

Of course the police could not find enough evidence, what else. He is just LUCKY his name is not Abu Ahmed.

1948. this kid is disturbed, mentally unstable. No Jew in is rite mind, or any one else for that matter would use Nazi symbols. the Arabs had their chances. if you want to use a parallel look at Native American history in the America's north South and central. it is the history of an advanced civilization conquering one less advanced. I am glad for example that my parents and grand parents came to America from Europe. probably wouldn't be corresponding today if they stayed in europe.

because anyone , especially an underage , who is mentally effected when parents are murdered , could commit acts like this from desperation . Beside , he did not kill anyone . And do not even try to compare Arab disposition to murder with a Jewish one .

The article doesn't say that that teen is the only one who was involved. I doubt he was. He was one of them. I am sure the death of your loved ones can lead one to violence. A large percentage of occupied Palestinians have endured that. I feel for the boy's loss, but I wish his grandparents didn't move there and ignore the fact that they made their home on seized land. Obviously, that would anger the natives. There were risks, and they took that risk.

Every single Palestinian 'terrorist' has someone in his family murdered by Israelis. I suppose that means they aren't terrorists.

Then the response to his parents murder was rather mild compared to attrocities committed by Palestinians to avenge their deads. Here is what you get when you support Palestinian right to resist the occupation by killing civilians,lefties.Happy now?

"a simple map of palestine before and after 1947 tells a story" - vapid, disgraced Which has absolutely nothing to do with this story. The smarmy arguments over the distant past by the lunatic fringe on both sides have no bearing upon a kid who torched a mosque. He wasn't alive in 1947 and I bet his family wasn't in Israel until long after that. This darling child likes to paint Nazi slogans. Which says a lot about this story, yet the Nazis were gone in 1947 and have nothing to do with this story. The UN partition plan of 1947 was pure moonshine. Totally unworkable and BOTH sides knew it. BOTH sides were deeply engaged in a civil war before the year ended and BOTH sides will someday have to accept their mutual blame, and the eventual outcome. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers in the occupied territories have no right to commit crimes because they are poor misunderstood juvenile delinquents.

Seems the folks who were insisting some Arab torched the mosque a week back are now crying about extenuating circumstances. Ok, I get it. They simply believe that Settlers have the right to commit any crime against any Arab at any time. Turns out this was some teenager having fun emulating his elders. Teens tend to go too far when inspired by passionate adults. And they must learn that they can't act that way. Otherwise they grow up thinking they have a right to be criminals.

Every Palestinian who committs an attack has lost several relatives or friends. Every Palestinian has lost several relatives or friends

land theft...who is the victum again? oh right its always the jews

eye for an eye and the world goes blind

Is the "teen" a 13 year old child or a 19 year old young man? Was he a member of any hate groups? We need more facts. In light of the despicable nature of the crime he is accused of the public should know a lot more about the suspect, even though he is a youth. If the death of the teen's parents and grandfather are considered mitigating crcumstances in his case, then the killing of loved ones by the IDF or settler extremists should likewise be considered mitigating circumstances for the teenagers among the 11,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and the hundreds of teen aged Palestinian suspected militants who have been assasinated by the IDF. Finally, the hateful defacing of the mosque was offensive. But Operation Cast Lead and the siege of Gaza are crimes of blood. We need to keep these things in perspective.

... you may well imagine how many Pal teens have lost parents and famililes in encounters with the Israeli security forces... yet this does not earn them any considration, when they are apprehended for their own misdemeanors...

Settlements, by their very definition, are a provocation to violence and conflict. It is a complete contradiction in terms.

"Boruch Goldstein history , also ,as a doctor treating many terror victims , and the last straw that broke him was his friend`s wife burned to death with her children in a car by a Molotov cocktail thrown by Arab terrorists while traveling on a road . And he was called to the scene first"

I agree with the both of you, and that is exactly why many Palestinians engage in terror. They have seen their own families and friends suffer. Do you expect them to respond any differently? And it doesn't matter who did what to whom first. We can't hide behind issues that will never be definitively understood. Both sides claim victimhood. Both have their "stories." The cycle must be broken now, and reconciliation and fogiveness made the highest priorities in the region.

WOW it means that Palestinian civilian who were killed by settlers and Israeli's in general have the right to go out and burn and kill. love the logic. the victims of the terrorist Baruch Goldstein should visit kiryat arbaa and just feel free to vandalize and burn because of their trauma.

The mental state of a person who had a such a traumatic experience can not be discounted . Boruch Goldstein history , also ,as a doctor treating many terror victims , and the last straw that broke him was his friend's wife burned to death with her children in a car by a Molotov cocktail thrown by Arab terrorists while traveling on a road . And he was called to the scene first .

According to the warped reasoning of the anti-Israel left, this kid had every good reason to burn a mosque. I mean look how he has suffered - losing his parents & grandfather... But no...that is not how we do things in Israel. the kid has been arrested & will be prosecuted....

I hope someone will list the number of Palestinians involved in revenge killings of Jews, whose relatives were also murdered by Israeli's of one kind or another. Unfortunately the "eye for an eye" philosophy does much to perpetuate brutality in this part of the world.