PA TV lies, saying no synagogues were burned during the Lod riots, ignoring 10 cases of synagogue arson

Official PA TV program Talk of the Hour, on the Human Rights Watch report on the Arab riots in the Israeli city of Lod during the Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – see note below

Lod Popular Committee member, lawyer Khaled Zabarqah: “When all the uncertainty about the events calmed down, I started to ask everyone and the clerks who are responsible in [Lod]: Where are the synagogues? I want to see the synagogues that were burned in the city. It is unacceptable to us that synagogues are burned in the city, or places of worship, or that cemeteries are harmed. It is unacceptable, morally we do not accept this. It turns out that not even a single synagogue was intentionally burned (sic., 10 synagogues were intentionally burned by Arab rioters, including in Lod).

There is a synagogue [in the city] called Dosa [Synagogue] – a tree was burned next to it, it fell on it, and a kind of fire started inside of it (sic., Arab rioters initially failed to burn the synagogue by throwing firebombs at it, instead igniting a tree next to it, but in a later attempt they broke the synagogue’s door, smashed its windows, and set the structure on fire).

There was a Torah scroll inside a yeshiva (Jewish religious studies academy) in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood [of Lod], they burned the yeshiva, a room was burned inside of it that afterwards they claimed they use as a synagogue (yeshivas regularly serve as places for students to pray -Ed.). But they didn’t burn Jewish synagogues (sic.). I asked: Why is the Israeli media repeating this version? This is fake news, and not only fake but it also serves as incitement.”

Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021 – On April 30, 2021, facing certain electoral defeat, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas cancelled the first PA elections scheduled in 15 years. Hamas, which expected to win the elections, denounced it as a “coup.” In need of a conflict to divert public discontent, Abbas artificially generated a crisis over Jerusalem. His Fatah party called for "raising the level of confrontation,” and Abbas' spokesman told Palestinians "the battle of all battles is here.” Jerusalem Arabs responded by attacking Jews with rocks and Molotov cocktails. Hamas, Abbas' political rival, could not allow Abbas to lead the battle, so on May 10, 2021, Hamas launched rocket barrages targeting Israeli population centers including Jerusalem. Over the next 11 days, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired over 4,300 rockets into southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing 9 Israelis and 3 foreign nationals, and wounding hundreds. In response, Israel launched Operation Guardian of the Walls to target Hamas terror leaders and terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. Already in mid-April, a planned eviction of some Palestinian families illegally living in Jewish-owned buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem had led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police. This dispute provided Palestinians with a pretext for violent rioting. Adding to the crisis, Israeli Arabs started rioting throughout Israel, especially in cities with a mixed Jewish and Arab population. Two Jews were murdered and many were wounded. According to Walla, an independent Israeli news site, 10 synagogues were wholly or partly burned down; fires were set in 112 Jewish homes and 1 Arab home mistaken for a Jewish home; 386 Jewish homes were plundered and 673 were damaged; 849 cars were set ablaze; and there were 5,018 rock-throwing attacks. In response, Jews started attacking Arabs and their properties as well, but on a much smaller scale. No mosques were burned; 13 Arab homes were damaged; 13 Arab-owned cars were burned; and there were 41 rock-throwing attacks by Jews. [Walla, May 16, 2021] The fighting between Israel and Hamas ended with a ceasefire on May 21, 2021.