Hundreds protest 'price tag' attack on mosque in Umm el-Fahm

Police warn drivers not to travel on Highway 65 due to demonstration; MK Gal-On slams Liberman for his reaction to the vandalism.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Umm al-Fahm: Transfer to the Palestinian Authority? (photo credit: ESTEBAN ALTERMAN)
Umm al-Fahm: Transfer to the Palestinian Authority?
(photo credit: ESTEBAN ALTERMAN)
Hundreds of residents of the Arab-Israeli city of Umm el-Fahm held a demonstration on Monday afternoon against a recent act of vandalism on a mosque in the city.
The door of the mosque was set alight, and racist graffiti was found sprayed on the walls on Friday in an apparent "price tag" attack perpetrated by far-Right Jewish extremists.
Due to the protest on Monday, police warned drivers of disruptions to traffic on Highway 65, which runs through the city. Police suggested that drivers use Highway 6 an an alternative route. 
Yesterday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman lashed out at Israeli Arab leaders for “cynically exploiting” far-right vandalism and arson against Arab property. 
Liberman vowed to “do all he can to ensure that Umm el-Fahm will be part of a Palestinian state, and not the State of Israel.”
The city lies near the Green Line with the West Bank.
On Monday, Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On harshly criticized Liberman's comments saying they were clearly meant to incite the Israeli-Arab sector.
Gal-On said that for the foreign minister there is a moral equivalence between burning mosques on the one hand and with his suggestion to transfer Israeli Arab citizens to the Palestinian Authority, thereby forcibly cancelling their citizenship.