Israeli settlers burn copies of Holy Quran in Hebron amid Muslim condemnation

A group of Israeli settlers tore up and burned copies of the Holy Quran in the West Bank city of Hebron, an act deplored by Muslims.

The settlers burned seven copies of the Holy Quran and trashed them in a place near Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, the Director General of Hebron Endowments, Nidal Muhammad Amin Al-Jabari, told Palestine TV on Monday.

“Burning copies of the Holy Quran and tearing them up by [Israeli] settlers in Hebron are despicable and hateful actions that express a racist discourse against Islam,” said the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, in a statement.

He added that this blasphemous act would provoke feelings of hatred and violence among people and lead to a state of chaos and tension among them, noting that this is not the first time Israeli settlers have attacked the sacred book.

Meanwhile, Al-Azhar, the top Islamic religious institution in Egypt, strongly condemned this deed by Zionist terrorists, adding that this scene demonstrates Zionism's barbarism, terrorism and hateful racism.

“This is perpetrated under unacceptable silence of the international community that fails to play a serious role regarding the inviolability of peoples and their sanctuaries,” Al-Azhar said in a statement.

Al-Azhar added that these Zionist crimes fuel the sentiments of violence and hatred and contradict international covenants. It called for “the necessity of the unity of Arabs and Muslims, and of their standing firm in the face of violators of their sanctities. Indeed, the Arabs and Muslims can return like for like if they so will.”

Repeated blasphemous acts

This was not the first time that Israeli extremists have burned copies of the Quran. In 2010, Jewish settlers set fire to the mosque of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, as a protest against peace efforts between Israel and Palestine, Reuters reported.

In 2021, Michael Ben Ari, an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset, burned copies of the Quran, an act that was described by the Arab League as “utterly disgraceful.”