Palestinian Authority Arab groups have declared a “Day of Rage” this coming Friday after morning prayers in response to the death of 27-year-old Riham Dawabshe, the mother in a family of four whose home was attacked in the Arab village of Duma in Samaria.
Judea and Samaria District Police said they have carried out security assessments and prepared for what they expect to be a day of disturbances in the regions, as well as elsewhere around the country.
There were reports Monday at midday of riots and violence near Duma, ahead of the funeral for Riham Dawabshe. In addition, a number of Israeli drivers reported rocks being hurled at their cars as they drove on the road near the village in Samaria.
In a post on Twitter, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tweeted:
“Condolences 2 famil of Riham Dawabshe & prayers 4 her son Ahmed. Important that those resp. for the terrorist murder be brought 2 justice”
Numerous other posts on Twitter and other social networking sites are referring to the arson attack on the Dawabshe home as the “settler attack” despite the fact that three of the four arson attacks in 2015 on the Dawabshe clan in Duma were village-based. Oddly, the village elders did not request any Israeli investigation into the other attacks. The arson attack in which Riham Dawabshe, her husband Sa’ad and her 18-month-old baby Ali perished was the third in the series of the four mysterious fires so far this year, all of which struck the Dawabshe clan, who make up two-thirds of the village. The most recent was attributed by the village mayor to a “wiring problem” and quickly hushed up. That attack, too, was determined not to require any investigation.
The Dawabshe family’s four-year-old son, Ahmed is alive and in serious condition in Tel Hashomer Medical Center.
The deadly arson which consumed their home has been blamed on ‘Jewish settlers’ due to Hebrew-language graffiti which was found on a wall at the site. But that graffiti was odd and is suspect due to the graphological style in which it was written, and the content, which included a slogan used by an international Chassidic group known for its pacifist outlook and its friendly attitude to strangers from all sectors of the population.
The Israeli government followed the attack with mass administrative detentions and restraining orders on dozens of young residents in Judea and Samaria. Eventually most of those who were detained were released, except for two, who remain in custody.
