A Jewish extremist group calling itself “Friends of Baruch Goldstein” has claimed responsibility for desecrating the grave of a Muslim cleric known as Izzedine Al-Qassam. The incident, which took place near the northern city of Haifa, is an apparent act of revenge for dismantling a shrine to Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish settler who brutally shot and killed 29 Muslim worshipers in a Hebron mosque in 1994. Goldstein, who was killed in retaliation by the surviving worshipers, is considered a “hero” by many Jewish extremists.

Both the glorification of a settler terrorist and the desecration of the Qassam grave, are alarming expressions of the lengths to which Jewish extremism is willing to go to violate the most sacred rights of the "other." Such elements of hatred and intolerance must not be accepted in modern society. They pose a serious threat to humanity altogether, let alone to the attainment of genuine peace and stability in the region.

A member of the Islamic Trust in Israel confirmed that there will be no revenge attacks against Jewish cemeteries. “We are not interested in going down to this level,” the source said.