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Palestinians torch Qalqilya YMCA

Sep 11, 2006 12:30 am By Marisol Seibold

An update on this story from YNet News:

Palestinian gunmen Saturday attacked and set fire to the Young Men’s Christian Association headquarters in Qalqiliya, a large West Bank city controlled by Hamas.

Local government sources identified the attackers as members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups, saying the identities of the gunmen are “well known” to Qalqiliya’s security forces, which are controlled by the Hamas government.

Saturday’s arson follows a series of warnings by the Muslim leadership of Qalqilya accusing the city’s YMCA of missionary activity and demanding the Christian organization close its offices and leave town or face likely Muslim violence.

According to local reports, the gunmen Saturday afternoon destroyed the locks on the YMCA’s entrance gates, crushed the gates, then entered the building and set it ablaze. Local fire brigades reportedly rushed to the scene and stopped the fire before it spread to neighboring buildings. The building sustained serious damage, YMCA officials said.

Qalqiliya police say they opened an investigation into the incident and would hunt down and arrest the attackers.

One political source in the city told WND, “The identity of the attackers is well known to Hamas. We don’t expect the Hamas-controlled police, the Hamas city council or the Hamas Interior Ministry to do anything about this attack.”

The source called the arson a “warning to YMCAs and Christian groups in the Palestinian areas that they are not safe.”

In April major Muslim organizations in Qalqiliya in conjunction with local mosques, the city’s Mufti and municipal leaders, sent a letter to the interior minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority accusing the YMCA of missionary activities and demanding the Palestinian government immediately shut down the Christian offices.

The YMCA has operated in Qalqiliya since 2000.

[…]

“There was a coordination among the mosques to speak about the YMCA. One major imam, for example, warned if the YMCA doesn’t close down it will lead to ‘acts that no one would like to see,'” said one political source in April.

Joseph Medi, the YMCA manager in Qalqiliya, said his operation has never been involved with missionary activity.

“It’s not what we’re about. There is no missionary activity here whatsoever. The YMCA is in the city to serve the population with financial help, sporting activities and general educational programs,” said Medi.

Medi pointed out many employees at his branch of the YMCA are Muslim. He said the YMCA was instrumental in establishing a number of community programs, including contributing to the financing of the Al Ahli Club, a mostly Muslim local soccer organization
that has competed in national games.

Medi said Qalqiliya’s YMCA received a final notification from local leaders warning the association to close its offices before “drastic measures” were taken. He said no specific measures were specified.

[…]

Some analysts called the demands for the YMCA to close one of many indications Hamas may be seeking to impose Islamic rule on the Palestinian population.

Possibly.

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