The Palestinian Authority media agency, WAFA, reported this week that "settlers broke into a boys' high school in the town of Huwara and sprayed hateful inscriptions on the walls."
According to the report, which was later echoed by the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, a Palestinian flag was also removed from the school and replaced with an Israeli flag. The incident was presented as part of acts of vandalism attributed to Jewish residents of the area.
However, the spelling and wording of the graffiti are raising questions regarding the identity of the perpetrators. Photos show that the graffiti reads in Hebrew: "Aravi tov mavet" (a good Arab is death) and "Lamikdash banenu" (our sons are to the temple).
Many are pointing out that the slogan commonly used by right-wing extremists is "Aravi tov hu Aravi met" (a good Arab is a dead Arab). The second inscription, "Lamikdash banenu," was most probably meant to be "Lamikdash panenu" (we turn toward the Temple), and it is believed that the lack of the P sound in the Arab language led to the confusion.
Ayelet Mitsch, a former copy editor at the Haaretz news desk, addressed the editor of the paper and wrote: "What's 'Aravi tov mavet'? What's 'Lamikdash banenu'? Does it sound to you like a fact that settlers sprayed this, or does it look like a fabrication and obvious incrimination that was written by an Arabic speaker and not a native Hebrew speaker?"
Similar questions were raised on social media, including references to the way the letters were written in the inscriptions. One user noted that the letter nun in the word ‘banenu’ (‘our son’) was written in a way resembling the Arabic letter lam, adding that this is a mistake that it is difficult to assume native Hebrew speakers would make.