Anti-Muhammad graffiti on Jaffa mosque

Muslims harassed in Jaffa: Worshippers who arrived Sunday morning at a mosque near the Jaffa Port discovered graffiti on its doors with the words "Muhammad is a pig" and "Death to the Arabs".

Representatives of the Islamic Movement in Jaffa filed a complaint with the police.

Sheikh Ahmed Abu Ajawa, head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch in Jaffa, told Ynet that the incident was "a continuation of the incitement against Muslims and Arabs, in which senior politicians take part."

He added that "the miserable and un-deterring punishments against those who carried out similar offenses only encourage their repetition."

Abu Ajawa noted that several years ago a pig's head was thrown into the Hassan Bek mosque's courtyard, adding that this was a message "that mosques can be desecrated".

At the end of 2006, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court sentenced Shimon Ben Haim, 35, to nine months in prison after he admitted and was convicted of hurling the pig's head into the Hassan Bek Mosque in Jaffa with the help of his girlfriend.

One of the worshippers told Ynet that the words "Prophet Muhammad" were written on the pig's head, which was wrapped in a kaffiyah (square cotton headkerchief). The provocation sparked a harsh wave of protests among the Arab public in Israel.

At the beginning of 2008, an unknown intruder climbed over the fence surrounding the Hassan Bek Mosque and vandalized the courtyard area, damaging some of the religious site's property.

Nawar Daka, the mosque's imam, told Ynet that "at around 4 am, someone hopped over the fence and entered the mosque compound. He started breaking objects and doors and pulled flowers out their planters. The damage is not very serious but I don't want to think about what would have happened if he would have managed to enter inside (the mosque)."