Four African migrants were taken to an Israeli hospital with burns and smoke inhalation on Monday after a potentially deadly arson attempt on the Jerusalem building in which they were living, police said. The incident, which police described as “very serious,” took place in an old two-storey building in a poor neighbourhood near the city’s Mahane Yehuda market just after 3:00 am (0000 GMT). Police said the fire was started in a narrow entrance corridor which led to several apartments inside the building, home to 18 African migrants. On the external walls of the building, someone had sprayed Hebrew-language graffiti reading: “Get out of the neighbourhood.” The attack took place in a small street off Jaffa Road, with the building’s entrance corridor completely blackened by the fire, an AFP correspondent at the scene said, indicating it was the only entrance and exit from the apartments. It was strongly condemned in a statement by the Israeli foreign ministry. “There is no justification for such a heinous crime that puts people’s lives in harm’s way,” it said. The attack happened when a protest by 1,000 people turned violent after several far-right MPs made inflammatory speeches, with one referring to the migrants as “a cancer.” Demonstrators went on the rampage, smashing up and looting African-run shops and property. No one was injured, but police arrested 20 people on suspicion of vandalism.
