Palestinian worker in Israel desecrates Jewish holy object, uploads to TikTok

Construction worker seen desecrating a mezuzah in social media video, sparking widespread outrage, including among Arabs.

By World Israel News Staff

A Palestinian construction worker in Israel uploaded a video of himself desecrating a mezuzah while making disparaging remarks about Jews to the TikTok social media platform, sparking widespread outrage among both Jewish Israelis and Arab-Israeli viewers.

A mezuzah is a widely recognized Jewish symbol. Affixed to the doorframes of Jewish homes and businesses, it consists of a Jewish prayer scroll inside a protective case.

In a video posted to the TikTok platform, a man identified by Hebrew-language media only by his first name, Zuher, is seen ripping a mezuzah off the doorframe of a Jewish mobile home while describing his actions in Arabic to an unknown person filming the clip.

He then places the mezuzah on the ground and smashes it with a hammer. The holy object withstands the hammer attack, so Zuher is seen snapping the mezuzah by breaking it over its knee.

קשה לצפייה אבל אין ברירה: ערבי שעובד אצל יהודים עוקר מזוזה – שובר את הבית ושורף אותה

עד מתי נעסיק את הכלבים המנוולים האלה?? במדינה יהודית אחד כזה היה מסורס בלי הרדמה ונשלח לסוריה בחתיכות pic.twitter.com/eG2zyqHaqw

— אלחנן גרונר (@elchangr) March 21, 2022

After breaking the protective case, Zuher reaches inside and unfolds the Hebrew prayer, remarking incorrectly that the text inside appears to be Yiddish. It is actually Aramaic.

Zuher is then heard muttering in Arabic about Jews, using the Islamic term kuffar — a pejorative word used to describe non-Muslims. The video ends as Zuher brings the prayer scroll towards a cigarette lighter, which he will presumably use to burn the holy text.

Israel Hayom reported that Zuher is not an Israeli citizen and lives in a Palestinian Authority-controlled municipality in northern Samaria, but the news site said it could not independently verify that claim.

The video was met with backlash from Jews, some of whom left comments under the video threatening to track down Zuher and physically harm him for desecrating the mezuzah.

A number of Arab TikTok users also criticized Zuher, according to the Israel Hayom report.

One user wrote in Arabic that the mezuzah “contains the Ten Commandments, which were given to our prophet Moses,” and that he was wrong to disrespect the biblical prophet, who is also revered by Muslims.

Another Arabic comment read, “Need compassion. Judaism came before Islam. We need to respect the religion of others in order for them to respect ours.”

AntisemitismArab ConstructionMezuzahPalestinian AuthorityPalestinian violenceSamaria