Over 160 Vehicles Vandalized in Racist “Price Tag” Attack in Jr’slm

Yet another hate-crime “Price Tag” attack took place, this time in East Jerusalem’s Palestinian Shu’afat neighborhood, early Monday morning, December 9. At the scene, Arab residents found more than 160 damaged vehicles, some of which were also spray-painted with racist graffiti by far-right assailants, as were a number of homes in the area. The hate-inspired slogans included: “Arabs=Enemies,” “No place for enemies in our land.” and “When Jews get stabbed do not remain silent.”

Far-right assailants as recorded by a security camera in Shu'afat, Monday December 9

Far-right assailants as recorded by a security camera in Shu’afat, Monday December 9 (Photo: Al Ittihad)

In response, Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List) tweeted: “Today Jerusalem, before that Jaljulia and ‘Akbara, and every day in the occupied Palestinian villages. Again and again the terrorists stage a cowardly attack – and leave quietly. It’s time for the authorities to admit that there is a Jewish terror network called ‘Price Tag’ and make them pay the price. If they remain ignored, before we know it a pogrom will be perpetrated here against Palestinians.”

Tag Meir, an organization battling hate crimes, said in a published statement: “Under the auspices of political chaos, racist criminals operate without interference in the State of Israel and the West Bank.” And paraphrasing from the biblical book of Judges 17:6, they added: “‘In those days there was no government in Israel, every man did that which was right in his own eyes.'”

A similar incident occurred in November in the Arab town of Jaljulia in central Israel. There the tires of 40 vehicles were punctured, including those of a parked bus which was spray-painted with the xenophobic slogan “Jews, stop the Diaspora and stop assimilation.”

Following the incident the Mayor of Jaljulia, Darwish Rabi (Hadash), said: “These criminals want to convey a message that they can hurt us at any moment; my children and I feel real danger… This is not an incident that can go unpunished while the authorities tell us that the matter is under investigation. This time we want results, with arrests and punishments; otherwise, we won’t be surprised if some of our residents are also murdered like in the Duma village firebombing,” making reference to a heinous crime that took place on July 31, 2015 and resulted in the ultimate death of both parents and a young baby of the Dawabsha family (see second link below).

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