Description

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Settlers attacked a Ramallah village overnight Saturday, breaking into a house and vandalizing village property.

Ismail Mazloum said that settlers from the nearby settlement of Talmon raided the village, vandalized his car and wrote racist slogans on walls in al-Janiya village, official news agency Wafa reported.

"Once the village’s residents were alerted of the settlers’ presence, they fled toward the settlement," Wafa quoted Mazloum as saying.

"Wait for us, we are coming back," and other slogans insulting Islam and calling for "revenge" were sprayed in the village.

Some Jewish settlers in the West Bank have adopted a "price tag" policy, attacking Palestinians and their property in retaliation for perceived anti-settler actions by the Israeli government.

Settler attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians increased by more than 50 percent in 2011, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Some 500,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are about 2.5 million Palestinians in the same territory. All settlements are illegal under international law.