Description

Confiscated equipment (Photo: Shai District Police)

'Congrats Effy.' The graffiti (Photo: Shai District Police)


HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian car and sprayed hate slogans on homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday morning.

The assailants tagged their slogans with "price tag" and "settlers of Suseya," an Israeli settlement in the south Hebron hills, witnesses said.

Mahmoud Abu Sundus' car was completely burnt out by the vandals in the Wadi al-Asja neighborhood, they said.

Separately, Israeli forces detained three settlers suspected of torching a car and spraying "price tag" graffiti in Dhahiriya village south of Hebron on Monday morning, Israeli media reported.

The settlers were carrying weapons, flamable substances and spray paint cans, Israeli news site Ynet reported.

Price tag is the slogan used by right-wing extremists to describe vandalism and violence against Palestinians, usually in the West Bank, in revenge for policies they disagree with.

Over 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in Jewish-only communities which Palestinians say threaten the viability of a promised Palestinian state.

Rights groups say settlers are rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities for attacks against Palestinians.

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3 arrested for vandalizing Palestinian property

Young men apprehended after torching car, spray-painting 'price tag' graffiti in Palestinian town

Itamar Fleishman by Ynet News

The Shai District Police arrested three men in their 20s while they were trying to vandalize Palestinian property in the West Bank village of Samu'a.The police have confiscated the equipment and said there is substantial evidence to incriminate the suspects. The police allege the three were responsible for other nationalistically-driven crimes perpetrated in the West Bank recently.

The suspects appear to have managed to torch a car in the nearby town of ad-Dhahiriya and spray paint graffiti before being apprehended. They were found in possession of flammable materials, pocket knifes, spray paint and a fake M-16 rifle that they evidently used for deterrence purposes.

Their arrests concludes a months-long undercover investigation meant to crack down on Jewish vandals who committed anti-Arab crimes.

The slogans the suspects spray-painted in ad-Dhahiriya included "Price Tag" and "Congratulations Effy" – an message evidently dedicated to a fellow youth who got married last week. This isn’t the first time that such an act of vandalism is dedicated to a fellow right-wing radical. A few weeks ago graffiti daubed in the region mentioned Akiva, a youth who recently completed an administrative suspension penalty, according to the police. The act was said to be perpetrated in homage to the young man.

The suspects' representation accused the police of trying to blow the incident out of proportion.

"Calling a plastic toy rifle that doesn't even make noise an 'improvised weapon' is a blatant lie meant to demonize the suspects," the officials said.

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