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Graffiti found on Monastery of the Cross, morning of December 12, 2012 Photo by Emil Salman



BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Suspected Jewish extremists vandalized a Jerusalem monastery overnight Tuesday, Israeli police said.

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Ma'an that "Price-tag" was sprayed on the walls of the monastery and three vehicles were damaged in the attack.

Police are investigating the incident, he added.

Anti-Christian graffiti such as "Jesus is a son of a bitch," and Israeli nationalist slogans were found on the church and nearby vehicles, Israeli media reported.

One car had "Happy Hanukkah, triumph for the Maccabees" written on it, Ynet said, referring to the Jewish holiday which coincides with the Christmas period.

A priest from the monastery said he forgives whoever committed the attack, which is the second of its kind, Ynet reported.

"It saddens me deeply," Father Claudio said. "I believe in Jesus and some don't, it's their problem. We believe in peace and I forgive whoever did this the first time and this time."

Price-tag attacks by Jewish extremists against religious sites are commonplace in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In October, "Price-tag" and anti-Christian slogans were sprayed on the gate of the Monastery of Saint Francis, just outside of the Old City.

In early September, suspected Jewish extremists torched the wooden door of a Jerusalem monastery and in February extremists wrote "Death to Christianity" on two Jerusalem churches.

Last December, an ancient mosque in Jerusalem was torched and sprayed with the Star of David, "price tag," "Muhammad is a pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew.

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Vandals spray 'price tag' graffiti on Jerusalem monastery

In a separate incident Tuesday night, vandals set car on fire in town near Ramallah; there has been an increase in price tag attacks against Christian institutions in recent months.

By Nir Hasson

Vandals spray painted hateful graffiti on the walls of the Monastery of the Cross and on a car that was parked nearby, and slashed the tires of three vehicles.

The graffiti read "Happy Hanukkah – price tag", "Jesus is a son of a bitch", and "Victory for the Maccabees." The police opened an investigation into the incident, which appears to be part of a right-wing revenge campaign against Israel's policies in West Bank settlements.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat admonished the vandals and instructed city employees to remove the graffiti immediately. "We cannot accept such offensive and extreme incidents that are done in order to erode the coexistence in Jerusalem," Barkat said.

"I spoke with the Jerusalem Police Chief Yossi Parienty and we agreed that resolute action must be taken to find those responsible and bring them to justice quickly," he added.

In a separate incident Tuesday night, vandals set a car on fire in a town near Ramallah and spray painted the words "price tag" near it.

Price tag attacks have targeted monasteries and mosques in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas a number of times in recent months.

A Franciscan monastery on Mount Zion was vandalized three months ago, with simlar graffiti spraypainted on its gate to that scrawled on the Monastery of the Cross wall.

The Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Sept-Douleurs in Latroun was vandalized a week before that, with one of its doors set ablaze. No-one was hurt in the incident.

In September, the phrase "Price tag Migron" was found spray painted on the wall of mosque in a village southwest of Hebron in the West Bank, in reference to an outpost slated for demolition.

The past two months have also seen the rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank. Last week, the police arrested three West Bank settlers after they set fire to a car belonging to a Palestinian from Dahariya while allegedly on their way to more nefarious activity.