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JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Unknown assailants threw a Molotov cocktail at a Roman Catholic monastery in Israel and scrawled racist graffiti on its walls, a police spokeswoman said Wednesday, in a suspected hate crime.

"A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the wall of the Beit Jamal monastery, near Beit Shemesh," in central Israel, Luba Samri said in a statement, adding that "it caught fire."

"Hebrew graffiti was also scrawled on the monastery walls, reading 'Gentiles perish' and 'revenge,'" she added.

According to Samri, the attack most likely took place overnight Monday.

"Police were investigating all directions, including nationalistic motivation," she said.

In past years, Christian sites in Israel have been targets of hate crimes by suspected Jewish extremists. These incidents come in addition to attacks against mosques, which have been linked to the "price tag" campaign of Israeli extremists opposed to state moves to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts.

Initially carried out against Palestinians in retaliation for state moves to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts in the occupied territories, "price tag" attacks became a much broader phenomenon with racist and xenophobic traits.

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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A Christian Monastery in the Deir Jamal area, between Jerusalem and Ramla, was attacked by a Molotov cocktail, while racist graffiti, used by Price Tag extremist Israeli groups, were found on its exterior walls, the Arabs48 news Website has reported.

The Monastery is currently holding a number of summer camps; various Racist graffiti such as Price Tag and Revenge have been found in Hebrew on its exterior walls, the Arabs48 News Website has reported.

Patriarch Fuad Twal, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, visited the monastery and strongly denounced the repeated attacks carried out by Israeli Price Tag extremists against churches and mosques in different parts of Palestine.

Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Atallah Hanna, also denounced the attack on Deir Jamal Monastery, and stated that the graffiti and the nature of the attack is similar to frequent attacks carried out by racist, extremist Israeli settler groups that do not believe in coexistence, and human brotherhood.

“We have witnessed increasing attacks against Islamic and Christian holy sites, and even graveyards, the message is to get us out of our land”, Hanna said, “But, our response is that we are here to stay, this is our homeland, those are our holy sites, and we reject all forms of racism and fundamentalism regardless of their origin”.

On Monday at dawn [June 24], a number of masked extremist Israeli settlers attacked 22 Palestinian cars in Beit Hanina, in occupied East Jerusalem, punctured their tires before drawing the Star of David on one of the vehicles, and wrote racist graffiti on the front wall of a local home.

Just one week earlier, Price Tag graffiti was also found on the outer walls of a Church in the Old City, the assailants also punctured tires of 28 Palestinian cars, and wrote racist graffiti in Abu Ghosh.

On Friday [June 14 2013] Israeli extremists set ablaze two Palestinian cars in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem, and wrote racist graffiti, including Price Tag.

The extremists also wrote racist graffiti on some graves in the Christian Greek Orthodox graveyard in Jaffa.

The settlers wrote “Price Tag”, “Revenge”, and drew the Star of David on a number of graves.

They further wrote more racist graffiti on a wall of a building inhabited by the head of the Orthodox Society in Jaffa, and even wrote graffiti on the wall of the home Khaled Kaboub, an Arab District Court Judge in Tel Aviv.

On Thursday [June 13 2013] extremist settlers defaced a Christian Cemetery in Jaffa, and spray-painted “Price Tag”, and “Revenge” on tombstones.

On Friday [June 7 2013], Israeli extremists burnt a Palestinian car in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Dozens of Price Tag attacks have been carried out against Churches, Mosques, Islamic and Christian graveyards, Palestinian lands and orchards [including burning and uprooting dozens of trees and farmlands], Palestinian property, and in some cases targeted Israeli peace groups.

On June 12 2013, the Israeli Police revealed that extremist Israeli groups carried out 165 Price Tag attacks against the Palestinians and their property, in the West Bank, and in the 1948 territories since the beginning of the year.
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