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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 24-Apr-2018
24-Apr-18 World View -- Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges

Web Log - April, 2018

24-Apr-18 World View -- Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges

Hilltop youth from Yitzhar settlement considered the epicenter of 'price tag' attacks

by John J. Xenakis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges
Hilltop youth from Yitzhar settlement considered the epicenter of 'price tag' attacks

Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges

An imam at the Sa'ada Mosque Aqraba looks at the damage from a price-tag arson attack on April 13. Graffiti messages included 'death,' 'revenge' and 'price tag.' (Times of Israel)

An imam at the Sa'ada Mosque Aqraba looks at the damage from a price-tag arson attack on April 13. Graffiti messages included 'death,' 'revenge' and 'price tag.' (Times of Israel)

In recent weeks, there has been a surge in "price tag" attacks by young ultra-nationalist Israeli Jews on Palestinians in the West Bank, as many in April alone as there were in all of 2017. These price tag attacks are considered by Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, as being terrorist activities, and are condemned by all political parties.

“Price tag” refers to terrorism and other hate crimes carried out by Jewish ultra-nationalists ostensibly in retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies perceived as hostile to the settler movement. The attacks are usually on Palestinians and their property, but they're also frequently targeted on Christians, Israeli peace activists and soldiers, anyone perceived as hostile to the far-right settler movement.

Here is a summary of the "price tag" attacks launched in April so far:

April 4: Several cars had windows smashed and tires punctured in the Palestinian village of Fara'ata, near Nablus in the West Bank. Spray-painted graffiti messages included "Administrative price tag," scrawled on vehicles and buildings. Times of Israel (4-Apr)

April 5: Several Palestinian and Arab Israeli parked cars in the Arab neighborhood of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem were spray-painted with graffiti messages and some of their tires were punctured. Times of Israel (5-Apr)

April 13: The Sa'ada Mosque in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba was torched in an anti-Arab hate crime attack. Messages of “death,” “revenge” and “price tag” were found graffitied on the walls. The same mosque had been the target of an arson attack five years ago. Times of Israel (13-Apr)

April 17: in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya and the West Bank village of Luban a-Sharqiya, car tires were deflated, and messages including "Expel or kill" were scrawled on walls. Times of Israel (17-Apr)

April 18: Over two dozen olive trees were destroyed, while messages like "Death to Arabs" and "Drive them out" were spray-painted on walls in the West Bank village of Urif. Times of Israel (18-Apr)

April 20: Vandals spray-painted a building in the West Bank town of Burqa, near Ramallah, with the words, “Supporters of terror, expel or kill.” CCTV camera footage from the scene showed men in dark, clothes, their faces, hidden, puncture the tires of a truck. Times of Israel (20-Apr)

April 23: Tires were slashed and Hebrew-language graffiti were spray-painted in the villages of Ramun and Beit Iksa in the West Banks. The graffiti included phrases like “Let us take care of them” and “We’ll take our fate into our own hands." Times of Israel (23-Apr)

Phrases like “Administrative revenge” are used when the price tag attacks target Israeli police or soldiers, and refer to means taken to prevent Israeli settler violence, such as police detentions, bans on entry into the West Bank, nightly curfews, and bans on contacting certain individuals.

One of the worst price tag attacks occurred on March 20, 2016, when an arson attack killed a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Duma, south of Nablus. Two homes were set ablaze in the attack and the Hebrew slogans “revenge” and “long live the king messiah” were spray-painted on their walls, alongside a Star of David. Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsha was burned to death, and other family members died after months of treatments for burns.

Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, published statistics showing a sharp increase in price tag attacks in 2018, with 13 price tag attacks in the first four months of 2018, compared to 8 in the entire year 2017.

Last month, an Israeli court handed down a five-year prison sentence to a settler teen convicted of membership in a terror organization, for carrying out a string of so-called “price-tag” attacks against Palestinians and their property. Times of Israel and WAFA (Palestine) and I24 News

Hilltop youth from Yitzhar settlement considered the epicenter of 'price tag' attacks

Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency, declared in 2011 that the "price tag" attacks were terrorist activity, and that they had moved from spontaneous acts to organized planning, including the use of a database of potential targets.

Since then, many groups have complained that Israel's government have not taken price tag attacks seriously. In 2014, the Roman Catholic Church in Israel condemned price tag attacks on church property in Jerusalem, and issued a statement saying, "The wave of fanaticism and intimidation against Christians continues." In one price tag attack, the threat "Death to Arabs, Christians and all those who hate Israel,” was topped with a star of David in a Catholic church.

Many Palestinian activists and rights groups have accused Israel of fostering a "culture of impunity" for Israelis committing violent price tag attacks against Palestinians.

IDF (Israeli defense force) officials say that the surge in violent attacks over the past month have been carried out by "hilltop youth" from Yitzhar Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

The young activists are often referred to as “hilltop youth” due to their practice of setting up illegal outposts on West Bank hilltops. In June, 2017, the IDF evacuated a large illegal outpost in Baladim, and dozens of Baladim settlers moved into the Yitzhar settlement. It's believed that the Yitzhar settlement has been used as a base for the surge in price tag attacks in the last few weeks.

The Yesh Din rights group has also slammed police “incompetence” in being unable to make a single arrest in any of the instances over the past week, saying it has “provided a tailwind for ideological crimes against Palestinians.” UPI (13-Sep-2011) and Forward (8-May-2014) and Ma'an News (West Bank) and Times of Israel

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(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 24-Apr-18 World View -- Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (24-Apr-2018) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 24-Apr-2018 24-Apr-18 World View -- Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges

Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges

Hilltop youth from Yitzhar settlement considered the epicenter of 'price tag' attacks

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 24-Apr-2018
24-Apr-18 World View -- Number of Israeli 'price tag' hate crime attacks by radical Jewish settlers surges