Ramallah: A member of the Israeli cabinet has urged his government to treat anti-Palestinian Jewish attackers as terrorists, warning of the growth of a vandalism trend.
Israel Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz said on Wednesday “we will pay a heavy price for the expanding of [the] ‘price tag’ trend.”
Peretz’s comments came after price tag attackers and vandals slashed the tires of about 30 vehicles in the occupied East Jerusalem and spray-painted anti-Arab graffiti. The anti-Arab messages included “Arabs=thieves” and “There is no coexistence”.
“This is a group of irresponsible criminals who will do all they can to fan the flames of dispute out of a desire to cause [extremism] on the other side to respond, thereby causing an escalation that could turn into an uncontrollable fire,” said Peretz, who is the former defence minster and Labour party chairman.
“They must be stopped and treated as terrorist groups, and all measures must be taken to bring them to justice,” he said.
The Israeli daily the Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Israeli Police are investigating the incident. Security cameras in the area indicate that the attack took place around 3.00am in the village of Sharafat of Beit Safafa of the occupied East Jerusalem. The police said that the attack was carried by masked vandals.
Price tag is a widespread term for damage or assault perpetrated by extremists Jewish colonists against the Palestinians of the West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and even the Arabs of the 1948 areas, known locally as Arab Israelis.
“The price tag criminals are continuing to cause mass damage to the property of Arabs in [occupied] Jerusalem and its surroundings, unhindered,” said Gadi Gvaryahu, who heads Tag Meir, a coalition of groups opposed to the price tag attacks.
