Settlers Fight Back with ‘Price Tag’ Attacks

Price tag attacks on Palestinian sites continue in the West Bank.

On the evening of Sept. 9, hate slogans were spray painted in Hebrew on a wall at the Birzeit University near Ramallah. More graffiti was also discovered on a local mosque in the town of Birzeit.

The slogans called for the death of Arabs and said “Muhammad is a pig,” according to reports.

Price tag refers to the strategy that extremist settlers have adopted to exact a price in attacks on Palestinians in retribution for settlement freezes and demolitions or for Palestinian attacks on Jews.

The previous day, a mosque near Nablus was vandalized with spray-painted hate graffiti, including the slogan “price tag Migron.” Two cars were also set on fire.
The United States condemned the “dangerous and provocative attacks.”

“Such hateful actions are never justified. Those responsible should be arrested and subject to the full force of the law,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said Friday. She also praised the Israeli government for condemning the attacks.

“We urge all parties to avoid the potential for escalation. Violence will not advance, but will impede, the hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on acceptance and respect,” she added.

Early on the morning of Sept. 5, several hundred Israeli police officers arrived at the Migron outpost several miles north of Jerusalem to raze three permanent homes, as ordered by the Israeli Supreme Court. Several hours later, a mosque near Nablus was damaged by burning tires thrown into the building before prayers. The words “Alei Ayin and Migron — Social Justice” were spray-painted in Hebrew outside the building. Alei Ayin is another outpost where structures had been razed.

Two days later, unknown assailants vandalized 13 military vehicles at a West Bank military base. Graffiti railed against Israel Defense Forces commanders and the dismantling of the Migron homes.