Jerusalem mayor blasts suspected hate crime vandalism
In Arabic post to his Facebook page, Nir Barkat speaks out against violence of any kind toward capital’s residents
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
After some 20 cars were found vandalized in East Jerusalem Tuesday morning in an apparent anti-Arab hate attack, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the incident and spoke out against the violence.
The damage was done to vehicles parked on Route 21, which runs along the border between the Jewish ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo and the Arab Shuafat neighborhood.
“I strongly condemn the acts of vandalism that occurred last night in the Shuafat neighborhood,” he wrote. “And as the mayor of Jerusalem, I strongly oppose any acts of violence committed against residents of the city, from all sectors and all religions. I am fully confident that the police will make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators and prevent bad incidents of this nature.”
The words “price tag,” a slogan often used in anti-Arab and anti-Christian attacks, were tagged on some vehicles and several tires were slashed, according to police. Cars were also spray-painted with the words “Pikar the king” and “administrative price tag.”
It was apparently a reference to Elkana Pikar, a resident of the hardline settlement of Yitzhar seen as a leader of the far-right settlers known as the hilltop youth. Several protests have been held in recent days over reported plans for Pikar to be issued an “administrative” restraining order banning him from the West Bank for several months.
Pikar seemed to figure in a second overnight attack that saw cars and vehicles targeted during the night in the Galilee Arab village of Na’ura. Homes and walls in the village were tagged with graffiti — including “Mohammed is an administrative pig” — and eight cars had tires slashed.
Security tape footage from Na’ura showed three hooded figures slashing the tires of cars and painting slogans on the walls of a building.
תיעוד: ביצוע פעולת "תג מחיר" בכפר נאעורה. @samiaah10 עם הפרטים >> https://t.co/XnFa17AMnm pic.twitter.com/XLOFKzHeoY
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) May 9, 2017
Police said they opened an investigation into the attacks and would expend “all resources” they have to catch the perpetrators.
So-called price tag attacks, usually arson and graffiti but also acts of violent terrorism, have been carried out by Jewish extremists against non-Jews and IDF targets, sometimes ostensibly in response to Israeli policies they deem unfavorable.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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