160 vehicles vandalized, wall graffitied in suspected East Jerusalem hate crime

Police said Monday that around 160 vehicles were vandalized in a suspected anti-Arab hate crime overnight in the Shuafat neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Police originally said 40 vehicles had been damaged in the attack but later revised the number.

The tires were slashed on dozens of vehicles, and graffiti sprayed on walls including the phrase “When Jews are stabbed, do not stay silent.”

Police said it was believed that several masked suspects took advantage of the darkness as well as stormy weather conditions to carry out the attack.

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion condemned the incident, calling it a “hate crime,” and asked police do everything they can to catch the perpetrators.

“Jerusalem is a diverse city of all its residents, and incidents like this are grave, and directly impact the fabric of life in the city,” he tweeted.

Vandalism against Palestinians and Israeli security forces are commonly referred to as “price tag” attacks, with their perpetrators claiming that they’re retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies seen as hostile to the settler movement.

On Sunday, a bus used to transport Border Police officers to a flashpoint outpost in the northern West Bank had its tires slashed and the phrase “go [join] the enemy” spray-painted on it in Hebrew.

Anti-Arab hate crimes are typically perpetrated by Jewish extremists against Palestinians in the West Bank, though there have been a few incidents this year of Arab communities inside Israel also being targeted.

According to human rights organizations, investigations into the so-called price tag attacks rarely yield an arrest or indictment, leading to accusations of systemic racism against Palestinians.