Jewish extremists accused of damaging cars, buildings in Palestinian village

Palestinians in the West Bank village of Iskaka woke up Wednesday morning to discover their town had been targeted in an apparent hate crime, with a number of vehicles vandalized and Hebrew graffiti spray-painted on buildings.

Slogans reading “Enemies live here,” “The people of Israel live,” and “Fight the enemy and not the lover” were graffitied on several buildings, according to the Yesh Din rights group.

The tires on 11 cars were slashed.

A law enforcement official told The Times of Israel officers would go to the scene to collect evidence. Police made no immediate official comment on the incident.

Anti-Arab vandalism by Jewish extremists is a common occurrence in the West Bank.

In a statement, Yesh Din blamed the Israeli government, police, and justice system for allowing “settlers to continue disturbances in Palestinian villages.”

“The rioters know they are almost completely immune, and are encouraged. This reality of apartheid must be changed,” it said.

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

Arrests of perpetrators are exceedingly rare and rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual, with the majority of charges in such cases being dropped.

The incident comes as eight suspects — all students at a yeshiva in the illegal outpost of Homesh — were arrested overnight on suspicion of assaulting IDF soldiers and Palestinians in the northern West Bank last month.