Palestinian villages, crops vandalized in suspected hate crime

Property was destroyed and inflammatory Hebrew-language graffiti was daubed in two Palestinian villages overnight, in what appeared to be the latest incident in a recent spate of hate crimes blamed on extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank, activists said Friday.

Israeli human rights group Yesh Din released surveillance camera footage documenting unidentified vandals puncturing tires and spray-painting a number of buildings in the West Bank village of Husan, near the settlement of Beitar Illit.

Local residents found the words “Jews do no keep silent” and “Husan breeds stone-throwers” painted on a warehouse and several homes Friday morning.

In a separate incident, Yesh Din reported that 60 grape vines belonging to a Palestinian farmer in the central West Bank village of Ein Samia were burned overnight Thursday. The assailants graffitied “regards from Esh Kodesh,” the nearby Israeli settlement, at the vineyard.

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Yesh Din said Thursday’s attacks brought the number of anti-Arab hate crimes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem over the last two months to 20.

Arson and vandalism attacks against Palestinians by Jewish ultra-nationalists in the West Bank are often referred to as “price tag attacks,” ostensibly carried out in retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies perceived as hostile to the settler movement. Mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups, and even Israeli military bases have been targeted by the far-right vandals in recent years.

Last month, the Shin Bet said Jewish nationalist attacks on Palestinians have sharply increased in 2018 compared to the year before. The security agency said that in first four months of 2018, it documented 13 “price tag” attacks in contrast with eight such incidents in all of 2017.

Recent attacks against Palestinians have included the chopping down of olive groves, the torching of a mosque, stones thrown through car windows, the slashing of tires and graffiti calling for the murder of Arabs.

On Sunday, roughly 100 grapevines were destroyed in a Palestinian village near Ramallah, that was also accompanied by the message “Regards from Esh Kodesh.” Days earlier, Palestinian farmers from the village of Bani Naim near Hebron complained to police of repeated damage to their vineyards.

Israeli settlers in the West Bank also suffered property damage in a number of recent incidents incident blamed on Palestinians. Earlier this month, 150 grapevines belonging to the Jordan Valley settlement of Tomer were chopped down, and the cherry orchards at settlement of Kfar Etzion were torched. Residents of both communities said Palestinians in neighboring villages were responsible for the damage.

Last week, Israeli farmers in the settlement of Shiloh accused Palestinians from the nearby village of Qusra of repeatedly vandalizing their vineyards. Residents said hundreds of vines were uprooted were destroyed last week.

Police said they have opened investigations into the various incidents, but no arrests have been reported.