Settlers accused of vandalism in Palestinian village near Jerusalem
Tires of over 20 vehicles slashed in Beit Iksa, while graffiti proclaims ‘Jerusalem is for Jews,’ ‘Get out of here,’ and ‘Die Muhammad’; police investigate
The Israel Police opened an investigation Thursday after vehicles were damaged and hate slogans were graffitied on walls in the Palestinian village of Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem.
Residents of the village said that Israel settlers arrived in the early morning and proceeded to spray graffiti and puncture the tires of 23 cars.
Slogans left behind included “Jerusalem is for Jews, kick out the intruders,” “Get out of here,” and “Die Muhammad.”
Anti-Palestinian vandalism by Jewish extremists is a common occurrence in the West Bank.
Locals claimed the incident was a so-called price tag attack, which settler extremists say are retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies seen as hostile to their cause.
Video was published on social media purporting to be CCTV footage of the attack.
משטרת שירושלים פתחה בחקירה לאחר שהתקבל דיווח של השחית צמיגים של כ- 20 כלי רכב לפנות בוקר בכפר בית איכסא- אל בורג׳ שסמוך לשכונת רמות בירושלים.
התושבים טוענים שמדובר בפעולת תג מחיר של מתנחלים, ושרובן גם כתובות גרפיטי "כהנא צדק", "צאו מכאן" ו"מוחמד מת". pic.twitter.com/M9x1rdkTIL
— Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) November 3, 2022
חשד לפשע שנאה: הפלסטינים טוענים כי מתנחלים ניקבו צמיגים של 23 כלי רכב בכפר בית איכסא, צפונית מערבית לירושלים, וריססו סיסמאות במקום. באחת הכתובות נרשם: "ירושלים ליהודים, מעיפים את הפולשים"@guy_telaviv pic.twitter.com/QRm6Ihlh4I
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 3, 2022
The incident came after a rights group said Monday that evidence of a hate crime was found in the Palestinian town of Turmus Ayya, south of the settlement of Shiloh in the central West Bank, with a number of vehicles vandalized.
According to Yesh Din, a left-wing group that documents settler violence in the West Bank, the tires on several cars were slashed and some windows were smashed. Images published by the group also showed the windows of a home damaged in the alleged attack.
The alleged vandalism came following several clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank in recent weeks.
Arrests of perpetrators of such attacks are exceedingly rare and rights groups lament that convictions are even more unusual, with the majority of charges in such cases being dropped.
