Tires slashed, graffiti daubed in apparent hate crime in Palestinian village
Cars, commercial vehicles vandalized, slogans calling for death penalty for murder found painted on walls in West Bank village of Ras Karkar
Vandals slashed tires of vehicles and sprayed graffiti on walls in an apparent hate crime attack overnight in the Palestinian village of Ras Karkar, in the West Bank, Israel Police said in a statement Thursday.
Tires were found slashed on private cars and commercial vehicles. Slogans daubed on walls included “Death penalty for murder” and “The people of Israel live.”
Police and forensics experts, escorted by the IDF, were preparing to enter the village, located 11 kilometers (7 miles) northwest of the Palestinian city of Ramallah, police said.
The incident came as Israeli authorities are reportedly attempting to crack down on a growing number of attacks attributed to Jewish extremists.
Last week residents of Iskaka, outside the West bank city of Nablus discovered some 20 cars spray-painted with the Hebrew phrase “Traitors cover up terror attacks.”
Other vehicles were daubed with the name of terror victim Ori Ansbacher, as well as others whose families claim their were the victims of Palestinian violence. Ansbacher, 19, was raped and murdered in a Jerusalem forest earlier this month in what authorities concluded was a terrorist attack.
There were two other similar vandalism attacks in the West Bank earlier this month.
Far-right Israelis justify targeting Palestinians and IDF soldiers in ostensible retaliation for terror attacks and Israeli government actions deemed hostile to the settler movement.
The Shin Bet security service is reportedly concerned that Ansbacher’s murder will fuel a further surge in price tag attacks by Jewish extremists. The Ynet news site reported last week that the agency is monitoring activity in several settlements, including the hard-line Yitzhar.
In December, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report that showed a 69 percent increase in settler attacks on Palestinians in 2018 compared to 2017.
