Vandals attack Palestinian village, daubing walls and puncturing car tires
‘Price tag’ and other extremist settler slogans found in Marda, in the West Bank; local authorities say settlers behind early-morning attack
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Vandals sprayed nationalist slogans and damaged cars in the Palestinian village of Marda in the West Bank, the Israel Police said Wednesday.
Slogans daubed on walls in the community included “price tag” and “Demolish enemy [property], not Jewish.”
The tires of cars in the village, located near the northern West Bank settlement of Ariel, were punctured and Stars of David were painted on the vehicles.
Assault and vandalism by settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces in the West Bank are commonly referred to as “price tag” attacks. Perpetrators claim that they are retaliation for Palestinian violence or government policies seen as hostile to the settler movement.
Police said investigators, accompanied by IDF troops, were preparing to enter the village to probe the incident.
Munif al-Hafash, head of the Marda local authority, said that settlers carried out the attack in the early morning, Haaretz reported.
“It is the continuation of aggressive incidents that damage property, including damage to olive orchards, uprooting of olive trees, vandalism or theft,” al-Hafash said.
חשד לתג מחיר סמוך לאריאל: אנשי הכפר מרדה בשומרון מדווחים על רכבים שנוקבו הלילה וכתובות בעברית שרוססו במקום לצד מגני דוד pic.twitter.com/ylU176bVVW
— שחר גליק Shahar Glick (@glick_sh) October 13, 2021
The olive harvest began last week. It is often marked with increased incidents of vandalism by settlers against Palestinians.
According to the Yesh Din rights group, since the start of the harvest in the West Bank, a total of 150 trees were uprooted in three incidents, alongside five incidents of theft of olive crops and an attack on a farmer.
The Times of Israel Community.