Early Wednesday morning Ha’aretz reported (Hebrew, see also English report here) a so-called “price tag” attack against Palestinian citizens in the neighborhood of Sharafat in the village of Beit Safafa. (See video above.) The vandals punctured tires on 30 automobiles and spraypainted the words “Arabs = Thieves” and “No Coexistence” on a wall. The Palestinians who witnessed the crime stood helplessly by. Their only recourse was shooting video footage of the masked perpetrators.
This type of vandalism is as Jewish Israeli as matkot (beach paddle ball) and is becoming increasingly as common.
According to a webpage announcing a forum on the subject, a price tag attack is:
… the name for acts of vandalism aimed at the Palestinian population, often against Christian and Muslim places of worship, and also against leftist Jewish institutions and Israeli security forces, perpetrated by fundamentalist Israeli settler youths attempting to exact a price for actions perceived to be against their settlement enterprise.
The attacks are actually overwhelmingly against Palestinian targets, but it is true that occasionally these acts of violence and vandalism are directed against Jews.
Dr. Gadi Gvaryahu, a Jewish Israeli, is chairman of something called the Price Tag Forum. He led a September 16th public panel discussion on that subject. Gvaryahu told Ha’aretz addressing the Sharafat vandalism:
‘Price tag’ crimes continue to cause massive damage to Arab property in Jerusalem and its surrounding area – they go unchallenged. The security and property of the Arabs of Abu Gosh, Sheikh Jarrah, Beit Hanina, Abu Tor, Beit Safafa, and Sharafat are not protected by the Israeli government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually has lost control of the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
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‘No co-existence.’ Photo credit: Channel 2
It is very comforting, I am sure, for Gvaryahu to suggest that the Israeli authorities want to control these young super-Zionist settlers. However, the price tag hooligans’ message is an all-Israeli message addressed to the minority Arab population, which is supported by the great majority of Jewish officials, members of the Parliament and the general population. That message is —“Arabs, you are not wanted here on land that belongs to us – the Jews.” It is the same message the Israeli government has sent to its Palestinian citizens ever since the founding of the Jewish state.
Larry Derfner wrote a good piece on +972, on settler violence a month ago. He said that everybody in Israel but the most radical fringe will denounce it, yet no one will do anything to stop settler violence. And “[the] world doesn’t penalize or even threaten to penalize Israel for it.”
Derfner stated,
If a decades-long reign of terror on unarmed Palestinians by Jewish gangs backed by an army of occupation is tolerable, not only to Israel but to the United Nations, European Union, United States and the rest of the world, then everything Israel does to the Palestinians is tolerable. Then the occupation as a whole is tolerable.
The price tag crimes are just another reason for activists to support the BDS movement. Any government that even tacitly supports this Jewish reign of terror against its own citizens is not likely to come around to supporting even a castrated two-state solution because of reason and goodwill alone.
Netanyahu, the AG , the cabinet and the IOF are all complicit and responsible for this terrorism that goes unchecked.
“Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein let the cabinet choose to define the perpetrators of so-called price tag attacks on Arab and Palestinian targets as part of “forbidden organizations” rather than terror groups in June 2013.
Last summer, as a result of political pressure from the right, the cabinet voted to settle for the less severe definition, which is also applied to charities linked to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
The difference between the two terms is significant. While conviction of membership in a terror organization carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and the property of any organization defined as such can be confiscated by the police and the Shin Bet security service, the only punishment faced by a forbidden organization is the possible confiscation of its property by the state.
Meretz chairwoman MK Zahava Gal-On sent a letter to Weinstein, asking him to instruct the cabinet to void its decision and to define the perpetrators of price tag attacks as part of terror organizations.
“Against the recommendation of the attorney general, the cabinet waves a white flag for political reasons, and instead of calling a spade a spade and declaring ‘price tags’ as a terror organization, allows the thugs from the hilltop youth to evade criminal prosecution through the use of administrative orders,” Gal-On said Saturday.
In her letter to Weinstein, Gal-On wrote, “There is no doubt that in light of the escalation in price tag activities,” they must be defined as acts of terror, and forceful action must be taken against their perpetrators.
In a written response to Gal-On, Deputy Attorney General Raz Nezri confirmed that Weinstein allowed the cabinet to choose between the two possible definitions. But he also noted that, from the perspective of the police and the Shin Bet, there is no difference between the two terms, as in either case the means of enforcement available to the agencies are identical.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.574423
Ira,
Your claim that tag mechir vandalism is supported by the majority of Israeli public is baseless defamation. In fact all sectors of Israeli society including rabbis and right wing politicians protested these actions. The government gave no tacit support to these actions either. In fact police have a special force fighting tag mechir and several suspects where served restraining orders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_tag_policy
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Rabbis-deliver-apologies-new-Korans-to-vandalized-mosque
also, you present a picture claiming to be jewish Israelis playing matkot, implying that arabs cannot be playing on the tel aviv beach. How do you know they are not non-jews?
“Price-tag’ attacks on Palestinians are as Israeli and common as matkot on a Tel Aviv beach”
Gotta love Israeli culture. The return to Zion, so mystical, so religious, something so many people had prayed for over such a long time. And now it’s this. Wow. How did that happen ? G-d must have been just playing with people all this time . Or maybe they just weren’t ready for it, like in the Old Testament ?
“In fact all sectors of Israeli society including rabbis and right wing politicians protested these actions.”
Talk is cheap. How about these rabbis and politicians volunteer to guard an Arab neighborhood from these hoodlums. Better yet how about the police protect them, or is protecting Arabs not in their mission statement?
“In fact police have a special force fighting tag mechir and several suspects where served restraining orders.”
Restraining orders! Well, now you’re talking. Nothing intimidates the criminal mind better than a stiffly worded retraining order.
A lot of thuggish immigrants to Israel, a lot of nutty irrational Zionists, a lot of greedy Israelis who don’t think about the others, a lot of Jews who have been reared to think that the Arabs hate them and should be eliminated like rabid dogs, and the result is that you have the situation in Israel today – a solid dose of BDS is the only hope. Indeed, the composite image of Israel has no manners, no ethics/morality and no Gandi-like figures with justice on their minds. The outlook for Israel is very poor. The only thing we can be sure about is that the internet age will describe the situation on the ground in Israel for all to see. Max Blumental’s Goliath is just the start of this Cinéma Réalité. The US media cover-up is on its last legs. When the old Jews like Alelson pass on, the Chinese will take over and AIPAC will be a historical artifact. Just an aside, I bought 4 copies of Max’s book. Y’all please follow my example. This book is an amazing landmark in honest reporting. Thanks to Max and The Nation – despite the ghastly Alterman.