JERUSALEM: Jerusalem's Arab neighbourhood of Beit Safafa becomes latest target of vandals after 30 cars have their tyres slashed overnight

Record ID: 354120

  • Title: JERUSALEM: Jerusalem's Arab neighbourhood of Beit Safafa becomes latest target of vandals after 30 cars have their tyres slashed overnight
  • Date: 19th February 2014
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (FEBRUARY 19, 2014) (REUTERS) POLICE CAR ON SITE PAN SHOWING VARIOUS CARS WITH SLASHED TYRES VIEW OF CAR WITH SLASHED TYRES GRAFFITI ON WALL READS: 'ARABS= THIEVES - NO COEXISTENCE' PAN SHOWING GRAFFITI ON THE WALL VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS INSPECTING PUNCTURED TYRES MORE TYRES OF CARS PUNCTURED OVERNIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIA' SHANTOOR RESIDENT OF BEIT SAFAFA SA
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4KMICW99C2WH9YLQRCES18X36
  • Story Text: Thirty vehicles in the Arab East Jerusalem area of Beit Safafa had their tyres punctured in what seems to be another 'price tag' attack that took place in the dawn hours of Wednesday (February 19).
    Residents of the neighbourhood said the attack was carried out by Jewish settlers. The Israeli police declined to comment on this latest act against it's arab residents.
    The words "arabs= thieves - no coexistence" were spray painted on the wall next to the vandalised vehicles suggesting that militant Jewish settlers were responsible.
    'Price Tag,' is a term that refers to retribution the settlers say they will exact for any attempt by the Israeli government to curb settlement in the West Bank, an area Palestinians seek as part of a future state.
    Attacks have targeted mosques, Palestinian homes and Israeli military installations in the occupied West Bank as well as Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
    "The settlers came at night around 2:45 (am) they punctured the tyres of some 30 vehicles, then they left. They wrote on the wall 'Arabs=thieves - no coexistence between us and the Arabs,' this is an act of vandalism," Dia' Shantoor, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem said.
    Israel's defence minister has classified perpetrators of 'price tag' attacks against Palestinians as 'forbidden organisations'; a move that gives Israeli law enforcement broader powers to arrest and interrogate suspects.
    Palestinians complain that not enough is being done to curb vandalism or to hold the perpetrators responsible.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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