AJC Deplores Attack on West Bank Mosque

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Oct 14, 2014, 09:50 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC condemned an overnight attack on a mosque in the West Bank village of Aqraba. Graffiti, including the words "price tag" and the name of a nearby Israeli settlement, Tapuah, were spraypainted on the mosque. Rugs, walls and holy books were damaged by the fire and smoke.

"Price tag" normally refers to vandalism and other hate crimes carried out by Jewish ultra-nationalists. Mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases have been their targets in recent years. Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have condemned the "price tag" attacks.

"Jews who vandalize houses of worship and other Palestinian sites are fundamentally harming the state of Israel," said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

"Proposals by some government officials to toughen penalties and to take additional steps to end these senseless, provocative acts of violence are needed," said Harris. "While such Jewish provocateurs are estimated to be no more than a few hundred, the damage they have done to Palestinian communities and to possibilities for Arab-Jewish coexistence, not to mention to Israel's democratic and pluralistic image, has been far greater than their mere numbers."

The "price tag" attacks began in the West Bank several years ago as an illegal form of protest against Israeli government moves to close unlawful settlements. They have consisted mostly of property damage, including slashing car tires, arson and scrawling racist graffiti. Several mosques and churches in Israel, in addition to the West Bank, have been targeted.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee