RAMALLAH: Israeli police said that radical Jewish extremists vandalized a monastery in Jerusalem overnight Tuesday, Ma'an News Agency reported. A spokesman told Ma'an that the police suspect the crime was committed by former “price-tag" attackers, who have in recent years vandalized Palestinian property across the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in Arab cities inside Israel, such as Jaffa and Acre. “Jesus was a son of a bitch," graffiti tagged on the side of the monastery said. Elsewhere Israeli nationalist slogans, some of which were tied to politicized soccer teams affiliations, were also tagged on the walls. Three nearby vehicles were also damaged and some were also spray-painted. Price-tag attacks have increased over the last year. Last month, 8 cars were vandalized in a price-tag attack in an East Jerusalem neighborhood. The assailants spray painted “Price tag, Gaza," on the cars, apparently in retaliation for the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip during the 8-day Israeli military offensive last month. Other recent attacks have occurred in Susiya, villages surrounding Nablus, Hebron, and elsewhere. In one instance in September, settlers spray painted “Jesus is a monkey" on a monastery door in the West Bank village of Latrun. Following an October attack in which a Palestinian taxi was set on fire, the Jerusalem chief of police ordered the formation of a special investigative unit for price tag attacks.
