Monastery latest target of Jewish extremists

A CAMPAIGN of hate crimes believed to be carried out by extremist Jewish settlers and their supporters escalated yesterday, as a holy monastery in Jerusalem was defaced with graffiti calling for death to Christians.

At the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Cross, near Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the words “Price Tag” were daubed along with “Death to Christians”, according to police.

“Price Tag” refers to retribution against Arabs and others, which extremist settlers say they will exact for any attempt by the government to curb settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Israel’s supreme court has ordered the government to dismantle Migron, the largest illegal outpost, by next month and militant settlers are seething at the prospect of the land being restored to Palestinians.

Price Tag attacks usually target West Bank mosques, but have expanded to include a mosque and military bases inside Israel. Extremists have carried out dozens of attacks during the past two years, cutting down olive trees and vandalising other crops. Few arrests have been made.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, said of yesterday’s incidents: “This goes against the values of tolerance and coexistence that we hold high in Israel.”

But left-wingers accused the government of not doing enough to stop the attacks. Jerusalem city councillor Laura Wharton said: “Israel, which is outraged by every hint of antisemitism, should be more sensitive.”