By: Marc Gopin and Aziz Abu Sarah Yesterday, Pastor Chuck Kopp of the Baptist Church in West Jerusalem woke up to find his church vandalized. The Jerusalem Post reported that police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld suspects that Jewish extremists are responsible for the act. According to the Post, Rosenfeld said, "Officers are investigating a strong possibility of a (Jewish) nationalist motive, but no one has been apprehended yet.” Cars that were parked outside the church were also vandalized, and their tires slashed.  Graffiti left on the church walls included the famous term “price tag,” which has been used by settler extremists…

A study conducted by the Washington-based Palestine Center documents settler violence and helps explain how it has been allowed to flourish. A new study will be released this week on the growing occurrence of Jewish settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank. The Palestine Center, an influential think tank based in Washington DC, has conducted the report utilizing seven years of daily reports and documentation in order to help explain how, when and where settler violence occurs. The report, entitled When Settlers Attack, documents a heavy increase in violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers over the…

Escalation in 'price tag' attacks and nature of incidents send clear message that attempts at coexistence are to be trampled On Sunday, a "price tag" attack that included hateful graffiti and vandalism of property was committed in the middle of the night by Jewish Israelis in the Palestinian village of Al Jenia, near Ramallah, Rabbis for Human Rights reported. The village has suffered many attacks over the last year in which their trees were hurt and uprooted. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Tu B'Shvat - a Jewish arbor holiday marking the start of the period for calculating the age of fruit-bearing trees -…

The lengths to which corporate capitalism will go to make an extra buck make never ceases to amaze me. Knowingly crossing the lines is the easiest way to get attention these days. A Facebook friend said he found this advertisement in a Yedioth Aharonot paper he was reading today and took a shot of it with his iPhone: In typical price tag style graffiti, on a brick wall that looks pretty much like any brick wall you would find belonging to your typical West Bank mosque, the words “Price list tag” are sprayed in blue. In Hebrew, it's a similar…

On Monday night, the IDF demolished Palestinian homes closely identified with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Resistance and acts of solidarity will continue, but even resistance cannot keep pace with the massive Price Tag assault that is the Israeli Occupation.  By Jeff Halper It has become commonplace among violent West Bank settlers to randomly attack Palestinian mosques, homes, olive orchards and individuals in order to send a message to other Israelis. They are called “Price Tag” attacks, after the “signature” the settlers leave scrawled on the walls of the burnt-out buildings. In the dark of night this past Monday,…

The hilttop youth, those wacky young settlers, have been in the news quite a bit of late - the number of price tag actions is on a constant rise. Yet, we rarely get to see who these “kids” really are. Last week, Channel 2 gave us a rare glimpse into the minds of some of the hilltop youth leaders. I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to bring it to you. This translation goes out to my homies in AIPAC, and to the national religious rabbis of the world. Without you, these racists would not be possible. They live in the…

What Israel needs, in the battle against Jewish terrorism, is a Lester Freemon; What the ISA can supply is a weak-kneed Jack Bauer Israel was shocked last week, as violent settlers attacked the IDF directly, ransacking an army base, stoning a colonel and his deputy, and throwing Molotov cocktails at soldiers. The shock was reinforced by the IDF’s response: It did nothing. The soldiers cowered and did not even arrest their assailants. Later on, the Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, said that the army did not have any intelligence on the attackers: It does not gather information on Jews, he…

Israeli newspapers were filled this weekend with articles about how the government will respond to the recent "price tag" attacks by settlers that have gone beyond targeting Palestinians and Israeli leftwing activists, to targeting IDF soldiers and bases. In a Likud party meeting, speaking about the recent attacks, Prime Minister Netanyahu assured that such acts were not be tolerated.  (According to reports, 30% of IDF forces in West Bank are now devoted entirely to dealing with "price tag" attacks). Netanyahu  said in one breath that "the law is the law" and that hurting IDF soldiers is of the same severity…

Settler violence is now aimed even at IDF soldiers. It's decision time for Israel. Raging Rick Berman in a special column following recent "price tag" attacks and hate crimes By Rechavia “Rick” Berman Say, has anyone sent some flowers to Meir Bartler? According to reports, Bartler participated two nights ago in the “occupation” of some abandoned structures in the demilitarized no-man's land, between Israel and Jordan). The object of this exercise was to declare their allegiance to the full and utmost borders of “Israel by right” - borders that include a nice-sized chunk of the Kingdom of Jordan, not to…

Are you an IDF soldier? Are you also right-wing? Would you like to sabotage IDF jeeps, communication systems and other gear to prevent the demolition of illegal outposts? Here's how! The right-wing news portal The Jewish Voice (tagline: News for Happy Jews") has published a pretty useful list of ideas for pro-settler soldiers to sabotage army gear, vehicles, communications and so on and so forth (see below), to upset the army's operations to evict illegal outposts in the West Bank. The fact they couldn't care less that the gear they're sabotaging is there, ostensibly, for their own protection, goes without…

This picture was posted, along with several others, on the right-leaning citizen journalism site Rotter.net. It was taken at a memorial evening for Rabbi Meir Kahane, held openly in Jerusalem and attended by well over 1,000 people. The slogan on the back of the shirt reads "Price Tag." Below is the context of the pic: The military issue M-16 would most likely mean that the man in the picture is either a conscript or a reserves soldier. It's unclear if the man is an actual Price Tag member/activist or simply signals his support. But the picture still aptly illustrates that…

Haaretz reports today that the state will postpone the dismantling of the West Bank settlement outpost known as Givat Assaf, close to Beit El – never mind that the government has yet to bother cooking up any new excuses for doing so. Haaretz explains that following a 2007 petition to the High Court of Justice by Peace Now against six settlements in the area, the state has been evading dismantling the outposts with various claims (‘wait! we’re negotiating with them’). After a Court injunction, the outposts were supposed to have been either legalized or evacuated by the end of the…

The United Nations publishes a report on settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, revealing a drastic rise in Palestinian casualties and property damage in 2011 compared with 2010 The United Nations Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories has just published a report on settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank that (not surprisingly) shows a significant rise since last year. The report covers not only physical harm to Palestinians, but also property damage, which can often be just as bad or worse than physical harm, as the impact of uprooted olive trees, damaged…