Israeli held after 2012 monastery ‘price tag’ attack

Maan News Agency | July 1, 2013
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JERUSALEM (AFP) — A court on Monday extended the remand of an Israeli man arrested on suspicion of vandalizing a Catholic monastery in a 2012 attack that shocked the Holy Land’s religious and political establishment.

Moshe Orbach, 22, is a resident of Bnei Brak, a city near Tel Aviv with a predominantly ultra-Orthodox population, according to a protocol distributed by the Rishon LeTzion Magistrates’ Court.

He is suspected of involvement in an attack in September 2012 in which the wooden door of the Trappist monastery in Latrun was burnt and “Jesus is a monkey” was scrawled on a wall.

The court extended his remand by four days.

The abbey, 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem on the border between Israel and the occupied West Bank by the 1949 armistice line, is one of the most famous monastic sites in the Holy Land.

In addition to the anti-Christian graffiti, the words “mutual guarantee” and the names of demolished outposts were spray-painted on the monastery walls.

This pointed to a “price tag” attack, a euphemism for extremist hate crimes that generally target Palestinians.

Initially targeting Palestinians in retaliation for state moves to dismantle unauthorized settler outposts, such attacks have since become broader with racist and xenophobic overtones.

The Latrun incident was condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority urged Israel to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger called it a “heinous crime”, and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land urged the authorities to put an end to “this senseless violence” and “ensure a ‘teaching of respect’ in schools”.

Last month Israeli ministers moved to increase the powers of the security establishment to crack down on the phenomenon, declaring that those involved belonged to an “illegal organization”, and on Monday Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ratified the decision.

“This is a severe phenomenon involving indiscriminate acts of violence against Arabs, damaging their property and risking lives, in order to prevent the Israeli government from acting a certain way,” he said.

“We must toughen the punishments these outlaws gets, since the results of their actions are disastrous,” Yaalon added in remarks relayed by his bureau.

Following a June attack in which 28 cars were vandalized in the Palestinian village of Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem, Education Minister Shai Piron pledged to institutionalize “coexistence meetings” between Israeli Jews and Palestinians in the new school year.

At a Sunday get-together of young Jews and Arabs at Abu Ghosh, Piron said such meetings vitally important and “an inseparable part of the educational system’s agenda”.

Also last month, graves were desecrated in an Arab Christian cemetery in Jaffa.

In 2012, police opened 623 files on price tag attacks, arrested 200 people and served 123 indictments, an official said earlier this month.

So far this year, they have opened 165 files on attacks, arrested 76 suspects and served 31 indictments, with police insisting that such crimes are a “top priority.”

(Some) Examples of attacks by Jewish Colonists in Palestine

I emphasize, just some examples….
For a full overview see: Category Settler Violence

Jewish settlers write offenses against Jesus on Monastery – Oct 2, 2012	Zionist settlers attack 38 year old man in Majaz, Sept 16, 2012	3rd time in a week Havat Ma’on settlers chased palestinian kids – July 31, 2012	Settlers attack & wound 5 men, torch 400 olivetrees,kill 20 sheep July 7, 2012
Israeli settlers attack & torched a mosque in WB Palestine – June 19, 2012	Terrorist settler assassinates 2 Palestinians in Al-Khalil – June 17, 2012	Israeli colonists and occupation militia attack farmers in Tuqua – May 30, 2012	Israeli Settlers set olive trees on fire, shoot a Palestinian in ‘Urif – May 26, 2012
#JerusalemDay: settlers provocative march Al-Aqsa May 20, 2012	Settlers attack a school and injure 8 students – April 23, 2012	Masked Jewish settlers attack and stone Palestinians – Febr 28, 2012	Israeli Settler attack on Al-Aqsa and compound – Al-Quds – Febr 19, 2012
Israeli Settler Attack – Savages torch car and paint racist slogans – Febr 16, 2012	Israeli Settlers displaying their “Intelligence & Morals” – Febr 7, 2012	Illegal Settler raze & confiscate Palestinian land under protection of Israeli Army – Febr 6, 2012	Settler attack in Al-Janyeih: Anti Palestinian Graffiti – Febr 5, 2012
Jewish savage extremists destroy Muslim Graves on a cemetery in Beisan – Jan 25, 2012	Settlers torch a car of a 53 yr old woman in Tel Rumeideh – Jan 16, 2012	Cars & mosque vandalized in ‘price tag’ settler attack – Jan 11, 2012	Jewish settlers break into Muslim shrines to perform Talmudic rituals – Jan 6, 2012
lers torch 2 cars and a car wash station – Jan 4, 2012	Settlers Attack on a Mosque & 5 Cars – Dec 19, 2011	“Milchamah” – “War” Settlers attack a mosque Dec 15 2011	J’lem Mosque set alight in ‘price tag’ attack Dec 14, 2011
Settlers vandalize Muslim graves in Jerusalem – Nov 10, 2011	Christian & Muslim Cemeteries vandalized by zionists in Jaffa – Oct 7, 2011	Radical Jewish terrorists torch Mosque in Tuba – Oct 3, 2011	Settlers Cut Down 200 Olive Trees inh Qusra – Oct 6, 2011
Israel supplies weapons and training to illegal colonists in Palestine	The full album and resources about Settler Violence	Click to see the Album Ethnic Cleansing of Negev Bedouin	Click to see the Album House Demolitions
Click to see the Album Settlement Construction	Israeli attacks against Christians and holy sites

Essential information/resources

• Israel Arms & Trains Illegal Settlers for Rampage in Occupied Palestine – In Photos
• Leaked document “Operation Summer Seeds”: Israeli forces train & arm settlers to attack Palestinian protesters – Source
• Netherlands blocks EU report about Settler Violence, The Rights Forum exposes it – Source & Translations
• MP Barghouthi warns of massacres after Israel arms, trains settlers – Source
• Israel gives settlers weapons for September- Source
• How US “charities” break tax laws to fund Israeli settlements – EI
• France’s JDL’s “Travel Agency” Call for “Militant Rampage Trip”- Source
• Israeli settlers to be armed with dogs as well as tear gas and stun grenades – Source
• Topic – Settler Terrorism – Source
• Video – Settler Attack dogs of the West Bank | Video | Reuters.com

Still live in fairytaleland about Israel? Time to wake up: The Map of the “Greater Israel” even is hammered on their currency.

All facts storified and continuously updated. Read what Israeli ‘leaders’ have said and done even before (peace) talks and how their actions contradict the reality and ugly facts which they try to hide from you:

Israel. Not looking for Peace. Nor Talks. But this…