PA calls on world to recognize hilltop youth 'price tag' offenders as terrorists
PA Foreign Minister Maliki writes letter to world organizations, claims Israeli officials already internally refer to groups as terrorists.
By YASSER OKBIHilltop youth [illustrative] 311 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
The Palestinian Authority turned to international organizations on Monday, requesting in a formal letter that they recognize hilltop youth, suspected perpetrators of 'price tag' attacks against Arabs, as terrorists.PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon along with copies to the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the US State Department, the European Union, Russia and Canada - and asked them to recognize the Jewish hilltop youth as a terrorist organization.In the letter, he also demanded to have the group put on the list of international terrorist organizations."We have prepared a case against these organizations and their terrorist acts" Maliki said. "We have quotes from Israeli officials who already refer to them as terrorist organizations operating out of hatred for Arabs."Earlier this month, in the most recent crime in an uptick of hate crimes against Arabs in Israel, it was discovered that vandals had scrawled the words “Death to the Arabs” on the office door of a Druse dentist in the northern town of Yokne’am.Last month the front window of the office was shattered and a Star of David was sprayed on an interior wall.Following the increase in 'price tag' attacks, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Likud Beytenu) and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni demanded Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ask the cabinet to classify “price tag” attackers as terrorists.
![Hilltop youth [illustrative] 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/174766 "Hilltop youth [illustrative] 311 (R)")