21- year-old man arrested on suspicion of perpetrating attack on Peace Now offices, other incidents; police say he admitted to crimes.
By JEREMY SHARONprice tag 311(photo credit: Tovah Lazaroff)
A special investigative team of the Jerusalem District Police arrested a 21- year-old man late Tuesday night suspected of being behind Sunday night’s “price tag” attack on the offices of Peace Now in the German Colony neighborhood of Jerusalem, along with a number of other incidents of vandalism.The police said the man admitted to having carried out the attacks. He was brought for remand to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday and a gag order was placed on the publication of his name and picture due to the “ongoing investigation” into the attacks.Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar lambasted the recent spate of “price tag” vandalism at a memorial ceremony at the Central Youth Assembly to mark the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Sa’ar described the attacks as a “violent and dangerous cancerous growth that must be obliterated,” and called perpetrators of “price tag” attacks “enemies of Judaism and the State of Israel.”On Sunday night, the words “death to Arabs” and “price tag” were graffitied onto the walls of Peace Now’s headquarters, and Peace Now personnel were then warned over the office intercom that a bomb had been planted in the building and would explode in 10 minutes.The man in question is also suspected of having spray-painted the light rail station in the Shuafat neighborhood of east Jerusalem with the words “death to Arabs,” and spray-painted similar slogans on a branch of the Boy Scouts in Mevaseret Zion, as well as having graffitied and damaged a vehicle of an Arab man close to the settlement of Sha’ar Binyamin a few weeks ago.
The man admitted to the charges, and said he carried out the acts of vandalism because he “hates Arabs and leftists.”On Monday night, the home of Peace Now official Hagit Ofran was also vandalized with graffiti with the words “Rabin is waiting for you” and “Hagit Ofran z’l” (the Hebrew acronym for rest in peace). Swastikas were also spraypainted on the building. The police are investigating whether the man arrested today was behind this attack as well.On Tuesday night, three vehicles were set alight near the Palestinian village of Beit Umar, north of Hebron, and a house spray-painted with the “price tag” slogan and Stars of David.
