Shameful Hatred: Children play in the shadow of anti-Arab graffiti in an Israeli village that is seen as a symbol of peaceful coexistence. Image by getty images

Vandals daubed “Arabs out” graffiti and punctured tyres in an Arab village near Jerusalem on Tuesday, targeting a community widely seen in Israel as a showcase for Jewish-Arab coexistence.

Unlike similar attacks that have damaged Arab mosques, homes, vehicles and olive groves, the vandalism took place in an Arab village in Israel popular with Jewish visitors, rather than in a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank.

Abu Ghosh, where the tyres of 28 cars were punctured and anti-Arab slogans scrawled on walls, is located along the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway and is well liked among Jewish visitors for its Middle Eastern restaurants.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“In this village … Arabs and Jews live a normal life,” said Jawadat Ibrahim, an Abu Ghosh resident who owns a restaurant in the village.

He said he suspected Jewish militants were behind the incident, although the “Price Tag” slogans left behind by ultranationalists who have vandalised Palestinian property in the West Bank were not found in Abu Ghosh.

The term refers to the “price” militants say they will exact for Palestinian attacks against Israelis or attempts by the Israeli government to curb settlement building in the West Bank.

Condemning the Abu Ghosh attack, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett of the pro-settler Jewish Home party said on his Facebook page: “There is a small group of evil-doers who want to destroy any chance of good neighbourly relations between Arabs and Jews in our country … we will not let them succeed.”

Police said they had opened an investigation into the incident, which occurred just two days after Israel’s security cabinet approved new measures to designate “Price Tag” vandals as members of “illicit organisations”.

An Israeli official said the decision would bring Israel’s handling of “Price Tag” suspects more into line with its crackdowns on Palestinian militants, with longer detentions and jail sentences as well as more intrusive surveillance and interrogation.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount