The Palestinian Authority has officially asked the United States, Canada, Russia, and the European Union to declare "price tag" perpetrators and "hilltop youth" activists as terrorist organizations, and include them on those countries' list of terror groups.



The Palestinian foreign ministry published a statement saying that Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki has sent missives on the matter in recent days to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi.



The Palestinian Authority published a documented listing of terrorist acts it claims were carried out in recent years by "hilltop youth" and "price tag" activists against Palestinian citizens and property, and against Muslim and Christian holy sites in the West Bank. Al-Malki said in his letter that these activists were involved in incitement to violence and in breeding a culture of hatred and racism.

It is still unclear whether this Palestinian move is the beginning of a prolonged political campaign or an isolated step aimed solely at PR needs. If the move is serious, it is likely the Palestinians were inspired by successful past campaigns launched by Israel to include Hamas and Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations in the EU and other countries around the world.

The chances of success for this Palestinian campaign are not slim; there is already a precedent in the United States of including a Jewish Israeli group on the list of terror organizations. In the 1990s, the U.S. government declared Kach and Kahane Chai as terrorist organizations and put them on the list.



Furthermore, for the past several years both the U.S. and the EU have vehemently condemned anti-Arab hate crimes. So-called "price tag" attacks are regularly included in the annual State Department report on terrorism. In addition, EU member states have been mulling the option of barring the entry of "settlers who are involved in violent incidents" into the European Union.

Including a group on U.S. or EU terror lists means imposing economic sanctions on the organization and its supporters, freezing bank accounts or assets, imposing travel restrictions around the world and worse.



A year ago, the Israeli government decided that perpetrators of price tag attacks against Palestinians or their property can be declared an unlawful organization by the defense minister, similar to the charities linked to terror groups. Although the Shin Bet recommended branding "price tag" activists" as a terror organization, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed after he was faced with opposition from the settler leaders, the Habayit Hayehudi party and Likud MKs.