Two cemeteries in Jaffa were desecrated on Friday, the eve of Yom Kippur, when headstones were smashed and racist slogans were spray-painted on graves. The two cemeteries, one Muslim and the other Christian, were vandalized by graffiti that said “Death to the Arabs”, and “Price Tag”, Channel 10 reported.

President of the Islamic Movement in Jaffa, Sheikh Ahme Abu Ajwa, said, “This is an attempt by extremists to incite the Arab masses,” calling for calm. United Arab List-Ta’al party leader MK Ibrahim Sarsur called upon the perpetrators, whoever they may be, “to end the racist attacks.”

Open gallery view "Death to Arabs" sprayed on a grave in Jaffa, October 7, 2011 Credit: Team palestina

Recently, there have been numerous attacks on Muslim places of worship in Israel and the West Bank.

A mosque was burned in the Galilee Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangariyya on Sunday night. The entire interior of the mosque went up in flames, causing heavy damage, and holy books inside the mosque were burned. Graffiti with the words “price tag” was found on the wall of the mosque.

A mosque in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus, was set on fire in early September. According to Palestinian sources, a group of settlers arrived at the village mosque at approximately 3 A.M., threw burning tires toward it, and broke several of its windows.

That attack occurred only hours after Israel security forces evacuated buildings in the Jewish settlement of Migron.

A suspected 'price tag' attack took place in Maghayer village near Ramallah in June. An initial investigation showed that Jewish settlers rolled burning tires into the mosque, which caused some rugs to catch fire. The mosque was also sprayed with graffiti.

The village is located near the Alei Ayin outpost, where the Israeli security forces demolished illegal structures the week previous.

In December 2009, a mosque was torched in the West Bank village of Yasuf, and Jewish settlers were suspected in the attack. In that attack, it was alleged that the perpetrators were angry over the 10-month construction freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

According to the Shin Bet, the right-wing extremists no longer appear to need a "trigger" to take action, while the targets of the violence are also widening - military vehicles at an IDF base near Ramallah have been vandalized, and threatening graffiti has been sprayed onto the apartment door of a left-wing activist.

Attacks on Arabs and their property are carried out when the opportunity arises, the Shin Bet officials added.

