Shas chairman Knesset Member Aryeh Deri arrived at Abu Ghosh on Tuesday after vandals slashed car tires and sprayed graffiti reading "Arabs out" in the village.

"The hands that spelled out this sentence 'Arabs out' needs to remember that the hands of our greatest haters wrote 'Jews out'. It's the same thing."

Related stories:

"We need to take responsibility; there are Jews all over the world. We can't be shocked to see this in Europe and cry 'anti-Semitism' while not condemning it here at home. It's not Judaism, it's the opposite of Judaism and Torah. Whoever did this, has hurt the Torah."





Deri in Abu Ghosh (Photo: Eli Mandelbaum)

Deri said that the perpetrators of the act are on the fringes. "This is not a phenomenon within religious Zionism or in the haredi sector. The people at whom this was directed have lived with us for centuries. They even fought in our ranks."

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) also commented on the matter and said the attack was a result of Israel's racist policies.

Speaking at a United Nations convention in Beijing he said "The Israeli government is conducting a policy of racist discrimination against the country's Arab minority.

"We've recently witnessed a slew of racist bills such as a bill favoring those who serve in the IDF, a bill favoring Israel's Jewish character, the cancellation of the Arab language as an official language and the plan to oust Arabs in the Negev of their lands. We call on you – nations and organizations – to press the Israeli government and help us."

'This doesn't represent all Jews'

Musa Ibrahim from the Caravan restaurant started the morning listening to reports about the "price tag" attack. "I believe that whoever did this does not represent the Jewish people. There are Jews who are closer to us than family. Every Saturday there is a gathering and we meet. One shouldn't judge the Jews based on a few incidents, especially as the state denounced those."

Ibrahim went to a Jewish primary school and says he still has many friendships that date back to those days. "I got over 50 phone calls from people who offered us empathy and support. A Jewish girl called me and started crying and I told her that everything was okay."

A young Jew living in the village with his partner came to the restaurant and admitted this "puts you in an uncomfortable position, even though on the outside Jews keep selling the idea of co-existence. I think whoever did it tried to sabotage the good relations and the fact that many Jews live over here. I don't think this would compromise the fabric of the relations over here. It's clearly the work of extremists. Life over here will go on."

Omri Efraim and Moran Azulay contributed to this report

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter

