‘Price Tag’ Suspected In Bedouin Tent Arson

Bedouin residents standing near ‘price tag’ graffiti that was allegedly written by arsonists, on Thursday.  (Flash90)
Bedouin residents standing near ‘price tag’ graffiti that was allegedly written by arsonists, on Thursday. (Flash90)

A tent used by Bedouin shepherds for storage was found destroyed early Thursday morning, and graffiti found scrawled nearby said that the attack was a “price tag” action. No one was hurt in the incident.

The incident occurred in Ein Samia, a village near Ramallah, and apparently took place overnight Wednesday.

Villagers said the fire occurred at around 3:00 a.m. Ayed Kaabneh said that 10 people usually slept in the tent, which belonged to his cousin.

“Fortunately, three days ago because of the heat they went up [the mountains],” he said as he examined the charred remains.

Another resident said the assailants fled when a villager awoke and started shouting.

The Shin Bet arrested three Jewish youths on Thursday afternoon, who may be linked to the attack, reported the Jerusalem Post. The three were arrested near the community of Kochav Hashachar, and police also seized a vehicle belonging to one of the suspects.

The suspects were taken for questioning at a Shin Bet facility in Petach Tikvah and an order was issued prohibiting them from meeting with legal counsel.

Officials are operating on the assumption that the incident is a hate crime because of Hebrew graffiti reading “tents of revenge” and “price tag” scrawled nearby.

Although several right-wing activists have been arrested after the Duma arson attack, in which two Palestinians died, no one has been charged in that case.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said, “We are still in the midst of a wave of attacks in response to the arson and murder in [the Palestinian village of] Duma. Not that there weren’t attacks beforehand, but it is certain that some of the attacks we are seeing, such as the car attack against soldiers near Shiloh, are in response to what happened in Duma.”

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!