Peace Now office site of latest extremist attack

Right-wing extremists spray painted "no leftists, no terror attacks" on left-wing group's Jerusalem offices.

By MELANIE LIDMAN
Price tag attack at Peace Now headquarter 150 (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Price tag attack at Peace Now headquarter 150
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Right-wing extremists struck again on Thursday, with the latest graffiti attack against Peace Now’s Jerusalem offices.
The extremists sprayed “No leftists, no terror attacks” on the fence outside of the office, located in the German Colony neighborhood.
Police opened an investigation.
The attack came on the 29-year anniversary of the murder of Emil Grunzweig, an activist who was killed by a grenade thrown at a protest outside Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s residence in 1983. Peace Now executive director Yariv Oppenheimer said he doubted the vandals knew the anniversary, but it was still symbolic.
“On this date, it shows even more clearly our feeling that the violence from political right and the price tag attackers won’t stop,” said Oppenheimer. “Without taking care of this problem from the root and dealing with the hilltop youth, the problems will just continue to develop.”
This is the fifth time this year that Peace Now has been vandalized by right-wing extremists. One Peace Now staff member has had graffiti sprayed outside her apartment twice, and the offices have had racist messages three times.
Oppenheimer worried that the attacks will only get worse. “Now we’re in a quieter period and [price tag attacks] are still happening.
Just think about what they will do if the government stands by their decision to evacuate Migron, the violence will just continue to get worse,” he said.
Due to the general strike, the graffiti will most likely stay there over the weekend, according to a municipality spokeswoman.
The attack at Peace Now came two days after the most recent price tag incidents in Jerusalem. On Tuesday, two cars and a stone fence at the Valley of the Cross Monastery, below the Israel Museum, were covered with anti-Christian graffiti, and the cars’ tires were slashed. The vandals wrote “Jesus drop dead,” “Death to Christians” and “Kahane was right.” They called themselves “The Maccabees of Migron” and left the words “price tag.”
Vandals also attacked the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education elementary school in the Patt neighborhood, where they spray painted “Kahane was right” and “death to Arabs” on the wall in large letters.
There are no suspects in the events from earlier this week, police said on Thursday.