Price tag vandalism in Jerusalem
Price tag vandalism in JerusalemFlash 90

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has contacted various international organizations and foreign governments, urging them to list the perpetrators of so-called "price tag" attacks as terrorists, the PA-based Ma’an news agency reported Monday.

The PA’s Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, told Ma'an that he had sent letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and also to the foreign ministries of the United States, the European Union, Russia, and Canada.

In the letters, al-Maliki said, he asked the recipients to designate the so-called “hilltop youth” who reside in Judea and Samaria as a terrorist organization, along with other groups linked to the so-called "price tag" attacks.

"I provided a complete file depicting all the terrorist attacks these organizations have been carrying out," al-Maliki said, according to Ma’an.

The letter includes quotes from Israeli media and Israeli officials who consider the groups "terrorist organizations."

In its request, the PA is obviously is riding the wave of the recent controversy in Israel over "price tag" attacks, a euphemism for politically-motivated vandalism and criminal damage usually attributed to Jewish extremists. These acts are carried out either in revenge for Arab terrorist attacks, or in protest of Israeli government policies such as the destruction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. 

Leftist MKs consistently condemn "price tag" for giving Israel a bad image, both in local and international press. However, little to no press time is given to  numerous incidents of Arab "price tagging".

In addition, an Arutz Sheva report in January revealed that in at least some of the cases, anti-Arab "price tags" were being systematically staged by Arab activists.

It should also be noted that "price tag" incidents generally include graffiti or other vandalism - in contrast to the terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinian Arab terrorists, which aim to injure or kill Jews and Israelis.

Neither the Arab “price tagging” nor the terrorism acts were mentioned in al-Maliki’s letter.

The U.S. recently equated the two phenomena in a highly controversial State Department report published last month. 

“Price tag” attacks drew attention once again over the weekend, when leftist author Amos Oz equated the perpetrators of these acts to neo-Nazis.

Oz faced an enormous backlash over his comments. He later defended his comments, by insisting that "neo-Nazis" and "Nazis" are not the same.