"Mohammed is a swine"; "Price Tag" vandalism (archive)
"Mohammed is a swine"; "Price Tag" vandalism (archive)Flash 90

Lod District Court Justice Dana Marshak Marom today sentenced three brothers from the Binyamin town of Nahaliel who were convicted of a series of Arab property damage offenses to heavy prison terms.

One of the brothers was sentenced to 60 months in prison, the second to 54 months in prison, and the third brother to 32 months. In addition, the three were handed suspended prison terms and were ordered to pay monetary compensation.

In the verdict the judge noted the ideological background of the acts and wrote, "Commission of the offenses for ideological reasons requires tougher punishment and a clear deterrent message, assigning priority to the public interest."

To read the sentence in the original Hebrew, click here.

Shmuel (Zangi) Medad of the Honenu legal aid organization which accompanies the families, said "Small politicians with strange foreign agendas have invented a terror organization - the so-called 'Price Tag' attacks. Now a court is in line with this delusion and on the basis of that sends young men to jail for many years. Very sad.

"We're talking about a number of young people, some of them minors, residents of Judea and Samaria who were devastated by the Henkin family murder who live nearby, and who could not bear the lawlessness and terror that has raged uncontrollably throughout their childhood and adolescence."

Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin, residents of the community of Neria, were murdered in front of their four children when Muslims opened fire at their vehicle as they were driving between Itamar and Elon Moreh.

"Harming settlements and murdering Jews only because they're Jews - how can we compare it to Hamas terrorism? It's so ironic that in the next courtroom there's a hearing for Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal's murderer."

Friends of the defendants emphasized the fact that the verdict was given by Judge Dana Marshak Marom. "What can one expect from a judge who graduated New Israel Fund programs? She came of age in the extreme Left and as far as she's concerned, the very fact that the defendants live in Judea and Samaria is reason enough to imprison them."

Attorney Sinaia Moses Harizi who represented the three for Honenu said, "This ruling didn't take into account that the three defendants are from one family who at the time of most of the offenses were minors, and that there are difficult personal circumstances that now is not the time to go into. Some of the defendants are veterans of full military service, and the offenses were committed many years ago when they were minors. It should be remembered that these are crimes that caused no harm to human life. The verdict is very strict, and we intend to consider an appeal to the Supreme Court."