Monastery near Jerusalem desecrated in price tag attack

The words "America is Nazi Germany" were sprayed Tuesday on a wall of a catholic monastery near Jerusalem, and tires of four nearby vehicles were also slashed, Israeli police spokesperson Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed to Xinhua. The Deir Rafat monastery was painted with graffiti and price tag just as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a short visit to Israel to salvage the deteriorating peace talks with the Palestinians, and police forces are investigating the incident and looking for suspects, Rosenfeld said. This is another incident in a string of similar attacks known as "price tag," targeting Palestinian property, including houses, cars and religious holy sites. The vandals "exact a price" from local Palestinians or security forces for any actions against the settlement enterprise. Last week, the tires of 34 vehicles were slashed in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina in east Jerusalem. Earlier in March, the vandals slashed tires of 19 vehicles and sprayed racial graffiti reading "All Arabs are criminals" in the Arab town of Jaljuila in central Israel. According to figures released by the United Nations, the number of attacks against Palestinians almost quadrupled in the last eight years, increasing from 115 in 2006 to 399 in 2013.