Suspected Jewish vandals hit 45 E.Jerusalem cars

Suspected Jewish extremists punctured the tyres of dozens of Palestinian cars in annexed east Jerusalem on Monday in the latest so-called "price tag" hate crime, police and an AFP correspondent said. The attack took place in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighbourhood in the northern sector of east Jerusalem, with Hebrew graffiti on a nearby bus reading "Gentiles in the land are enemies". Police said the tyres of 34 cars were punctured, but an AFP correspondent at the scene placed the number at 45, noting all four wheels of each car were slashed. Local residents told AFP that security cameras at the site showed that a group of men perpetrated the crime, which bore the hallmarks of a "price tag" attack, a euphemism for hate crimes that generally target Palestinians. Initially carried out against Palestinians in retaliation for state moves to dismantle unauthorised settler outposts, the attacks have since become a much broader phenomenon with racist and xenophobic overtones. In June, 21 cars were vandalised in a similar attack in Beit Hanina not far from Monday's attack. Last month, the tyres of 31 cars were slashed in a Palestinian neighbourhood in the southern sector of east Jerusalem.