Last night, someone pushed the intercom button at the Jerusalem building that houses Peace Now's office. A neighbor was told: "This building will explode in five minutes." The frightened residents and a Peace Now staff member immediately evacuated the building. Outside they found "Price Tag" graffiti. "Price Tag" is what the extreme settlers call their campaign to intimidate and silence Israelis and Palestinians who support a two-state solution to the conflict.
Peace Now's national activity coordinator Etai Mizrav told me today: "Hard as they may try, they will not silence us!"
Show the extremists that our movement will not be silenced.
Yesterday's attack on Peace Now is the latest in a series of attacks. Last month, someone sprayed graffiti at the home of Peace Now's Hagit Ofran in Jerusalem, saying "Death to the Traitors" and "Peace Now - the End is Near." Shortly before that, police arrested a 19-year-old Israeli soldier for phoning in death threats to Peace Now's Yariv Oppenheimer. Peace Now activist are routinely harassed and threatened.
Three years ago, it was more than a threat. A bomb exploded at the home of Peace Now lay leader Zeev Sternhell. Pamphlets found outside his home promised a bounty on the head of any Peace Now activist killed. I still remember the night in 1983, when Peace Now leader Emile Grunzweig was murdered at a peace march in Jerusalem by an extremist's hand grenade that injured nine other Peace Now leaders.
Israeli law enforcement authorities caught those who murdered Grunzweig and tried to assassinate Sternhell. Hopefully, they will do their job and catch the other "Price Tag" terrorists and criminals as well.
Peace Now, meanwhile, will continue to do its job.
Settler extremists are attacking Peace Now because they know it is the chief watchdog challenging their belligerent agenda. While the settlers work to establish facts on the ground in the shadows, Peace Now's Settlement Watch reports on their activities, including their stealing private Palestinians land. Recent Peace Now legal actions have led the Supreme Court to order the government to remove illegal outposts. In the media, on university campuses and in the public square, Peace Now continues to demonstrate how settlement activity is jeopardizing Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic country.
Front Page Features