The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed the sentencing of two Israeli youths who had torched the Hand-in-Hand bi-lingual Hebrew-Arabic school in Jerusalem and spray painted it with hate graffiti in November 2014. The third defendant’s trial is still in process. The two were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 24 to 30 months and were ordered to compensate the school in the sum of NIS 10,000 and NIS 15,000.

The two brothers, Shlomo and Nachman Tuito from Betar Illit, who belong to the Lehava organization, committed arson and spray painted the school with graffiti that read: “There is no co-existence with cancer”, “Death to the Arabs” and “Kahana was right.”

The Hand-in-Hand school has been the target of repeated so-called “price tag” attacks, the latest of which took place on June 29, when vandals spray painted swastikas and anti-Arab graffiti on its walls, including the slogans “Arabs to the slaughter,” “Arab blood is cheap,” and “Arab – the son of a whore.”

Carole Nuriel, Acting Director of ADL Israel, said: “The sentencing of the two brothers sends a strong message that there’s a price to pay for racism and violence. Vandalizing a school that is a symbol of co-existence represents a violent effort to prevent further initiatives to bring Jews and Arabs together. ADL repeats its call on educators and religious and spiritual leaders to condemn price tag attacks.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)