Price Tag Wars Panorama

This is a so-called 'price tag'. It may look like graffiti, but those

who do it are branded Jewish terrorists.

They are just teenagers, but they say they will do anything to keep

the land that God gave them. There is hardly any other way of

describing it other than outright terrorism. This week the Middle

East's been rocked by more violence and Islamic protests.

Tonight, we report on the long- running dispute that goes to the

very heart of tensions in the region.

Is Israel doing enough to crack down on its young enemy within?

TRANSLATION: If it helps me to stay in my homeland, they can call me a

It's 2.00am in East Jerusalem. The Arab area of the city.

It is dangerous for Israeli youths to be here, especially when they

are up to no good. This is a price tag gang. They've

The Jewish youths say that they are They want to send a message to

their own government too. There is a price to pay for any attempt to

They might look like vandals, but price taggers are a new and

dangerous phenomena. Branded Jewish terrorist, even by their own

government. And this is where they come from...

The hilltops of the West Bank. Arab territory, occupied by Israel since

the 1967 War. For thousands of years this land's

been disputed between Arab tribes and the tribes of Israel.

Now there is a new tribe. They call themselves the Hilltop Youth. They

have sworn to sacrifice everything Across the West Bank, there is a

war of attrition going on between the Hilltop Youth and their own

security forces. The Israeli police are trying to stop them

establishing new footholds and outposts on this land. The price

tag's are the youth youth youth's revenge.

-- are the Hilltop Youth's revenge. Schools are out for summer. Dozens

of teenagers are gravitating to the hilltops. Children whose parents

came here for the ideological reasons.

The hilltop, the Hilltop Youth, they are rebuilding the shacks that

the army are demolishing to show there is a Jewish presence here and

extend it over the area. How many times have the army come

and knocked this down already? TRANSLATION: Two months they take

it down. Six or seven times now, but there is a group of hard-core

Hilltop Youth, boys and girls that stay here.

For religious reasons, there is a different shack for the girls, but

they are just as zealous as the boys. Some have been caught for

price tagging. In February, cameras picked up an Israeli girl in a

Palestinian village. She slashed open sacks of building materials.

Nearby, the cars were sprayed with graffiti, saying "revenge" and

insulting the Prophet Mohammed. The girl caught on camera does not deny

it. Lenny Goldberg is under house arrest. She has never spoken

publicly before. -- mother Moriah Goldberg.

A price tagger is when a government stops us from building, it has a

price. Maybe it makes them think twice before they do this again.

She lives in the ultra nationalist settlement of Tapuach. Here they

are celebrating, the youths are wearing the scull bone and symbol

of the price tagger. There is a long history of hatred

and violence in Tapuach. The people have been killed and injured on

both sides. Moriah is following in the family

tradition. Her father was a disciple, whose father was outlawed

in the 1980s. She is idealistic.... Lenny

Goldberg is seemingly pretty unconcerned about what she has done.

There was a camera which showed a picture of a girl going into a car,

doing some things it looked like my daughter may have done that, but I

educated her properly, so it could So you are proud? I'm glad that I

have a child that cares so much about her people.

TRANSLATION: Faithless Jews who do not fear God can call me a

terrorist. I don't care what they say about me, I only care what God

thinks. I act for him alone. There have been hundreds of price

tags, involving not just graffiti, but violence and intimidation.

Petrol bombs have been thrown at Arab cars.

Some occupants have been seriously injured.

Security cameras have caught the torching of trucks in Palestinian

villages. Woiingly of all, the arson attacks on the mosques on the

West Bank in Israel. At least in some aspects of what

the violence settlers connect w, there is hardly any other way of

describing it other than outright terrorism.

The Prime Minister, the President, the speaker of our Parliament have

spoken out forcefully against this type of violence. They have gone to

the police, to the security services to have no tolerance for

this phenomena whatsoever. Israeli homes built on occupied

land are illegal, according to international law. Israel regards

the West Bank as disputed land. It has built 120 settlements.

Around 300,000 Israelis now live here.

But there are also 100 small outposts, scattered on strategic

hilltops, some of which are illegal under Israeli law because they are

built on private Palestinian land. So are you going to evacuate and

dismantle the illegal outposts where the Supreme Court orders you

to, those built on private Palestinian land? Israel is a

country of law it is clear, where the ruling has been so that the

buildings have to come down, they will be coming down.

In the hills above Jericho, a lone army jeep guards a steep track to a

isolated outpost which the army demolished overnight. We are not

allowed to go in. It is declared a closed military zone.

A young settler trudges from the outpost with her children.

Jafa is heavily pregnant and feels betrayed by her own forces that

have thrown her out. They hit my husband in front of the

kids because he was trying to pro ptect us. We are going back to

build this up. News of the eviction is spreading.

An MP from an ultra nationalist party has arrived. With him are

angry Hilltop Youths. One of them tries to break through to the

outpost, but the police are having The next day, the police let us

into the outpost, the destruction is total.

But already some Hilltop Youth have come to help rebuild here, where

they say the tribe of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the

New walls have gone up overnight around the synagogue. We find Jafa

back with her family in the rubble. You are starting to rebuild? Yes,

we are starting to build again. More families are going to join us.

More people are coming? Yes. After five minutes we are told to

leave by the police. Later that day, Jafa's faement are

ordered out too. -- family are orderered out too,

but there is a different story in other, larger outposts. These are

established with a nod and a wink from the Israeli authorities.

Places where the government has fought legal efforts to dismantle

them. This is Migron, the largest outpost

on the West Bank. High on a hill above a Palestinian village.

Established 13 years ago in this strategic location with an antenna

and a few caravans, now 50 families live here. I first came to Migron

in January and met the Gutmans, who build here, they say, with

encouragement from the government. After the house was destroyed...

TRANSLATION: The government of Israel established this community.

They brought 50 caravans here and built infrastructure, water and

electricity. No-one came and built here

illegally. But the Guttmans and two other

families lost their homes last autumn. It is part of a seven-year

legal battle in which the government sided with the settlers

to resist getting rid of Migron. The government was forced by the

court to begin demolitions. Tammi and her husband tried to stop their

own forces destroying their own home.

TRANSLATION: The police pushed me violently with shields and their

boots. I couldn't believe our government

would treat us so badly. 47 houses still remained in Migron.

I went to see one of the founders, a pine year, a Hilltop Youth of his

day. He claims that the settlers

cemented their rights by buying Palestinian land here.

TRANSLATION: As for the land of Migron, we have official documents

saying that we own most of it. We went to the registered owner,

bought it and got the rights to use and to build on the land. That is

the end to it. He had papers but would not let me

read them or film them to protect the lives of Palestinians, he said,

who could be killed for selling to Jews.

Yet it is an Israeli human rights group, Peace Now, which wages the

long legal battle against the government and the settlers over

Migron. Specifically, this is built on

private Palestinian land it is land grab. It is theft of the land.

We were brought to burqa, the Arab village below Migron, to meet one

of the Palestinians involved in the court case.

This family have lived here for generations. From the roof toop

This land, which the settlers have built on, is my land. I have to

look at this every day and it is very painful. Abdul Munaim Moatam

says that his documents rather than those produced by the settlers in

court prove that his family owns the land. TRANSLATION: They had

fake sales documents claiming that my grandfather, who died in 1960

and is buried here, had sold them his land in America in 1994.

court battle over Migron has sparked dozens of price tags. Hagit

Ofran has been targeted three times. They came in the night into my home

and sprayed all the stairway and my door. Death to Hagit Ofran. And

hello from Migron. And were you afraid when you had these threats

against your life? I am afraid to be afraid. I don't want to be

afraid. So I am OK. Then we hear about a new price tag at the

Palestinian olive grove in Burqa. They have completely broken off! We

find dozens of young trees smashed and broken. So who do you think did

this? The settlers. A shepherd saw four of them two nights ago. They

were young. We fear they will cause more disruption in the future

because they will not be stopped. The most provocative price tag in

Burqa was at the mosque, seven months ago. It was in retaliation

for Israeli army action against the outposts. Prayer mats were burned,

insults sprayed, war declared on the walls. If these extremists

succeed, if we have heaven forbid a mosque or something go up in smoke,

this could prove smote extremism on their side. -- promoter extremism.

We have to stump up this phenomenon. There have -- stamp out this

phenomenon. There have been young Orthodox Jews making an early goal

visit to Arabic villages. They know Last year, two Palestinian youths

from this village broke into a nearby Israeli settlement and

murdered five members of one family, including a baby. In this war, the

spray can is a weapon on both sides. These youths have come to paint out

anti-Jewish graffiti on ancient Jewish tombs here. Their rituals

involve prayer and dancing. They make a point of doing it in front

of the mosque. A few months ago, one of them was shot by a

Palestinian policeman while illegally entering this area.

bullet came in the back window, into his neck, out of his mouth and

through the front window. The driver did not even notice anything.

Then Ben Joseph tipped forward on his knees, covered in blood. We got

to the checkpoint, took him out, and he was dead. The youths are

constantly on edge, thinking they have been spotted by a Palestinian

In the past two years, 14 Israelis and 24 Palestinians have been

killed on the West Bank. The peace process between Israelis and

Palestinians is already in serious trouble, and the price tag war is

making it worse. Yitzhar is a settlement with a hardcore

reputation. Even the signs to it say death to Arabs. Many hilltop

youth live and study here, and the Shiva could be a hotbed of

extremism. -- yeshiva. It has been raided and students have been

arrested for price-tags. One of the peoples was involved in a mosque

burning. It's our and its eight outposts are built on a hill in the

middle of five Arab villages. There is bad blood between the two

communities. People have been killed on both sides and the

Israeli army's the constant presence here. I saw the terrorist.

I did not know he was a terrorist. He tried to stab me. Three years

ago, Toviah Statman was attacked by a Palestinian intruder. I struggled

with him and managed to throw his life over the balcony. He saw he

could not kill me, it so he threw me over the balcony and ran away to

his village. I managed to climb back up and alert my father. When

my son came to me, he had seven stab wounds full of blood. He was

struggling with the Arab youth who tried to stab him in the neck and

stomach. Thank God he did not manage to kill him. The Palestinian

came from Assira al Qabilya, the village below. Here, they see

things differently. Khadra Makhlouf has been filming confrontations

with the settlers for an Israeli human rights group. Whenever any of

the settlers come down here, the first thing I do is take out my

camera. The footage is proof it is them attacking us, not the other

way round as they claim. In May, Khadra Makhlouf film a group of

settlers coming down the hill towards Assira al Qabilya. When the

settlers came down, they started fires. But when more arrived, our

Murray -- young men came out to stop them. They saw that the

settlers were armed and they decided to light bonfires to

obstruct them. The young Palestinians began throwing stones.

One of the men on the hill that day was Nimer Fathi. We would try to

put out the fire and then they I was shot in the ear, and another

two guys were shot. The Israeli army had come down the hill with

the settlers, but they did not stop them shooting the unarmed

Palestinians. When the settlers shot one of our men in front of the

army, I was filming them. Of course the army did nothing. Nimer Fathi

was carried off the hill and taken to hospital. They want to take our

land against our will, destroy it, Back in Yitzhar, they say residents

simply went to put out fires started by the Palestinians. They

were attacked by about 100 Arabs with frogs. At this stage, the army

had not arrived and there was clear life threatening danger to our fire

squad. Our supplement security people were forced to shoot

according to the rules of engagement the army tells us to

follow. But Khadra Makhlouf's video shows the soldiers were there.

have not done nearly enough to stem and prevent those acts from

happening, given that Israel is the occupying power. It follows that it

has direct responsibility in a security sense for the welfare for

the people occupied. It is responsible for preventing those

acts of violence. You have a tense from the Palestinian side and from

others to try to interrupt the public order and the army's

responsibility is to make sure public order is maintained. We have

seen a shooting in the Yitzhar area recently where the army seemed to

stand by its while the settlers shot an unarmed Palestinian. Every

incident like that is thoroughly investigated. The army told us the

soldiers made tactical decisions in the field to bring an end to the

violence. No setter has been charged, but a police inquiry is

still going on. -- no settler. The Israeli army is not just accused of

standing by. The institution most respected by Israelis has become a

target of the Hilltop Youth as well. And that has caused great soul-

searching in Israel. One of the few price taggers Court and

successfully prosecuted is this young man. Alex Ostrovsky, another

founder of Migron, was imprisoned for damaging vehicles in a military

base. He led a group of youths who clashed with the army while cutting

the border fence with Jordan. night before the attack on the base,

the army destroyed three homes in Migron. Not Arabs, but the army and

the police. If someone destroys my home, I don't care if he is Arab or

Jew. As far as I am concerned, he destroyed my house, and therefore

he is my enemy. I met Alex the day he was released, after six months

in prison. He is still considered a guru among the Hilltop Youth. Some

people have called you a Jewish terrorists. A terrorist, a freedom

fighter, it depends where he is an Tui is with. It is all the same

thing. If it helps me stay in my homeland, they can call me a

terrace. Two weeks ago the Supreme Court finally ruled. Migron had to

be evacuated. Its buildings had to be dismantled. The Hilltop Youth

protested but were dealt with. The Palestinians have not got their

land back. It is still under Israeli army control. The settlers

of Migron mood, but less than two miles down the road, to any

settlement on occupied land. They got three homes at a cost to the

state of �10 million. -- 33 homes. Migron will stay. There is still a

presence here and new ones, too. We have achieved a lot. Doesn't it

make a mockery of getting rid of illegal outposts if you are giving

those people nice new apartments just down the road. But we are

encouraging them to voluntarily relocate to get off the off the --

to get off the land that Palestinians say is their land. We

are ultimately moving forward with implementing decisions of the

Supreme Court. Peace talks with the Palestinians aimed at establishing

two states side-by-side of Fraser. The continuing growth of the

settlements, 50,000 settlements in the last three years, remains the

biggest stumbling block. Is a -- Israel using delaying tactics? You

are adding those people into the settlement figures over also that

the settlement figures are growing. Because the status of the

settlements will be determined in peace talks. Ultimately, we have

asked the Palestinians how can resolve this issue unless we talk?

I see the viability of what remains of it, this solution. Giving way

under the heavy weight of that settlement enterprise and

associated acts of violence from the settlers. Israel has formed a

new task force to combat Jewish terror, but the Hilltop Youth of

keeping up the pressure. They have been eight more price-tags since

Migron. I am proud of what I did. I hope God gives me more strength to

continue acting for the nation of Israel. Would you do it again?

hope so, very much. Regardless of what happens to the peace process,

the Government will have to tackle this threat within, or else it

risks spiralling out of control. Next week, the new the three Rs,