Threats graffitied outside home of Peace Now activist

Threatening graffiti was sprayed outside the Jerusalem home of a prominent anti-settlement activist in the second such incident in two months, police said on Tuesday. The graffiti, which was discovered in the stairwell of a block of flats where Peace Now activist Hagit Ofran lives, included the words "Rabin is waiting for you," in reference to prime minister Yitzak Rabin who was slain by a right-wing extremist and whose 16th anniversary is being marked from sundown. The attackers also sprayed the words "price tag" -- a euphemism for acts of revenge by hardline settlers -- and "revenge for Givat Assaf," in reference to an unauthorised settler outpost slated for demolition before the end of the year. They also wrote: "Hagit Ofran: Rest in Peace." "There were death threats, swastikas and 'price tag' were sprayed on the stairwell of a building where Hagit Ofran lives in Jerusalem," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. "It is the second time in two months that she has been the victim of such an act of vandalism," he told AFP, saying an inquiry had been opened. Two months ago, similar "price tag" graffiti and the slogan "death to traitors" were sprayed outside Ofran's home, prompting a police inquiry, although the perpetrators were never caught. Ofran told AFP the attackers had also smashed up one of her neighbour's cars, apparently assuming it could have belonged to her. "They sprayed graffiti in the stairwell and my neighbour's car was smashed because it had a sticker for peace on it," she said, indicating the attack had taken place overnight. The attack came a day after Peace Now's offices were daubed with graffiti and subjected to a bomb hoax in what the group said was the second such incident in a week. Speaking to AFP late on Sunday, Ofran said someone had rung the intercom at around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) and said: "This is a price tag, in five minutes the building will explode." On a wall outside, the attackers had sprayed the words "price tag," she said. Police came and searched the building but it turned out to be a hoax. Hardline Jewish settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they have attacked mainly Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government measures against settlements. But in recent months there have also been raids on Israeli army sites associated with the demolition of wildcat settlements.