Vandal attack on Franciscan monastery in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Attackers spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti in Hebrew on a Franciscan monastery just outside Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday, police said.

Photos on a church website showed blue graffiti scrawled on the monastery's front door denigrating Jesus, and adding the words "price tag" - a euphemism for revenge hate crimes by Israeli extremists.

"Price tag" is a term given to hate crimes carried out by Israeli extremists, normally targeting Palestinians and Arabs and often involving the torching and vandalism of cars, mosques and olive trees. But attacks have widened in scope in recent months, and have also targeted the Israeli army, Israeli anti-settlement activists and several churches.

In a statement, the Catholic bishops of the Holy Land expressed their "deep dismay" over the incident. Last month, vandals burnt the door of a Catholic monastery west of Jerusalem, scrawling anti-Christian graffiti on its walls.