RAMALLAH, February 6 (JMCC) - An advertisement for Subaru automobiles published in major Israeli newspapers and on the internet makes light of right-wing attacks on Palestinian property that have been dubbed price tag attacks.
Ami Kaufman, at the +972 blog,
describes the ad.
In typical price tag style graffiti, on a brick wall that looks pretty much like any brick wall you would find belonging to your typical West Bank mosque, the words “Price list tag” are sprayed in blue. In Hebrew, it’s a similar wordplay: Tag Mechir = Price Tag; Tag Mechiron = Price list Tag.
Under that, it tells of Subaru’s new sale in Israel:
“Subaru, in a radical trade-in deal:
Get full price list price for your car,
and leave with a new Subaru
3-16 of February”
At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes, and didn’t believe it was real.
Price tag attacks, usually consisting of vandalism and arson, are meant to punish Palestinians for the removal of Israeli settlements or other actions taken against the hundreds of thousands of right-wing Israelis that live in the occupied West Bank in contravention of international law.
Subaru was involved in a similar controversy last year when its logo and a tag line were superimposed on a photo of a settler striking two Palestinian boys in Silwan with his Japanese-made vehicle. The company's Israeli importer
told the Jerusalem Post it had no knowledge of where the ad originated from.