Israel Matzav

Female soldier stabbed by terrorist on Jerusalem light rail

A 19-year old female soldier has been admitted to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital in moderate condition after being stabbed in the chest and hand by a 'Palestinian' terrorist at a light rail station in Pisgat Zev in the northeastern part of the city.

Commander of the Zion Precinct Nitzan Adri said that, according to police, the suspect rode the train northbound until the Pisgat Ze'ev station, where he stood up and stabbed the girl a number of times before fleeing through the closing doors.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said the soldier was headed to her Jerusalem base when she was stabbed.

Police captured the suspect shortly after 11:30 a.m., and the IDF said it had detained a number of suspects in connection to the stabbing.

Paramedics treated the victim on the scene before evacuating her to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Hospital in moderate condition.

According to police, light rail security officers checked the man when he entered the train but did not find a knife.

Northbound light rail services were suspended after the attack, but resumed later Thursday morning after police deemed it safe.

"The light rail is secure," Adri said. "We did not have any intelligence that there would be a terror attack on or around the light rail. There are guards and Jerusalem residents can continue to travel on it."

For those who speak Hebrew, a very brief videotape, and then I'll have more for all of you.

Let's go to the videotape.



To answer some obvious questions....

First, the Arab probably got on the train in Beit Hanina (an Arab neighborhood in 'east' Jerusalem) because the train goes there. That was done to show that Jerusalem is a united city.... Or he could have gotten on earlier in Pisgat Zev, which has a substantial Arab population (search the archives), even though it's a Jewish suburb (and the 'Palestinian Authority' calls it a 'settlement').

Second, ordinarily I would quip that this might make Jerusalemites think twice about using the light rail. But I'm not sure that will happen. The way the light rail contract works, the city had to guarantee the light rail operators a minimum number of passengers. The way that guarantee is met is by making it impossible to get almost anywhere in the city without using the light rail. In many parts of the city, you have to take a bus to the light rail to another bus in order to get anywhere. Some neighborhoods have lost nearly all their bus service. It's a nightmare. Anyone who can afford not to ride public transport in Jerusalem now takes their car, except that finding parking anywhere downtown is dicey to impossible.

Before the city 'improved' our public transportation, Mrs. Carl always took the bus downtown (I always took a car or a taxi and parked just short of downtown and walked). When we bought our car, the way I convinced Mrs. Carl to buy it was to show her how long it would take to get to her consulting client in the center of the country by car (45 minutes) as compared with how long it would take to get there by bus (2.5 hours - really!). But now, Mrs. Carl takes the car to the center of the city and parks it like I do. It just takes too long on the bus.

The only people who use public transport in Jerusalem are the kids and people who cannot afford a car or a taxi. And those people will likely continue to ride the light rail unless we go back to the bad old days of 2000-04, God forbid.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Jerusalem Light Rail

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:45 PM