Police said the man, a resident of the West Bank,
had been questioned by guards who said he raised suspicions as he tried
to board the light rail.
During the questioning, the man told the guards that he was carrying explosives.
Large police forces arrived at the scene and a police bomb squad found multiple pipe bombs in his bag.
King
George and Jaffa Streets were closed to traffic and the light rail was
stopped along the same line for some time before resuming service.
The security guard who stopped the terrorist from boarding the train was Druze. The light rail operates throughout the city, going through some Arab neighborhoods of 'east' Jerusalem.
Oh yes, almost forgot to mention. The corner on which the terrorist was arrested was where the Sbarro pizza shop was blown up by a 'Palestinian' suicide bomber in 2001. Fifteen Israelis were murdered in that terror attack.
And again: Attempted stabbing attack on Jerusalem light rail
There's been yet another attempted stabbing attack on the Jerusalem light rail, this time at the Givat HaMivtar station located at the French Hill intersection (one stop east of where a 'Palestinian' plowed into a station with his car a few months ago).
There are no injuries in today's attack, and the terrorist was taken into custody.
But if we don't talk about terror attacks, they don't exist, right?
I know that the picture is in Hebrew, but if you can't read the notice, you may not be able to do what it asks anyway. It's a request for people to study Mishna in memory of (Karen) Yamima Mosquera HY"D (May God Avenge her blood), who passed away yesterday. If you're dialing from outside Israel, drop the first zero and add +972.
I'm proud to tell you that my sons' school took on to study the entire six orders of Mishna within the thirty-day mourning period and that my 12-year old took on three tractates.
Among the eulogizers were Rav Yitzchak Ezrachi, the head of the Mir yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Birkat. Ecuador's ambassador to Israel was also in attendance. But not one member of the Netanyahu government bothered to show up. Shame on them!
'Abu Mazen's Fatah finds another hero' or 'what a difference it makes when your house might be destroyed'
'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's 'moderate' Fatah terror organization has found a new terrorist to celebrate: Abdelrahman Shaludeh, the 21-year old terrorist who murdered three-month-old Chaya Ziseel Braun HY"D (May God Avenge her blood) on Wednesday.
Shaludi, a nephew of slain Hamas explosives expert Mohiyedine Sharif, was believed to be a Hamas supporter
based on his militant Facebook posts. But the new Fatah poster may
indicate an organizational affiliation with the rival Palestinian
organization.
The Palestinian Authority issued no official
comment on the incident, but Fatah Central Committee member Sultan
Abu-Aynayn dubbed Shaludi “a hero” in Facebook comments posted Thursday,
citing his time spent in Israeli prisons, the watchdog Palestinian
Media Watch said.
Given that the IDF recently reinstated the policy of destroying terrorists' homes, Shaludeh's family is being slightly more discreet:
Shaludi’s body — he was shot by police while
attempting to flee the scene and subsequently died in hospital — was
transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute on Thursday for an
autopsy against his family’s will, Palestinian news agency Ma’an
reported. The assailant’s mother claimed that the incident was a car
accident, and that her son was “killed in cold blood.”
The Palestinian youth spent the past two years
in and out of Israeli prisons. Shaludi’s mental state had deteriorated
following his release after three weeks in Jerusalem’s Russian Compound
prison, where he was interrogated by the Shin Bet security service
earlier this year, his mother added. Just hours before the attack she
had taken him to a doctor, who referred him to a psychiatrist.
“The occupation forces continued harassing him
following his release by summoning him for questioning time and again,”
she told Ma’an. “They would always threaten him and curse at him,
telling him once: ‘We will not let you continue with your life; you will
not study or work.'”
Yeah sure. The 'occupation forces' drove him to suicide and he decided to take as many people as possible with him. Does anyone else not buy that one? I sure don't.
In any event, Fatah, Hamas.... What difference does it make?
To cry: Last picture of three-month old terror victim at Kotel (Western Wall) shortly before she was murdered
Three-month old Chaya Zisel Braun HY"D (May God Avenge her blood) was on her way home from the Kotel (Western Wall) with her parents and grandparents on Wednesday night when a 'Palestinian' terrorist ran her over and murdered her. The picture above was taken at the Kotel shortly before she was murdered (Hat Tip: Kikar Shabbat).
Oh and by the way - she was a US citizen. But that apparently means little to the US State Department. 'Even-handed' as always.
Three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun, the baby girl killed today in Jerusalem during a vehicular terrorist attack, was an American citizen, a US official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday night.
The girl was thrown from her stroller as a car swerved into the Ammunition Hill light rail station, injuring seven others.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf has "urged restraint" and calm from both sides after the attack.
...
His grandaughter flew 10-20 meters in the air before landing headfirst on the pavement, Shimshon Halperin said Wednesday night.
Standing outside Hadassah University Medical Center on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, after Chaya had died of intracranial bleeding Halperin explained how the driver from Silwan rammed a row of pedestrians, hitting Chaya’s stroller and sending her flying.
I guess you'd have to work for the State Department to believe that the 'Palestinians' would stop behaving this way if only we would give them a 'state.'
Jerusalem light rail terrorist broadcast desire to murder Jews on social media
If I were to write on this blog that I wished to kill Arabs (or 'Palestinians' for that matter), the odds are pretty high that someone from the police department or the General Security Service would pay me a visit and follow me around for a while to see whether I intend to do what I said I'd do.
Abdelrahman Shaludeh, the terrorist who murdered a three-month old infant and wounded eight other people a short distance from my home on Wednesday night, bragged for months on social media that he wished to murder Jews. In the end, the police only stopped him after he succeeded.
A report in Yediot Achronot Thursday quoted Twitter and
Facebook posts of the 20-year-old Shaludeh, an Arab resident of Shiloach
(Silwan) who was a legal Jerusalem resident. In his last post on a
social media site frequented by Islamists, for example, he wrote “now is
the time to defend your home, Muslims – go out on a crusade to protect
the Al-Aqsa mosque” from Jews who sought to pray on the Temple Mount.
The day before the attack, he posted a link to a video published by
the Al Aqsa Brigade terror group – closely associated with Palestinian
Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group. The clip displayed
terrorists in training. Slodi's comment: “See how the Al Aqsa fighters
train for suicide missions” to carry out against Israeli targets.
Speaking to Israel Radio, Israeli security officials said that Shaludeh was known to authorities, and officials believe that he acted on his own.
According to Palestinian
reports, a-Shaludi was released from jail in December 2013 after
serving a 16-month sentence. He was arrested again last February for a
period of one month. He is also reportedly a close relative of the Muhi
a-Din Sharif, aka "Engineer No. 2", a senior member of the Hamas
military wing who was killed near Ramallah in 1998.
A-Shaludi had a
history of security violations. When he was 18, he was indicted, along
with his brother and his friends, for targeting the Jewish residents of
Silwan in East Jerusalem, and for trying to prevent police cars from
entering the neighborhood.
In May 2013, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison in a plea
bargain, having pleaded guilty to, and been convicted of, throwing
petrol bombs at Jewish cars and at a police vehicle, attempted arson,
aggravated assault, attempted assault of a policeman and rioting.
A-Shaludi confessed and was convicted under the plea bargain to one
of three charges, for an incident that occurred on Nakba Day: He and his
friends made Molotov cocktails, which they divided among themselves and
hurled. The two charges that were dropped referred to the throwing of
firebombs at Jewish residents of Silwan.
In addition, he was arrested last March on suspicion of vehicular theft.
I must be missing something. If he was sentenced to 16 months in May 2013, why was he released in December 2013? Is our government now paroling terrorists? Fortunately, at least this terrorist will not be released in a 'prisoner exchange.' He died during the night. As of now, his body has not been released. Maybe we should trade it for the two bodies of the IDF soldiers who were killed in Gaza over the summer.... By the way, why is it that the police had apparently not done anything to stop Shaludeh?
Jerusalem Light Rail CEO says he was ordered not to report 'Palestinian' terrorism
The CEO of Jerusalem's light rail system and a housing ministry official say that Jerusalem police and the Housing Ministry have been attempting to cover up 'Palestinian' terrorism in the 'eastern part' of the city.
Police requested that CityPass not report rock
throwing attacks against the light rail because it harms police and
encourages the offenders, CityPass CEO Yaron Ravid told Israel Radio,
which reported Tuesday that there have been no reports to the media by
police or CityPass of violent attacks against the light rail over the
last two weeks even though numerous incidents have occurred. Throughout
the day Tuesday, the train was attacked by rock throwers three times.
When contacted for a response, police
acknowledged that there had been 13 instances of attackers throwing
rocks at the train and two arrests, one of which resulted in an
indictment. In addition, police said, 75 people have been arrested on
suspicion of rioting.
“Ongoing efforts require patience and
persistence and are already proving themselves,” the police said in a
statement. “Jerusalem Police will continue its operation against
rioters, which will lead to a decrease in incidents and quiet in the
area.”
The alleged directive against reporting
violent incidents has not been limited to the light rail, according to
an official from the Housing Ministry, who was quoted by Israel Radio as
saying that guards employed by the ministry have been instructed not to
report rock throwing incidents in East Jerusalem in order not to
discourage Jews from living in mixed neighborhoods.
If a terror attack is committed and no one talks about it, does it still exist?
My opinion of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has just sunk some more. Barkat apparently believes that if we don't talk about the terror attacks he's been unable to prevent in Jerusalem, they don't exist.
News site 0404 has published a recodring of Barkat speaking before the City Council on Thursday.
The mayor can be heard saying: “In my opinion, if people are too
afraid – and we know that the problem exists – this can serve the
interests of the terrorists and rioters who want to disrupt our lives.
We are must make a great effort to put the city back on routine tracks.
We are not ignoring the problem. We are aware of it. This discourse does
not advance us, media wise.
“We are aware of the problem. This discourse does not advance us
media-wise – not the city of of Jerusalem, Every time there is a
discussion and great fear about some matter, immediately the merchants
and the businessmen and the cultural institutes will tell you that their
income is down."
...
"I am very angry at the railway people,” he says, in a reference to
the Light Rail, which has been very hard hit by terror attacks. “I, the
Transport Ministry and the police are very angry at them. They could
have said that Light Rail is the safest means of transport and there are
zero casualties. It is protected. Instead of talking about it every
day, contrary to the position of the police, the Transport Ministry and
the Municipality – and by the way, they are doing so for the wrong
reasons.”
The fact that Jews are no longer using the Light Rail is the
railways' fault, Barkat insisted. “They are causing it. They scare
people for no reason. They keep on making it public. The police closed
down the Light Rail twice or thrice when the police thought that there
was need for this. The fact is that although windows were smashed, no
one was hurt because it is protected.”
"I trust the police on this matter and it is better for this
discourse to remain outside the media. We are not avoiding anything. The
prime minister is worried about this and the minister for public
security is worried about this and the police commissioner and the
district commander and myself and all of us. We have one police force,
we cannot replace it.”
Sure - let's just pretend the problem doesn't exist. What could go wrong?
The division of Jerusalem into "East" and "West" imposed by the Jordanian occupation for a brief period of 19 years is no longer possible in a city which has dramatically grown and changed over the last 44 years. 270,000 Arabs and 200,000 Jews live in the mosaic of neighborhoods called "East Jerusalem." Dividing Jerusalem is not technically feasible due to the intermingling of populations, neighborhoods, and vital infrastructures.
Throughout history, the only times when all residents of Jerusalem: Christians, Muslims, and Jews, have enjoyed freedom of religion, and other benefits of democracy have been under Israeli sovereignty. The Jewish and Arab residents of Jerusalem share medical and welfare facilities, academic institutions, shopping centers and recreation sites. Recent public opinion polls show that a majority of Jerusalem Arabs would prefer to remain under Israeli sovereignty.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Rick Richman).
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.
According to YNet, a brawl between Jewish and Arab girls on the Jerusalem tram on Monday ended with the driver stopping the tram and letting all of the passengers off after one of the Jewish girls used a personal canister of tear gas on the Arabs.
The brawl erupted after dozens of Arab and Jewish girls clashed on one of the train cars. At one point, a Jewish girl at the site pulled out a personal canister of tear gas and sprayed it at the Arab girls.
The gas spread throughout the train and hurt other passengers uninvolved in the incident. Following the subsequent commotion, the driver was forced to stop the train and let passengers out, as the gas was bothering those onboard.
CityPass, which operates the Light Rail line in the capital, issued the following response after the incident: "We will not be accepting any act of violence. We call on all residents to show tolerance."
Good luck with that. For those of you who are wondering, the Arabs are on the tram mostly because it goes through the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina. That was done so that we could show that we are providing services to the Arabs in our united city (which of course drew worldwide condemnation).
Twenty years ago, when we made aliya, Jews and Arabs used to ride many of the same buses. That was before the days of the suicide bombers, who started in 1994. But it's been years since large numbers of Jews and Arabs shared public transportation. I would suggest that the tram company start using security guards in every car of every train. Otherwise, a much more serious incident is inevitable.
A Jerusalem bus and a Jerusalem light rail train were stoned this evening in two separate incidents according to reports on Israel Radio.
The bus was a number 2 bus heading toward the Western Wall. The incident occurred near the Old City. The driver lost control of the bus and crashed into a wall. The driver was lightly hurt - the passengers were all fine.
The light rail train was proceeding through the Beit Hanina neighborhood, a relatively wealthy Arab neighborhood in 'east' Jerusalem. The train operator continued operating until he reached French Hill, which is a Jewish neighborhood across the 1949 armistice lines. No one on the train was hurt, but a window was smashed in.
More 'harmless' stones. How long would your city put up with it?
US consulate warns against taking Jerusalem light rail
The US consulate in Jerusalem has issued a warning against US citizens taking our new light rail system and has barred its own employees from doing so (Hat Tip: Muqata).
The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem advises U.S. citizens that the light rail system in Jerusalem has now started operations in the city. This new form of transportation is part of the public transportation network. Official U.S. Government personnel are currently prohibited from utilizing public transportation facilities, including municipal buses and the light rail network. The Consulate General will monitor the performance and security climate of the new light rail system as it begins operations.
U.S. citizens in Jerusalem are encouraged to exercise caution and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and security, and to report any suspicious or unusual activity immediately to Israeli authorities. U.S. citizens should, as always, maintain a low profile in public.
Of course what they're not telling you is the reason for the caution. For many years now, Jerusalem city buses have not gone through predominantly Arab neighborhoods. The light rail, in an effort to show Jewish sovereignty over the entire city, goes through the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Beit Hanina and Shuafat. This is the first time any Jewish transport has gone through those neighborhoods since the route of the 25 bus to Neve Yaakov was changed to avoid them. So far, so good. The one suspicious object I've heard about turned out to have been left there by accident.
Friday was the first day of operations for the Jerusalem light rail system. Here's a video of the ride from Zion Square to the Central Bus Station.
Let's go to the videotape.
You will note that although the ride goes along Jaffa Road, which is one of the main streets of downtown Jerusalem, the street is practically empty except in the area of the Mahane Yehuda market. This is because (a) it has taken so long to complete the light rail, and completing it made the stores so inaccessible, that many stores have gone out of business, (b) there is no place to safely cross the street in front of the light rail. You can cross virtually anywhere, but the light rail runs exactly at street level. Would you want to take your kids there? and (c) it's Friday, and if this was videoed in the afternoon, most of the remaining stores other than the market would be closed by 2:00 anyway.
By the way, there is only ONE light rail line running, and the reason it opened on Friday was because the company running it would have paid a huge penalty had it not opened.
Here's the train going over Gesher HaMeitarim (Calvatra Bridge) near the Central Bus Station. When Nir Barkat became Mayor three years ago, he sought to tear down the bridge (and cancel the whole project) because the bridge is an eyesore that can be seen from all over the city. Unfortunately, it was too expensive.
Let's go to the videotape.
If I seem cynical it's because we haven't had a car for the last three months, and public transport in Israel in general, and in Jerusalem in particular is the worst I have seen anywhere in the world (in the last year, I have ridden, Boston's, New York's and London's public transport systems - all much better and much more efficient). My kids still don't believe me that everyplace else in the world, people take public transport because it is faster and cheaper than using one's own car.
For those of you who want to see pictures of people on the trains and the route map, you can go here.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
