A Crushing Attack in Jerusalem
If the goal of the Palestinian driver of the massive construction vehicle – whose rampage killed three Israelis and injured more than 40 on Wednesday — was to make the greatest possible media impact, he chose his location well.
The carnage played out in Jerusalem right in front of the JCS building, which houses the offices of several major international news outlets — including the BBC, which captured the incident in real time and immediately uploaded the clip to its website.
BBC reporter Tim Franks was sitting in his office overlooking Jaffa Road when he heard screams coming from below. Looking out the window, he saw the bulldozer plowing into a municipal bus and saw people scattering in all directions. He ran downstairs and came upon a bank security guard who claimed to have stopped the driver of the earthmover, which had meanwhile ground to a halt, by shooting him with his pistol.
Franks was preparing to interview the security guard when the huge Caterpillar started moving again, crushing more vehicles and causing a huge panic. At that point the SWAT team arrived, with one officer climbing up on the vehicle and shooting the driver dead.
Israel’s Channel 10 broadcast the footage practically in a loop for nearly an hour — and no wonder: in a scene straight out of a Hollywood action film, it shows Yasam (SWAT) officer Eli Mizrahi, dressed in civilian clothes, leaning into the cabin of the earthmover and shooting the driver dead at point-blank range in front of the cameras, resulting in the footage that has been played endlessly on local and international news broadcasts.
The incident took place on Jaffa Road, the main artery of West Jerusalem, just steps from the bustling Mahane Yehuda outdoor market. Thousands of people shop daily for food at the market, which has been the scene of several major terror attacks over the past decade.
Witnesses of the rampage said that one of the dead was a female driver of a Toyota who was crushed to death.
According to Ynet, the driver was a 31-year-old Hossam Dawiath, a father of two from the village of Tzur Baher in East Jerusalem, meaning that he held an Israeli identity card that entitled him to national insurance and health benefits and allowed him to travel freely within Israel, but was not a citizen with voting rights. Married with two children, he was a construction worker employed by the company that had the contract to build Jerusalem’s light railway. Jaffa Road is currently dug up for the construction work on the rail, with traffic narrowed into a single lane.
The final revenge of Rachel Corrie.
Yep, Neo, nothing like going to a market to kill and maim a bunch of Jews because of some stupid kid who tried to save terrorists’ houses from destruction. Because we all know that them Jews just ask to be blown to smithereens by simply existing. Idiot.
Good on the IDF officer for stopping this guy. The carnage would have been unthinkable without his quick-thinking.
Of course, some people probably think, wow, more dead Jews. Hooray!
Hat’s off for a timely, comprehensive account of the attack… Many blogs and MSM have yet to pick up on it
One more piece of evidence that we cannot let our holiest city be shared with those people.
Jerusalem belongs to Israel, now and forever, complete and undivided.
Neo…
How can you possibly equate the deliberate murder of several innocent people and attempted murder of dozens more with the accidental death of a terrorist supporting woman who had foolishly put herself in the path of a moving bulldozer but out of its sight?
Thats a front-end loader, not a bulldozer.
Clearly an act of evil. And still there are those who fail to see it. What produces such evil? This lie, perhaps:
“…the natural expression of rage against Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people…”
Our nation has a faction of its population being taught a similar lie of “oppression.” By “men of God.” Men who openly hate Israel and America. The Jew and Whitey. Men who prefer terrorists to peacemakers.
And one who supported those views with his presence and pocketbook for two decades wants to be President of the United States.
I say we recognize evil now. Today, they only destroy themselves with their evil. Tomorrow, it will be visited upon us all.
How is the ceasefire “fragile”? It has already been broken by the palestinians. Just because Israel hasn’t retaliated yet does not mean the ceasefire is still holding. It was broken a week ago.
Thanks to Grant for pointing out that it ain’t a damned bulldozer.
And pity for the rest of you who don’t quite grok the irony of this.
Neither side has clean hands. But now they both have Caterpillers. And on it goes.
Neo doesn’t hate Jews or America. He just has a refined appreciation of the obvious. And symmetry.
There is fairly simple truth in the basic facts. If the Jews gave up their weapons tomorrow, there would be genocide, if the Palestinians gave up their weapons tomorrow, there would be peace in the Mideast. What else do you need to know? Everything else is smoke and mirrors.
Amazing footage of the start of the terrorist scums trip to hell. (The ever incompetent BBC calls it a bulldozer).
The shooter is an off duty Israli soldier. Hero.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7485022.stm