I should be working on one of the many projects that I am behind on tonight, but tonight’s stabbing in Jerusalem has truly worried me, both the event and the reactions of many. First to the event itself- a family -Father, Mother, infant child were heading to the Kotel via the Damascus Gate they were attacked by a 19 year old Palestinian from the West Bank with a knife. The terrorist grabbed the Fathers gun and after stabbing the wife managed to get off a few shots before being shot dead by police officers who were 50 meters away. This attack occurred after the terror attack that killed two members of the Henkin family on Thursday night. It also comes after the repeated, stone, molotov cocktail and other attacks in Jerusalem, many of which has taken place along the dividing line between Arab and Jewish Jerusalem.
The situation in Jerusalem and the West Bank has clearly been heating up and it would probably not be wrong to call this a third Intifadah. Unlike the second Intifadah this does not seem to be organized from the top rather it is coming from below. Yes there is no doubt that the calls by Abbas to save Al Aqsa are not helping, and clearly as I wrote recently the Temple Mount has been used for almost a hundred years as a rallying point for Arab violence against Jews. However, it is impossible to disconnect events in the West Bank and Jerusalem to events in other parts of the Middle East. That a certain percentage of Arab youth have become radicalized beyond anything we have known is a fact. They no longer need to receive an order to undertake an attack, killing their “oppressing Jews” is fair game. How we stop this is very hard to see. Complete separation? Not really an option in Jerusalem. Although tonight the Ger Rabbi has called on his Hasidim not to go to the Kotel until future notice- Not a good sign. Reach a peace agreement- not a realistic option at the moment, so I am frankly worried
What is further troubling is the views of the right- their answer a more iron fist. “Let the IDF do its job”. What job is that? Have the death penalty for terrorist, even though there is no evidence it has ever worked. We saw what an iron fist accomplished in Syria for Assad. There are I am afraid, no good answers. In some ways it the solution lies somewhere else, radical Islam must be defeated and its path discredited, but we cannot do it, the West is proving inept at doing it, and moderates Muslims seem unwilling. Remind me what was wrong with Uganda…..
3 Responses
After witnessing the riots, shootings, and killings by the Palestinians against Jews during the past week, does any clear-minded Israeli actually believe that a Palestinian state can co-exist peacefully along side Israel with Jerusalem as its capital? If so, I’d like to sell that person a bridge in Brooklyn!
Marc I don’t know if you saw the news last night but a Palestinian woman actually apologised for all these tragedies and she really meant it. I believe that we will begin to see a grassroots movement from within the Muslim community to take rein over their own. As you know from all my work, the problem lies deeply buried within the family dynamics and the abused status of the female. Obviously this woman grew up in a better environment and had the capacity to acknowledge wrong doing, murders and could seek to make the situation better by not being blind to it. This will not happen over night and the situation may deteriorate further but I agree with you – you can’t hermetically seal the area in the Old City with police. The solution is within the Muslim community. I remain guardedly optimistic because you don’t want them to drag us down.
Can anyone please tell me, as an American visitor to Jerusalem, how my safety can be protected in the Old City, without locking out the Palestinian Arabs now? After all, I’m part of the great satan, and am marked for death along with the Israelis, right? How many will cancel their trips now, knowing that the jihadist martyrs will be walking among them?