Another Bulldozer Attack in Jerusalem

Weeks after a deadly bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, another palestinian has decided to emulate the feat.

A Palestinian bulldozer driver went on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, just weeks after a similar attack in the capital left three dead.

One of the wounded was in serious condition and the rest sustained light wounds. They were taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment.

The driver of the tractor struck a bus and at least five cars before being shot dead by security forces, Jerusalem police said. The attacker was identified as Hassan Abu-Tir, a resident of the Tuba village in East Jerusalem, who carried an Israeli identity card.

Television footage showed an elderly woman being wheeled into an ambulance and rescue personnel assisting visibly shocked passersby. A mother and her 9-month-old son were among the lightly wounded.

The copycat attack occurred on the corner of Keren Hayesdod and King David streets in dowtown Jerusalem, down the road from the hotel where U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was to be staying later in the day.

I’ll keep you posted on any further developments.

Updates (Israel time)

3:30PM: Israel National News reports that one of the injured is in moderate condition, with an amputated leg. It also reports that minutes after the terrorist’s name was publicized over the radio, a gag order was issued prohibiting it from being disseminated, “apparently because of his family connections with a prominent Hamas family.”

3:32PM: Ynet is reporting at least 18 injured.

3:35PM: Today’s hero who shot dead the terrorist is reportedly 53-year-old Yaki Asael from Susia, an IDF Company Commander (res.), teacher and a farmer, with eight children and six grandchildren.

3:40PM: Latest count: 24 injured

3:43PM: The terrorist, Ghasam Abu-Tir, is a relative of Hamas “lawmaker” Muhammad Abu Tir. Or “Red Beard” for the uninitiated.

3:55PM: In yet another feeling of deja vu, the terrorist was a palestinian with an Israeli ID card, and had a criminal record.

3:58PM: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas:

“We always oppose terror incidents..and we call out against such incidents. We pray for the injured people’s recovery.”

Normally, he says he condemns the terror attacks because they “do not serve palestinian interests.” I assume he did not say this today since he issued the statement from Israeli President Shimon Peres’ residence.

4:03PM: According to this report, the terrorist was wearing a large, Jewish skullcap. The report also indicates that things could have been even worse.

“[The driver] tried to bring the blade of the bulldozer on the head of a pedestrian, but missed her by an inch,” said one eyewitness.

4:18PM: The top 4 excuses for the terrorist’s actions, which will inevitably surface today:

4. He was actually shooting a scene from a movie about the tractor/bulldozer attack a few weeks ago, but he got a bit too “into the role.” Being from the Marlon Brando school of method acting and all.

3. He was a bad driver. A really bad driver.

2. He got upset after a group of Jews teased him about his relative’s red beard.

1. The bulldozer was, in fact, a Zionist DeathdozerTM, activated via remote control, and designed to pin the blame on palestinians.

5:50PM: The AP reports that only 4 people were injured. Missed it by that much.

Also, contrary to the 4:03PM update, The AP reports the terrorist was wearing a Muslim skullcap, indicating he was a “religious” Muslim.

6:05PM: Elder looks at some of the initial palestinian reactions to the terror attack.

As I suspected, palestinian President Abbas has issued from Ramallah a more equivocal condemnation than the one he issued from President Peres’ residence.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, saying it ‘hurts peace efforts’.

Abbas told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah: “We always condemn any terrorist act, and we condemn any attack on civilians regardless of what ‘.

He added: ‘I understand today that there was intentional attack, we certainly condemn it does not accept it, because it marred the reputation and marred the peace in general’.

6:16PM: A further glimpse at the evil witnessed today:

The first person to encounter the bulldozer terrorist on Monday was an English-speaking woman named Sarah who was about to cross the street. The man in the bulldozer indicated with his hand that she could cross and then press on the gas pedal to run her over.

6:23PM: From infolive.tv:

6:27PM: Ha’aretz reports that the Shin Bet chief warned of a copycat terrorist attack 3 hours before today’s attack.

6:40PM: CNN’s current headline: Attack injures 5 near Obama’s Jerusalem hotel

Besides the inaccurate injury tally, notice how the focus of the headline is the fact the attack occurred near Obama’s hotel. As if this matters, and as if there was a connection.

18 thoughts on “Another Bulldozer Attack in Jerusalem”

  1. How are my fellow Israelis doing this to us? Sure, it was a Palestinian who made the attack, but who hired this man and gave him access to a lethal weapon in our land? There are many cheap labor opportunities that do not include people who want you dead. If the positions were swapped, do you really think the Palestinians would hire Israelis? Please stop allowing Palestinians to work within the green line.

  2. Some facts from the radio:

    1. Manhigut Yehudit’s Moshe Feiglin was a witness at the scene and fully interviewed by Israel’s Radio 2. The interview was broadcast live. Hasn’t been replayed since – heaven forbid!

    The initial shooter at the scene is a 50 something father of 8 from Susia, in the Hevron Hills.

    The terrorist was from the Arab Jerusalem suburb of Um Tubas. He was a cousin (or nephew) of a Hamas Palestinian Parliament member.

    The seriously injured person, who apparently lost a leg, was initially treated by someone else from Manhigut Yehudit who is apparently a paramedic.

  3. It is perhaps time to build a wall through Jerusalem, separating “Al-Quds” from West-Jerusalem and the old city, changing the border, and hand over East-Jerusalem to the “Palestinian Authority” and then let them go without money or military help.

    Who cares?

  4. Great way to welcome you back, Dave. I guess they figured they wanted you to get right back on the horse after your absence so they gave you something familiar to blog about.

    I friggin hate this sh*t. When will we learn?

  5. The last three attacks in Jerusalem have been carried out by Arab residents who all worked and lived there.

    This should be reminded again and again.

    Kahane Tzadak

  6. Security personnel needs new training:
    ?? ?? ????
    ??.
    ??????
    ?

    ‘Do you have a gun on you?’
    – Nope.
    ‘Bulldozer?’

  7. “The driver was shot dead”. Expect to see this more and more thanks to the immoral prisoner exchange. The violence and chaos is only going to increase. And no, that is not a good thing, it is a bad thing.

    When the State executes a murderer or keeps them in jail for life, that creates order because the State is the plan of society. When the State fails in it’s responsibility and people find it imperative to resort to vigilantism to protect their lives, then that creates chaos, because it enforces the futility of trusting the State in the minds of the people.

    Thank you, Ehud Olmert, for making Israel a more dangerous place to live.

  8. So far, no news of this second incidence of murder by heavy equipment on Canadian public radio.

    The problem with Seth Levy’s solution is that if Israelis were to stop using Palestinian labour where access to anything than can be used to maim or kill is part of the job, the usual suspects would call it collective punishment and denounce it as a racist act. And I expect that there are Palestininian owned construction companies.

  9. We need to get over the fact that others will call us names. People love blaming Israel, yet years later they usually change their minds when Israel makes the correct decision. As for Palestinian owned companies, stop giving them business where Israelis live. Having been to many West Bank towns, I know for a fact that they have a plenty of need for new construction services

  10. To expand on my semi-off-topic post during the last event, this, too was not a bulldozer.

    That’s typically called a backhoe. It has an end-loader on the front, the scoop that lifts and dumps loads. It has a hoe out back (seat spins 190 degrees).

    Why do I think this important? Because not recognizing the differences between a backhoe, an articulated end loader (first event), and a bulldozer (what both were called) could get you hurt or killed.

    The backhoe shown today is most dangerous at the back half, where the boom can swing rapidly side to side. The boom has a bucket that can be dropped down quickly. The scoop on the front can only go up or down, not left or right.

    The articulated end loader is fast, can bend in half and turn quickly, and more of a menace. A bulldozer is very powerful, but a tracked vehicle that is less maneuverable, has a narrow blade, and the blade only goes up and down.

    Just step aside from a dozer, stay away from the swinging boom on a backhoe, but watch out for that articulated end loader; best you could do would be to turn more tightly than they can, which is pretty darned tight.

    Sorry to harp on this, but it’s a bit more like the difference between most snakes and venomous snakes. It can be useful to spot the differences. Hell, I know snakes and still froze once when a snake I knew was harmless was also right in my face. I eventually got over it and was able to act, based on knowing it was relatively harmless. Not easy to get past if all snakes look alike.

  11. Meir Kahane was right. Unfortunately Israeli Arabs pose a threat to Israelis and a threat to Israels existence as well. They should be deported and any Arab members in the Knesset should be expelled. I am sure there are good Israeli Arabs that want to live in peace but the risks are just too great to allow the Arab population explosion to continue

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