Brian has already posted about the attack here, followed by Deebo dealing with CBC’s reporting of it, and Varda’s articulation of one of our dilemmas. I’ll add some of my own observations.
- This marks the first time (at least that I can recall) that the orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof has been the subject of a terror attack.
- Following the last major terror attacks involving cars within the past few weeks, followed by a further attack with a screwdriver, it looks like the latest terrorists have gone old school with knives, axes, and guns. And you can bet they’d use the kitchen sink if it guaranteed further loss of Jewish life.
- Hamas have claimed the attack was retaliation for the death of an Arab bus driver, who was found hanged at a Jerusalem bus terminal on Sunday night. The autopsy showed it was suicide, but the palestinians rejected this finding (It is science after all). So Arabs can now kill themselves and have Hamas use that as a pretext to murder Jews.
Let’s face it: they need no pretext. It’s just how they roll. - Israel’s Channel 2 reported one of the terrorists worked in a corner store near the synagogue. And if you recall, the terrorist who shot Yehuda Glick had worked at the restaurant outside of which he perpetrated the attempted murder. So I guess “occupation” is a factor.
- Furthermore, these terrorists are from East Jerusalem, and as such, have the right to social security benefits and state health care.
So what we have here are people who benefit from Israel not being an Apartheid state, and exploit this to bite the hands that feed them. - Many will draw a parallel between this attack and Baruch Goldstein’s attack over 20 years ago. Despite the fact Goldstein’s attack was an isolated incident – and Jewish worshipers have been the subject of multiple attacks – we never saw the kind of venomous joy from his supporters as manifest by the cartoon accompanying this post (and his supporters were indeed a tiny minority).
- Speaking of the cartoon, notice how the Jews are brandishing guns – not the tallitot and tefillin they actually had while praying.
- The cartoon and other graphics have quickly proliferated from palestinian and anti-Israel circles. The speed of their production raises the question: was this attack planned well in advance and made known to others?
