And the converse: lack of checkpoints directly contributes to more dead Jews.
This morning (and it won’t be reported outside of Israel and probably barely beyond Arutz 7 which is labeled as a “settler slanted” site):
Arabs Found with Gun Hidden Behind Car Speaker
Security guards from the Defense Ministry stopped an Israeli vehicle Friday morning, a Peugeot 206 with both East Jerusalem and Palestinian passengers, after they aroused the suspicion of a security guard at the crossing.
During the inspection, the guards found a Carl Gustav submachine gun hidden behind a subwoofer. The suspects were taken in for questioning.
And this despite certain Ramadan relaxations such as:
For the first time in at least a decade, the IDF will let Palestinian buses bring West Bank worshipers into Israel during the month of Ramadan, which begins Wednesday, a senior officer said.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai announced a series of measures aimed at easing movement for Palestinians during the Muslim holy month.
On Friday this happened:
Breaking News: Shooting Against Israeli Vehicle Wounds Two Near Dolev
By Tazpit News Agency
DOLEV – In the late afternoon on Friday, June 19, a shooting took place against an Israeli vehicle with Israeli Jews travelling in the vicinity of the Dolev community in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, about 17 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
Magen David Adom spokesman Zaki Heller said that at 4:15 pm in the afternoon, Jerusalem’s MDA received a phone call that a vehicle had been hit by bullets. Initial reports stated that MDA paramedics provided medical treatment to two men injured by the gunman. One man was wounded critically, with a gunshot wound to his upper body and found unconscious.
An IDF helicopter transported the critically wounded 25-year-old man, to the Tel Hashomer hospital after he received CPR at the scene of the attack. Another 25-year-old man was lightly wounded, with gunshots to the limbs. He is conscious and in stable condition.
A security officer who arrived to the scene told Tazpit News Agency that: “we received a report about an attack next to a water spring, where one person was injured critically and another injured lightly. The gunman apparently fled the area according to reports from the injured.”
Israeli security forces are now searching the area for the terrorist.
Danny Gonen, the critically wounded 25 year old man has been buried already.
Danny Gonen, the 25-year-old who was murdered in Friday’s shooting attack in the Binyamin region’s Dolev, was laid to rest late Saturday night at the new cemetery in Lod.
Hundreds of family members and friends attended the funeral, as did rabbis from his yeshiva and many other citizens. The funeral was also attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely; MK Moti Yogev, a resident a of Dolev; and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel.
Gonen’s mother Devorah eulogized her son, weeping bitterly: “You lived your life as a free Jew in his own country. You loved this country and you loved the truth. You raised the banner of truth and that’s how you lived.”
Danny and his friends were hiking in the beautiful hills to the north of Jerusalem. You can see the town of Lod, very close to where the murder took place. This is the ancient heartland of Israel.
Of course that’s an area that isn’t completely controlled by Israel: we rely on the PA to police parts of it and there are fewer (or no) checkpoints between where this man was murdered and where large numbers of Arabs live.
If you can look past the horror you can see the beauty of the land (and how empty it is) and understand why Jews might want to drive 30 minutes from the urban sprawl (they lived in Lod which is almost joined to Tel Aviv now) and go for a hike.
Nobody should pay with his life for hiking in empty hills.
