Breaking: Arab-Israeli Terrorist Injures 15 In J'lem, Anti-Israel Media Bias Watch Begins (UPDATE: 19 Injured, Terrorist Was Palestinian From J'lem) (UPDATE: Press Bias Exceeds Expectations)
UPDATE (20:30 PST): I moved the media bias update out of here and into its own post. I also moved the initial post and a bunch of updates behind the jump.
UPDATE (20:05 PST): And with the official and eminently predictable invocation of a "previously unknown group," that's probably that for a while. If I'm reading the reports right, it looks like two people seriously hurt and seventeen other victims with light-to-moderate injuries.
UPDATE (19:45 PST): There are three security-related issues bubbling under the surface here. (1) To what degree will Israelis continue to countenance letting in Palestinian workers - as this terrorist seems to have been - if they present ongoing security threats? (2) How can Israeli Jews live safely side by side with the million or so Arab citizens of Israel? This is an issue that can be complicated to untangle because the Israeli far right sometimes slips into something that seems very much like racist demagoguery. But it's a legitimate issue. The Palestinianization of Israeli Arabs is a genuine security threat - and there simply are no easy answers. (3) Will Israeli security services be able to cope with this new style of seemingly random, one-off vehicular terrorist attacks? Ha'aretz has some analysis - and the prospects are not great. This is the third vehicular terrorist attack this summer by an Arab resident East J'lem. The other two were with bulldozers.
UPDATE (19:40 PST): That explains it:
At least 19 people were wounded at around 11 P.M. Monday night when a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem drove his car into a crowd of Israel Defense Forces soldiers at a busy intersection in the capital.
That earlier NYT article actually gave his name as Jebel Mukaber. So now his parents know, and their neighbors can begin planning the inevitable celebration with the inevitable candy and sweets.
UPDATE (19:30 PST): The NYT - in between emphasizing that Israel is in occupation of East J'lem and that Israeli youth "occasionally gave chase to Arabs they spotted" - finds time to identify the terrorist and imply that he was a Palestinian (or that his car was "owned by a Palestinian," which is as far as they go). That doesn't seem right given that Israeli outlets have quotes identifying him as an Israeli Arab.
ORIGINAL: Not nearly as devastating as the last mass terrorist attack by an Israeli Arab, but another in a consistent trend of murderous vehicular attacks on Israeli civilians. Horrible:
An Arab resident of east Jerusalem rammed his vehicle into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday night, wounding fifteen people, before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer, police and rescue officials said. It was the third such attack in the city in as many months. The attack took place at the city's Kikar Tzahal near Jaffa Gate. Two of the casualties were in moderate condition, the rest were lightly hurt. The assailant, who was driving a BMW, crashed into a group of off-duty soldiers on the sidewalk, where his car came to a grinding halt. Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit. He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan. The city's police chief said that the lone attacker was an Arab resident of east Jerusalem... The attack comes after two back-to-back bulldozer attacks in Jerusalem in July which left three Israelis dead and dozens wounded.
Which is weird, because I've been told in no uncertain terms that Ramadan is a time of peace and contemplation.
Some of the less than mainstream Israeli right-wingers are already marching and calling for revenge. I wonder if international media outlets will go out of their way to excuse those marchers on account of their "anguish" or "grief" or "mourning" - which is how they approach gigantic Palestinian mobs. I'm thinking not so much.
References:
* Terrorists Strike Jerusalem Religious School - At Least 7 Dead (UPDATE: Idiotic But Predictable Media "Cycle Of Violence" Spin Right On Cue ... Fatah Terrorist Wing That Had Been "Dismantled" Claims Responsibility For Attack) [MR]
* 15 wounded in terror attack at busy Jerusalem intersection [JPost]
* Beit Hanoun Meme Watch - (1) "Rage and Tears" - Apparently Theats Of Genocide Are OK If You're Really Upset [MR]
Previously:
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch - Israeli-Arab MK Mourns Creation Of Israel
* Israeli-Arab Fifth Column Watch: MKs Demand Israel Be Dismantled (So Much For "Final Status" Talks)
* Israel Captures Terrorist Who Was Leading Abbas's Anti-Terrorism Forces
