The family was in Jerusalem to take part in the national holiday's events on Wednesday, and was hosted by relatives who live in the city. They made their way from the Nof Zion neighborhood towards Silwan, when a group of Palestinian youths suddenly lunged at them.
"Traffic was moving slowly and there were Arab vehicles in front of us and behind us, and a few minutes later some 10 youths about 15-year-old began throwing stones at our car," said Haim, the family's father.
According to Haim, the incident ended without serious injures, after a large stone smashed the back window of the car and missed their two-and-a-half-year-old infant's head by mere centimeters.
"The baby seat with placed so that its front was facing the attackers. They saw a small child looking at them through the window, and still threw stones at us - which, luckily, only caused him light injures from the broken glass," Haim said.
A short while later, Haim managed to make his way out of the area, when, just several hundred meters from the scene of the incident, he noticed a squad car carrying Border Guard officers.
"I stepped on the gas and managed to get out of the traffic jam. I drove quickly and I asked the officers to open a chase after the youths who attacked us," he said.
But according to Haim, the officers told him they were not allowed to open a chase, so as not to create any tension in the region.
The Border Guard district commander said he is looking into the report and has launched an investigation. Meantime, the family has filed a complaint with the police and filed for damages.
Yediot, of course is treating this as a possible attack so far, but the injuries to the child and damages to the vehicle are consistent with the family's story. And it is by no means the first time that the Palestinians have deliberately targeted children.In fact, it's standard operating procedure for them, and they make heroes out of the most successful child murderers.
During the intifada, I subscribed to a Palestinian mailing list under a pseudonym. I will never forget the ghoulish glee with which the other subscribers would greet news stories of dead Jewish children, and in particular dead pregnant Jewish women.
But after all, would you expect from people who have so little regard for their own children ?
The Palestinians regard this as a no-holds-barred tribal war, and that's pretty much how they have gotten away with fighting it thus far, while the Israelis have prided themselves on trying to avoid civilian casualties and collateral damage for the most part,no matter what you might see on al-Jazeera or on the BBC.
Right now, thanks to Obama's conduct towards Israel, the Palestinians feel emboldened.
But if we see attacks like this one escalate and we see anything like another intifada,things could change rapidly,particularly if the Jews of Judea and Samaria continue to see them go unanswered by the Israeli government.
At that point, the Jews in Judea and Samaria might begin defending themselves and taking the fight directly to their enemies. And if that happens, there could be a solution to the Middle East conflict that the Palestinians can't imagine in their worst nightmares.
-Selah-
We say we want peace in the Middle East. Ironically by encouraging Israel to "show restraint" we ensure the exact opposite. I think someone once said, "if you want peace, prepare for war."
ReplyDeleteIsrael and America are both routinely slammed for civilian deaths and collateral damage. When someone targets your civilians, should they not expect theirs to be targeted to. In other words, when Arab terrorists target our civilians or attempt to undermine our just interests, should they not expect their people to be targeted as well.
I think when the left and others evaluate American and Israeli actions, they have a huge blind spot. They seem to assume that Israeli and American actions happen in a vacum.
I think the last paragraph pretty much says it all. I think the United States faces a simillar problem. In America we are already beginning to see Americans take actions to defend themselves. This is manifested in the immigration law that passed in Arizona.
Furthermore the Palestinians may be over estimating American power and influence if they can actually feel emboldened by any thing Mr. Obama does or does not do.