10-Oct-06: Self-Slaughtering Murderers... Again

It's a little after 8 on a very pleasant Jerusalem evening. We're taking things easy at home, eating in the palm-roofed outdoor hut on our terrace (we're in the midst of the festival of Tabernacles).

Meanwhile at roadblocks all over this region, young Israeli men and women are manning security checkpoints, as they do 24 x 7 x 365, watching for that disturbing Palestinian Arab creation of self-slaughtering, religiously-inspired young men, hell-bent on getting to paradise by blowing up Jews.

Today, a small victory. A very quiet and small victory.

We say quiet because, as so often happens, the only news media interested in reporting on Palestinian terrorists that fail (as opposed to the well-covered stories where actual spilled Jewish blood takes centre-stage) are Israeli news media. Too, too, too boring for the rest.

IDF troops thwart attempted terror attack at West Bank checkpoint

Last update - 18:13 10/10/2006
By Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Tuesday arrested two Palestinian youth attempting to carry out a suicide bombing attack near the West Bank city of Jenin. Military police troops searching the youths youths during a routine security check at the Rihan checkpoint found two pipe bombs weighing a kilogram each strapped to one of their bodies. Troops arrested the youths and sappers safely detonated the explosives. The youths told police during their investigation that they had been sent by Hamas militants to carry out the attack. This is the second attempted terror attack at a West Bank checkpoint in 24 hours. IDF troops on Monday shot dead a Palestinian youth who they said pulled out a knife and attacked a soldier at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus.

Jenin: Terror attack thwarted

Two Palestinians raise officers' suspicion at Reihan Crossing, found to be carrying explosive devices. In interrogation, men admit they planned to throw bombs at troops
Efrat Weiss (Published: 10.10.06, 18:51)
The security forces thwarted a second terror attack in 24 hours, this time at the Reihan Crossing near Jenin. On Tuesday afternoon, two Palestinians who arrived at the crossing raised suspicion with the local Border Guard policemen manning the checkpoint. Following a search of the two, soldiers found two pipe bombs, weighing about one kilogram each. The crossing has been by the officers closed and the bombs were detonated in a controlled manner by Border Guard sappers. During an investigation of the incident, the two Palestinians said they intended on throwing the devices on the local forces. The Hawara checkpoint experiences an incident or an attempt to attack soldiers on daily basis.

Some points to ponder:

• The terrorists were caught at a security checkpoint. These are endlessly criticized by outsiders. They degrade. They humiliate. They delay. They ensure the continued hatred of Palestinian Arabs for Israel and for Israelis. All of these criticisms may be true. But they prevent deaths by terror - every single day. You don't have to be the parents of a child murdered by savages like those caught today (as we are - our daughter's murderer passed unhindered through a laid-back Israeli checkpoint on the day he carried out his massacre) to understand the importance of those security checks. A pity that so many journalists and their editors seem to ignore the almost daily snarings of terrorists that those checkpoints make possible.
• This successful intercept comes 24 hours after the last successful intercept of self-slaughtering Palestinian Arab terrorists with murder in mind. Did you read about it in your local or national paper? See it on the evening news? This latest event happened six or seven hours ago. It's currently reported (according to Google News) in precisely two global news channels: In Israel's Haaretz and in Israel's Yedioth Aharonot.
• By their own admission, the young religious fanatics were sent by Hamas - they control the government of the would-be state of Palestine. Remember this when you next hear how moderate and ready for peace Hamas is.
• As boring and uninteresting as it may be to report on foiled terror attacks, on lives saved and not blown away, the reports of terrorists intercepted en route to their barbaric mission are potentially much more important to ordinary readers of the news than the reports of massacres are. Terror is not a Middle East invention. Jihad is not directed at Israelis or Jews alone. There are lessons to be learned from the systems and methods Israel has put in place to deflect the savages of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and the rest. What is it about these reports that your news people don't want you to know?

We'll go back to eating our dinner now. Have a good evening.