27-Sep-10: Responsibility for shooting attack claimed (no great surprises here)

While the head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas loudly professes his commitment to the search for peace with the Israelis (in some places and at some times except when he does not), his executive branch colleagues remain loyal to tried-and-tested methods of a different sort.

Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and the Al-Quds Squads of the Islamic Jihad later claimed joint responsibility for [last night's attack], claiming in a statement that the attack was carried out to mark the 15th anniversary of the killing of Fatah founder Fat'hi Shkaki. [Source1 and Source2] 

The cowardly armed thugs of Al-Aqsa owe their alliegance to Mahmoud Abbas. For a while, four or five years ago, he and they went through a highly publicized charade of the Brigade members purportedly undergoing disarmament. As we say in Hebrew, אין דובים ואין יער  - no forest and no bears.

As we reported last night, this was the third drive-by shooting by Palestinian Arabs of Israelis in a month. Fortunately this time the injuries of the shooting victims were moderate and no lives were lost. In fact, a blessed new life was brought into existence [see "Woman survives shooting, gives birth to healthy boy"]