01-Nov-16: Again, Pal Arab armed security officer in Arab-on-Israeli terror attack

The IDF's Focus security checkpoint near Beit El, scene of last night's shooting attack [Image Source]

When prominent voices in the Palestinian Authority regime go public with extravagant praise of murderous violence directed at Israelis and Jews (which they are increasingly doing and with less restraint than in the past) it should not surprise that the Palestinian street - the rank-and-file of ordinary Palestinian Arab folk, take note and respond.

Armed attacks on Israelis by members of the various PA security apparatuses, though rarely reported that way by the mainstream news media, are also a growing reality.

Back in January, a Palestinian Arab who was employed by the PA as a security officer (here he is in official uniform) and armed bodyguard for the Ramallah District Attorney, opened fire at an IDF checkpoint near Beit El in the West Bank. As Times of Israel recounted at the time, he drove up to an IDF security checkpoint (called "Focus") by car and got out, opening fire with his handgun. His targets, all of them IDF service personnel, suffered serious gun-fire injuries before one of them shot the assailant, Amjad Sakari, 35, dead. Two of the victims were described as being in serious condition with bullet wounds to the neck and thigh. All were rushed to Jerusalem hospitals for emergency care.

What happened next is instructive. The gunman's body, draped (as another Times of Israel report says) in a Palestinian flag, was brought from the Rafidiyeh Hospital in Nablus to Jamain, a village south of Nablus, for a martyr's burial. Throngs of participants in the funeral shouted "Death to Israel" as the religious functionary - presumably also on the payroll of the PA - who conducted the ritual intoned

"It is time for the machine gun, to shoot 500 people... Muhammad’s army will return"

The Palestinian Arab media, quoted by Times of Israel, reported on the participation of high-ranking PA and Fatah officials among the thousands attending Sakari's funeral. They included Nablus governor Akram Rajoub. No one suggests the "Death to Israel" messaging was repudiated by any of the participants. In fact, to illustrate the wall-to-wall support in Palestinian Arab society for this kind of undertaking, special praise from Hamas for the shooting attack came via one of its more notorious spokespeople, Sami Abu Zuhri in a press release.

Two weeks later, on February 14, 2016, another PA security man, this time a PA police officer acting with a companion, opened fire on a group of Border Police officers at Jerusalem's Damascus Gate:

The policeman and his companion, carrying automatic weapons, shot at a group of Border Police officers who were receiving their nightly briefing before beginning patrols in the Old City’s Damascus Gate area. The Israeli officers fired back, hitting one assailant instantly and setting off in pursuit of the second, who was still shooting at the officers, police said. The second attacker was soon hit and killed by police fire as well. There were no injuries among the Israeli officers or bystanders. Both attackers were residents of the West Bank, police said. The Palestinian policeman was named as Omar Ahmed Amru, and the other as Mansur Yasser Shawamra. ["One of shooters at Damascus Gate was Palestinian policeman", Times of Israel, February 15, 2016]

Which brings us to yesterday, and another lethal Arab-on-Israeli attack launched by a policeman in the service of the Palestinian Authority. This attack, too, earned praise from Hamas

“We welcome the heroic operation carried out by the martyr officer Muhammad Turkman. We consider [the attack] a strong message in the face of Israeli crimes.” [Times of Israel, October 31, 2016]

And it took place at the same security checkpoint as the one from January 2016:

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, in a shooting attack when a Palestinian police officer opened fire on them at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, officials said. The gunman approached the Focus checkpoint, near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, and opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at the troops stationed there, the army said... The gunman was named as Muhammad Turkman, a police officer from Qabatiya... [The PA says] Turkman served in a “special forces unit... In a statement, the Hamas terrorist organization lauded the attack and encouraged other members of the Palestinian security services to carry out similar attacks ["Palestinian cop wounds 3 IDF soldiers in a shooting attack", October 31, 2016 | Judah Ari Gross in Times of Israel]

All of the injured IDF soldiers are around 20. All suffered gunshot injuries. One remains in serious condition at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Mount Scopus hospital. And since Ma'an News Agency gets lavish financial backing from several European countries, allow us to mention that its Arabic report of the attack at the Focus checkpoint (but not the English-language version) says Turkman, the shooter, was executed by the Israelis in cold blood.

Chief Palestinian "peace" negotiator Saeb Erekat
illustrating "the distance between the Israeli and Palestinian sides"
without, as far as we know, taking  actual credit for how wide and
growing it is [Image Source: Abir Sultan / Flash90]

How do the highest-level PA insiders, and especially the "peace-makers" among them, view wanton violence of the sort in which their security people engage?

For example: the PA regime's high-profile chief negotiator for "peace" (that's the word he and his team use), Saeb Erekat was quoted [here] in the PA's official mouthpiece news channel, a week and a half ago calling the murderous actions of terrorists "sacrifices... acts of heroism, [an] ongoing battle with the occupation".

This is the same peace-making Erekat who last year published recommendations for how the PA ought to go about achieving its strategic goals. They're worth thinking about. An excellent but little-noticed analysis by Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, a respected Israeli commentator ["The Palestinian Leadership’s Regression in the Peace Process"] lays them out. Peace-man Erekat called for

• Strategic cooperation with the terrorists of Hamas and of Palestinian Islamic Jihad by means of integrating them into the PLO’s institutions.
• The waging of an all-out “peaceful popular struggle” against Israel. "Peaceful" is defined by the Palestinian Arab leadership as referring to local terror attacks.
• The rejection of all proposals for a settlement of issues - whether temporary or even partial - with Israel
• A escalating legal battle against Israel in international organizations and courts arena aimed at constraining Israel’s ability to defend itself against Palestinian Arab terror.

The list goes on and is worth a few minutes' reading. [UPDATE: See also "03-Nov-16: Saeb Erekat's heroes"]

For some of the terror-encouraging quotes and speeches of Erekat's boss, PA president Mahmoud Abbas, we refer you to Palestinian Media Watch which devotes several departments [here] to his ongoing public acts of incitement.

Lest anyone out there believes Palestinian Arab public opinion is somehow immune to round-the-clock exhortations to violence, bigotry and murder like those coming from the highest-levels of the PA ruling clique, take a look at what ordinary Palestinian Arabs say to pollsters from their own Palestinian Arab community. Here's a good, recent starting point: "18-Oct-16: What do the Palestinian Arabs think and feel now?"

22-Nov-15: Sunday: Three Arab-on-Israeli terror attacks so far and it's only mid-afternoon

Head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council being interviewed at the scene of
this afternoon's stabbing attack on a teenage girl [Source]

It's Sunday, the first day of the work week, and the wave of Palestinian Arab terror attacks - the physical expression of racist bigotry, hatred made concrete - appears to be at full strength. Victims' lives upended, attackers' lives absurdly celebrated for ugly deeds, and life goes on (mostly) for the rest of us.

The three attacks so far:

1. A Palestinian Arab woman armed with a knife attempted to stab an Israeli near Shechem (in Arabic: Nablus) this morning. The attack happened at a road junction near Beit El and the IDF’s Samaria Brigade headquarters. An alert driver, the well-known lawyer and public figure Gershon Mesika who served in the past as head of the Shomron Regional Council, struck the attacker with his vehicle [says Israel National News], preventing her from doing more harm. Soldiers then fired, killing her.
2. A Palestinian Arab taxi driver attempted to ram a group of Israelis with his vehicle at a roadside location near Kfar Adumim, a community on the edge of the city of Maale Adumim, this morning. He failed to hit them and so got out of his car and launched a knife attack. An alert armed civilian then shot and killed him, according to a police report. An Israeli male in his fifties suffered light injuries to his arms, and was treated by Magen David Adom rescue service personnel. The attacker is said to be from the Palestinian Arab town of Al-Bireh, near Ramallah.
3. An Israeli, a young woman in her late teens, suffered serious stabbing injuries to the neck when knifed this afternoon by an Arab assailant in the vicinity of Gush Etzion Junction (yes, again), near the suburban Jerusalem communities of Efrat and Alon Shvut. After emergency treatment at the scene, she was rushed by ambulance to Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. The attacker is said [Times of Israel, today] to have been shot and killed by security forces at the scene. 

Three cowardly attacks on civilians. Three new Palestinian Arab "martyrs" to add to the despicable worship of savagery that has the PA and Hamas and Palestinian Arab public opinion firmly in its grip: a society spiraling downwards into uncontrolled barbarism.

We also now know the identity of the knife-equipped terrorist who stabbed four Israelis, including a girl of 13, last night in Kiryat Gat ["21-Nov-15: Quietly and with determination, Israel responds to the stabbers, shooters, rammers"]. His is Muhammad Tarada, 18 from a village west of Hebron. Arrested with him were two other members of the Tarada clan from the same village: Fares Tarada and Rafat Tarada. More background about them when we have it.

24-Oct-15: Among victims of yet another day of Pal Arab "rage", an Israeli family fire-bombed near Beit El

Image Source: An Arabic news-site reporting on theBeit El attack

Times of Israel reported that Friday was declared another Palestinian Arab 'day of rage', a fig-leaf that seeks to upgrade the murderous hatred being incubated throughout their society into focused anti-Jewish action.

These calls generally pay dividends in the currency that Palestinian Arab society has been taught (via its leading institutions) to understand. Friday was no exception: an Israeli family traveling by car on the highway near their home in the Israeli community of Beit El came under firebomb attack on Friday. Israel National News says the attack was carried out on Route 60 between Beit El and Givat Asaf. The parents and their three young children all suffered injuries. The youngest child, a girl of four, has injuries defined as "moderate", though Haaretz reports that this means burns to 35% of her little body. Her brother, sister and parents are all said to be lightly hurt, and rushed by Magen David Adom ambulance to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem hospital for treatment of burns and other injuries.

Haaretz says there were clashes - Palestinian rioters attacking Israeli security forces - at various locations across Israel during Friday including Hebron, El Bireh, Beit Ummar, at Rachel's Tomb on Jerusalem's southern edge, and at multiple points along the Gaza/Israel border.

28-Jun-15: Israeli ambulance comes under 'activist' gunfire; news reporting industry yawns

Image Source: i24news

Israel National News reports that an Arab gunman, perhaps more than one, fired on an Israeli civilian ambulance traveling the road adjacent to Beit El in Samaria's Binyamin region:

At least three direct hits from the bullets were located on the ambulance, but fortunately no one was wounded in the incident. A resident of the region told Arutz Sheva that security forces began a wide search in the region. 

A bullet through the windshield (see the photo above) testifies to the lethal intentions of the attacker/s. It's unlikely they wanted this to end with no casualties.

The first article of the first Geneva Convention, in effect since August 22, 1864, declares

Ambulances and military hospitals shall be recognized as neutral, and as such, protected and respected by the belligerents as long as they accommodate wounded and sick.

A shooter who attacked an ambulance in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced in 2013 to 60 years imprisonment. The charges he faced were attempted murder, criminal recklessness and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

As of now, Sunday morning, the attack on an Israeli civilian ambulance has been reported in non-Israeli news channels, as far as we can tell, about zero times.

12-Dec-12: Scenes from the front lines, courtesy of the Tayar Report

Palestinian Arab attackers, equipped with rocks and Molotov cocktails

The chronology below is a continuation of the reports we have published in recent months based on information received via the Tayar Security Report, with some editing and annotating by us. Yehudit Tayar produces her invaluable bulletins on the basis of first-responder, police and army reports.

Friday November 30, 2012

• Halhul Bypass Road adjacent to Highway 60: An Israeli vehicle is attacked by rock-throwing Arabs at the exact spot where Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan HY"D were murdered in September 2011 ["25-Sep-11: "Only" rock throwers - but now a father and his infant son are dead"] This time, one person is lightly injured and given medical care at the scene.

Sunday December 2, 2012

• Near Anbata, east of Tul Karem: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs; damage is limited this time to property loss.
• The Benjamin region close to Hizma: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs.
• Between Hawara Checkpoint and Tapuah Junction: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock and Molotov cocktail attack by Arabs. There is resultant property damage.
• Between the community of Adam and the Hizma Crossing in the Benjamin region near the northern entrance to Jerusalem: Ongoing heavy rock attacks on Israeli vehicles result in a traffic accident
• South of Nablus/Shechem near Hawara: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs.
• Route 443 in the Benjamin region, a major intercity highway running between the coastal plane and Jerusalem: In the vicinity of Bet Horon and the village of A-Tira: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs.
• Between the Arab village of Azun and the Israeli community of Ma'aleh Shomron: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs.

Monday December 3, 2012

• Between Shavei Shomron and Einav in the Shomron region: An Arab driver deliberately crashes his vehicle into an IDF military jeep, causing the jeep to crash and overturn. Four security personnel re injured.  The Arab driver, armed with an ax, approaches the Israelis and is shot and killed. [See also our post: "3-Dec-12 [UPDATED]: Ax-wielding Palestinian Arab is stopped by Israeli soldiers this morning"]

Tuesday December 4, 2012

• Near El Arub on the Gush Etzion-Hevron highway: Two Molotov cocktails are hurled at Israeli vehicles. No serious injuries or damage.

Wednesday December 5, 2012

• Near Beit El in the Benjamin region: Two Molotov cocktails are burled at an Israeli passenger bus. No serious injuries or damage.
• Massive rock attacks occur near Ma'aleh Shomron, and in the vicinity of Ariel.

Thursday December 6, 2012

• At Shavei Shomron Junction: An IDF jeep comes under attack by Arabs armed with Molotov cocktails.
• Near Hawara, an Israel bus carrying school students comes under rock attack by Arabs, causing property damage.
• At the Hizma Crossing in the Benjamin region: the driver of an Israeli bus reports his vehicle came under rock attack the communities of Rachelim and Eli.
• On the Gush Etzion-Hevron highway near Beit Ummar: Arabs subject Israeli vehicles, including buses, to sustained rock and boulder attacks. Though there are no injuries,there is significant property damage, including damage to vehicles.
• Hevron: In Kikar Hashoter ("Policeman's Square") IDF soldiers come under attack by a mob of some 150 Arabs armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails. The soldiers disperse the attackers.
• Hevron: An IDF patrol is attacked by police officers of the Palestinian Authority using their fists, while non-uniformed Arabs throw rocks. The IDF force retreats under a hail of rocks.

Friday December 7, 2012

• West of Nablus/Shechem: Violence directed at Israelis by Arabs. Two IDF soldiers are injured by rocks hurled at them; one suffers a suspected fracture of the arm. Another suffers facial injuries and lacerations. A third soldier suffers burn injuries from an exploding grenade thrown at him. IDF soldiers from the 76 Brigade of the Engineering Corps are evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah for treatment.
• On the Gush Etzion-Hevron highway at Beit Ummar: Ongoing violent attacks by Arabs directed against Israeli vehicles result in one driver suffering head injury from rocks hurled at her vehicle; she manages to continue driving until she reaches Karmei Zur where she is treated by an IDF ambulance crew and taken to hospital by Magen David Adom. Damage is caused to Israeli vehicles including buses. IDF forces disperse the agitators into the village.

Saturday December 8, 2012

• North-west of Ramallah near El Moiyer: Explosive devices are found on the road and inside a pipe on the road. IDF bomb squad sappers are called in and they safely dispose of the threats. 
• On the Gush Etzion-Hevron highway at Beit Ummar: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs.

Sunday December 9, 2012

• Azun Junction: A Molotov cocktail is thrown by Arabs. No injuries or damage.
• The road running between Har Homa and Tekoa in Jerusalem's southern suburbs: An Israeli bus comes under rock attack by Arabs near Herodian Square, causing damage but no injuries.
• Near Azun: Israeli vehicles and buses are attacked by Arabs armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails.
• Near Hawara: Molotov cocktails is hurled at an Israeli vehicle.
• The tunnel road running south from Jerusalem and under Bethlehem: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs; no injuries but there is property damage.

Tuesday December 11, 2012

• Between Nili and Na'aleh in the Benjamin region: Molotov cocktail is hurled at an Israeli vehicle.

Wednesday December 12, 2012 (today)

• North of Ofra in the Mateh Binyamin region: Several Israeli vehicles come under rock attack by Arabs; no injuries but there is property damage.
• On the Gush Etzion-Hevron highway near Beit Ummar: Arabs subject an Israeli passenger bus to rock and boulder attack.

Postscript from Yehudit Tayar: "These reports are translated and publicized by Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron with the clearance and confirmation of the IDF. Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron is a voluntary emergency medical organization with over 500 volunteer doctors, paramedics, medics who are on call 24/7 and work along with the IDF, 669 IAF Airborn Rescue, the security officers and personal throughout Yesha and the Jordan Valley, and with MDA. We, the volunteers of Hatzalah Yehudah and Shomron go out to rescue anyone who needs our emergency medical assistance; including civilians, military and Arabs also those within the PA territories. (with IDF presence) To us a life is precious and we go out at risk leaving home and family or stopping on the road to rescue anyone in need."