Look at how Palestinians opt to fight a "war" (intifada, uprising,.... whatever you want to call it)..
'We didn't suspect him because he was in uniform'
By David Rudge
JERUSALEM (October 5) - Frightened bus passengers and passers-by stared in amazement when a person they thought was an IDF soldier with a Paratroopers Brigade red beret strapped to his shoulder suddenly opened fire in all directions at the central bus station in Afula yesterday.
It was a surreal scene for those caught up in the shooting that only became understandable later, when they realized that the gunman was not a paratrooper but a Palestinian terrorist.
Members of the Northern Region police's special Yoav public transport security unit recognized the danger moments after the firing started and took action, shooting and killing the terrorist.
By then, however, he had already emptied at least one magazine and had killed one person and fatally wounded two others, in addition to injuring several more people who had been at the scene.
"I was talking on the phone in the [bus station] office when I heard a shot. I went to the window and saw a soldier," said bus driver Eitan Eliahu.
"He looked like a soldier in every respect with IDF uniform, boots, the ends of his trousers tucked in with elastic bands, a red beret in his shoulder strap, and a white vest underneath his open army shirt.
"He grabbed his M-16 rifle and started firing in all directions. I took out my pistol and peeked out of the window, but he started to fire in my direction and I took cover. Then he started to approach the buses and fire at them," said Eliahu.
At first the witnesses to the attack thought it might have been a soldier who had suddenly gone crazy and some, like Eliahu, hesitated to use their own weapons against a soldier.
Ch.-Supt. Yoram Adi, commander of the Yoav unit, two of whose members identified the terrorist and shot him to death, said the gunman had apparently walked to the bus station terminal.
"He opened fire with his M-16 at passers-by there and in the course of that he apparently changed his magazine and started firing on a parked bus whose passengers had disembarked," Adi told reporters at the scene.
"At the same time, two members of the Yoav unit who are generally on duty here, a policeman and a volunteer, spotted him. The policeman who spotted him from the area of the toilets... fired with his pistol.
"The other policeman, a volunteer who has been with the unit for about 18 months, fired at the terrorist with his rifle and hit him. The terrorist was killed.
"We know that the terrorist had several other magazines and that he had intended [on this evidence] to carry out an even more serious and murderous attack," said Adi.
Arieh Mochah, who only last week returned to Israel after living in the San Francisco area for 14 years, found himself caught in the deadly drama at the Afula bus station.
"I saw him with his back to me, in IDF uniform and a beret on his shoulder... Suddenly he lifted his weapon and started firing. To start with we heard two shots and then a burst," said Mochah, a resident of Givat Hamoreh, near Afula.
"I didn't know what was happening. I crouched down and ran to the side. After that there was more shooting... He put in a new magazine and continued shooting. I ran away toward the toilets where about 15 other people were taking cover, including two IDF officers with their rifles cocked...
"After a few minutes, before the police and emergency services arrived, we went outside and saw [the terrorist] lying on the ground near the Biz-Stop [cafe]... We didn't suspect him because he was in army uniform," said Mochah, who spoke to reporters at Afula's Ha'emek Hospital where he was treated for shock.
jpost.com
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So Thomas.. this guy dresses up like an IDF soldier, which would provide him the ability to get especially close to launch an attack against Israeli troops, yet he chooses to attack civilians...
Quite the brave fighter isn't he?? Why take on armed Israelis in his attack, when he can try and kill a busload of innocents...
I bet you're very proud of him and how he carried out his mission....
Hawk |
