Terror attack in Jerusalem, 2 Israelis killed, Palestinians celebrate

Levana Malichi (r) and Yosef Kirma (l) HY’D, murdered in Jerusalem by Palestinian terrorist

Hardly had my previous post been published when news came in of a terror attack in Jerusalem, at the Ammunition Hill light rail station, in which two Israelis were killed and 5 injured. As more details emerge about the attack, the incident becomes all the more outrageous as we learn of possible police or judicial incompetence in that the terrorist was supposed to start a jail sentence that very morning and obviously decided to go out in a blaze of “glory”. From the above link:

The attacker was shot and killed. He was identified as a 39-year-old resident of Silwan in East Jerusalem, police said.

According to reports, he was to report to prison on Sunday to serve a sentence for incitement.

He possessed an Israeli identification card, according to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.

“There were no prior warnings ahead of a focused attack like this,” Erdan said.

Scene of Sunday’s shooting attack in Jerusalem

The attack began as the assailant drove by police headquarters on Haim Bar-Lev Street, a main artery also served by the city’s light rail, and opened fire at a group of people, hitting one woman, police said.

He sped off toward Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau Street and shot a woman who was in her car, critically wounding her.

He continued toward the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Police officers on motorcycles from the city’s Special Patrol Unit saw the shooting and gave chase, police said.

The assailant then opened fire at the officers, who shot and “neutralized him,” police said.

During the shootout, one officer was fatally injured and another lightly to moderately injured, police said.

A video that was released on social media (below) appeared to show the shootout between police officers and the terrorist.

You can watch the video at the link. The usual suspects took credit for the attack:

The Hamas terrorist organization praised the shooting, calling it “heroic,” “brave” and a “natural response to the occupation,” Army Radio reported.

As we have come to expect, the Palestinians reacted in their usual bestial manner (with apologies to beasts) by celebrating the murders:

While Israelis and Jews around the world were mourning Sunday’s deadly terror attack in the Israeli capital, some Jerusalem Arabs celebrated the murders – including a very public display of rejoicing in a café next to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Alon Karko, a 24-year old law student at Hebrew University, was dining with his mother at Café Aroma on Mount Scopus, next to one of the university’s two main campuses, when news broke that two of the shooting victims in Sunday’s attack had succumbed to their injuries.

…

At a certain point, Karko recounted, two Arabs made their way over from the nearby Hadassah Hospital – the same hospital where the most critically injured of the shooting attack victims were being treated – and offered their ‘congratulations’ to the Arabs siting in the café.

“It took a second for it to dawn on me what was happening – all of the sudden I saw the news flash saying ‘Two of the wounded declared dead’. Then I put two and two together and understood that, okay, this [their celebrating] is because of this [the deaths], and there was no question any longer why they were laughing together in Arabic.”

“My grasp of Arabic isn’t great,” continued Karko, “but my mother said that she heard [their conversation]. I did hear ‘Allahu Ackbar’ and all of that, both from the group [cheering] out in the street and those sitting in the café expressing their satisfaction.”

“Then they started to sing and clap,” Karko recalled. “You could see the joy on their faces, really.” The celebrations continued for some time, he said, making an already tense atmosphere unbearable.

…

“There will always be nuts and crazies who will take out a knife and stab. But when they get support from a whole sector…and I didn’t see any one of them try to stop this. No one in the group thought to even let the dead bodies get cold before they escalated to shouting and screaming.”

https://twitter.com/kishkushkay/status/785177522887680000

Kay Wilson is spot-on in her condemnation of Palestinian society as sick and morally bankrupt.

The one slight improvement over previous such reactions is that the police arrested the Arabs who filmed the attacks or who expressed support:

Police on Sunday evening conducted a series of arrests of Arabs who expressed support for the terrorist attack in Jerusalem in which two Israelis were murdered.

Sources close to Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said that in the hours after the attack, police acted throughout Jerusalem and arrested Arabs who handed out candies, prevented the establishment of a mourning tent near the home of the terrorist in Silwan, arrested Arabs who demanded that stores be closed in solidarity with the terrorist and arrested Arabs who filmed the attack while shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

Erdan has instructed the police to prosecute and take action against any act or demonstration of support for the shooting attack.

This is a step in the right direction but is a drop in the ocean. We need to examine our overly liberal attitude to Palestinian incitement and the laxness with which offenders are treated. As commenter YJ Draiman remarked in my previous post:

… A response with no holds barred and zero tolerance must be taken – less talk and more action and action speak louder than words – take off the glove and destroy the enemy and the threat once and for all. The British and Americans after rockets hit London in WWII sent bombers on a daily basis and destroyed German infrastructure and leveled cities. Israel must do what is necessary to protect its people with no restraint whatsoever.
It is your duty and responsibility to protect the people of Israel at all costs. Do your duty. Death to all terrorists must be mandatory.

Indeed, questions are being asked as to why the terrorist was outrageously still free to commit murder after having been convicted of a crime and about to start his jail sentence:

The terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem Sunday morning, leaving two dead and five injured was supposed to begin a four-month prison sentence the same day for attacking a police officer.

Moreover, Hamas announced shortly after that attack that the 39-year-old terrorist from Silwan, whose name is currently under a gag order and who held full Israeli citizenship, was “one of ours.”

In a photograph circulated of the the terrorist, he can be seen wearing a Hamas scarf while holding a picture of Hamas’s spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Given his history as a repeat offender, questions have been raised as to why he was able to walk around freely. While he had previously served a number of prison sentences for a variety of offenses including aggravated battery, illicit military training and setting fire to vehicles. He has been photographed wearing Hamas paraphernaliaand support Hamas in general.

Between January 2015 and January 2016, the terrorist sat in prison for incitement to violence and terror. During his term he was also tried for attacking a police officer on a separate occasion. Last May he received an additional four months in prison. However, after submitting a request to postpone the commencement of the sentence the court ruled that he would begin his term on October 16.

The state subsequently requested that the date be moved forward the ninth of the month. However, it was never requested that he remain detained in remand in the interim. Given that he had already been released during the investigative stage therefore, when the indictment was issued against him the option of extending his arrest was precluded.

It is imperative that this confusion, lack of clarity and almost blase attitude between the police and the courts must be clarified and regulated immediately, to prevent future similar attacks. An investigation should also reveal whether there was negligence involved, a failure to maintain regulations or any other kind of oversight.

The two victims, Yosef Kirma Hy’d and Levana Malihi Hy’d were laid to rest this afternoon in heart-breaking funerals:

The wife of the police officer murdered on Sunday by the Palestinian terrorist he was trying to neutralize said her “heart is crumbling into little pieces,” the Hebrew news site nrg reported from Yosef Kirma’s funeral at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem a few hours after the mass shooting attack.

Noy Kirma speaking at the funeral of her husband, First Sergeant Yosef Kirma, who was killed during a terrorist attack in Jerusalem, October 9, 2016. (Screen capture: Ynet)

In her eulogy, Noy Kirma, whose husband had been awarded a medal of honor last December for thwarting a Palestinian stabbing attack on kindergarten kids, continued: “How many plans we had — for a home and children. You loved me more than I love myself.”

“You were my shoulder to lean on…” said the young widow, who had been married to the Israeli hero for only six months before his life was cut short. “You were loved by all. You were number one in their eyes. Number one in my eyes. I don’t know how the world will turn without you…You will be in my heart until the day I die.”

Kirma’s father, Uzi, vowed to his dead son that he would protect and support his daughter-in-law, whom he said he considers a child of his own. “Yossi, I love you. People here know what a good soul you were…Rest in peace. It’s impossible to go on without you.”

As was reported in The Algemeiner, Kirma, 29, was one of two Israelis slain by the 40-year-old terrorist from the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem. The other was 60-year-old Lavana Malihi, who – like Kirma – died of the gunshot wounds she sustained in the attack after she was evacuated to the Hadassah Medical Center, with the other victims of the shooting spree near police headquarters in northern Jerusalem.

Malihi was a pensioner who had worked for more than 30 years in the Knesset, first in its cafeteria and then in housekeeping. According to nrg, she was remembered fondly by all as a devoted and caring person and employee. Even after retiring in 2010, the report said, she remained in touch with coworkers and participated in various Knesset events. She is survived by a husband, three daughters and six grandchildren.

Her funeral, which was held on Sunday evening, was not open to the press at the request of the family.

“We are mourning and in pain.” Malihi’s nephew said. “We are trying to absorb this bitter news. We send condolences to the family of the other person murdered and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”

The families’ loss of their loved ones is almost unbearable. May the families of both victims be comforted amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and may they know no more sorrow.

Last year began with the wave of stabbings and shootings which later became known as the “knife intifada”. Yesterday’s attack, coming as it did just after Rosh Hashana, gives us the dreadful, sinking feeling that this year will be no different.