Clearly, this man was a deranged maniac.
In what police are calling an incident of Jewish terrorism, a Jewish man dressed in Border Police uniform opened fire on a bus in the northern town of Shfaram Thursday evening, killing at least 3 people and wounding nearly a dozen more.
The shooter, Eden Tzuberi, 19, was also killed when he was assaulted by a mob of furied bystanders and witnesses. A crowd of thousands gathered around the site of the attack and surrounded the bus, where the attacker's body still lay.
I expect to hear no excuses, no justifications and no equivocation. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
This was a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist who sought to attack innocent Israeli citizens. This terrorist event was a deliberate attempt to harm the fabric of relations among all Israeli citizens. Terrorism by civilians against civilians is the most dangerous thing affecting the future of the State of Israel and its stability as a democracy. On my behalf and that of the Government, I send condolences to the families of those who were murdered and my best wishes for a quick recovery to those who were wounded. The entire State of Israel, regardless of race, religion or sex, strongly condemns this act of terrorism.
But how about those right-wing settlers? (via ENGAGE):
The Yesha Council announced this evening (Thursday) that it is shocked and severely criticizes the shooting incident in Shfaram that took the lives of innocent people.
The Yesha Council also criticizes the cynical use of the incident by certain political entities to try to make a connection between a serious incident to the democratic, legitimate and nonviolent protest against the expulsion from Gush Katif.
Is someone really doing that? Of course they are.
Israel media tried to link the murder with anti-expulsion protests and pointed out that the murderer had refused to take part in the planned expulsion. Nationalist Rabbi Chanan Porat told questioning interviewers there is no connection between the protests and the murder.
The murderer apparently lived in Rishon LeZion, near Tel Aviv. The story is circulating that he had recently become a "religious" extremist and moved to a settlement community in northeast Samaria, but the community administrator claims not to know him. Whether he was a settler or not, though, is hardly the point. This despicable act is totally and utterly condemned by Jews and Israelis across the political and religious spectrum. This criminal will have no camps or schools named for him. He won't be called a hero or a martyr.* (Yes, I've seen the idiotic quote in the JPost article. Until the real identity, residence and affiliations of the murderer are established, let's put that aberration on hold.)
In the meantime, let's concentrate on the victims and their families.
*Update: So sorry, so terribly sorry, to be proved wrong. Well, we do have our share of (mostly illiterate) fringe extremists. It's just that I expected better, even from them. My bad.
