"Nobody needs checkpoints in the Holy Land, this is the Holy Land and it should be treated as a holy area,"
[Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah] is quoted as saying just before Christmas.
But, unfortunately, he's wrong. Dead wrong.
West Bank bombing: First lieutenant Uri Binmo, 21, was killed and three other soldiers were wounded Thursday morning after a suicide bomber struck at an army roadblock near a West Bank village in the Tul Karem region.
Four Palestinians were also killed in the incident, including the bomber. Security authorities estimate the explosive device, which was particularly powerful, was designed to be used for an attack in Israel during Chanukah.
Here's how it went down:
The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, after a Palestinian cab approached a roadblock set up earlier by IDF troops deployed in the area following an intelligence tip.
The terrorist disembarked from the cab and spoke to one of the officers on the scene, who asked him to undo his jacked, prompting a giant explosion – the result of a 15-kilograms (33 pounds) explosive belt. The officer was killed instantly, as were the bomber and three other Palestinians. Army officials are looking into the identity of other passengers in the taxi and are estimating that one of them was tasked with leading the bomber to his destination.
Anyone who says that "nobody needs checkpoints" may as well just admit that he's ok with Jews getting blown up in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and Netanya. That's where this guy was headed with his 15 kilo explosive belt. Anyone who says that "the Holy Land . . . should be treated as a holy area" needs to turn his face toward Nablus and Jenin and Ramallah, needs to turn his face toward Mahmoud Abbas when he opens his mouth.
