This morning an Arab teacher, actually employed by the Jerusalem Municipality, took a gun and went to the Old City in the center of Jerusalem. He opened fire on people he encountered. His gunfire actually killed one man, Elyahu , who worked as a guide for tourists, both foreign and domestic, that came to the Western Wall. Israeli security forces caught up with him and killed him in an exchange of fire. So much for the factual data that I’m aware of.
The media of the Palestinian Authority reported it like this:
“Israeli occupation forces today opened gunfire and killed a Palestinian man near the Chain Gate in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, according to witnesses.
The man was identified as Fadi Abu Shukhedem, a 42-year-old teacher of Islamic Education who comes from Shuafat refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem.”
[Official PA news agency, WAFA, (In English), Nov. 21, 2021]
There is no mention of the fact that the dead teacher was armed. Not only was he armed, but he opened fire first. Also no mention of the man he killed or the others he injured. Mr Abu Shukehedem was apparently known to the Israeli security forces as a supporter of the Hamas movement. In addition to being a high school teacher, he was known to have given sermons in local mosques in support of activism against “the occupation”, including killing Jews. Notice I said Jews, not Israelis, and not soldiers or policemen.
At the time I’m writing this his motivation for doing this today has yet to be revealed.
For me, this dovetails with an Arab and Palestinian “Peace Offensive” in Europe. This week I listened to the Palestinian “Foreign Minister” Al-Maliki, give an interview in English on France 24 in which he pushed for European countries to get involved in pressuring Israel to come to negotiate (something they, themselves, are prepared to do only when their conditions are met). He rejected direct talks with Israel claiming that Israel is the party that refuses to talk becaue Israel will not discuss the “Right of Return” of ALL “Palestinian” refugees and that Israel won’t accept the 1967 cease-fire line must be the new recognized border between Israel and Palestine. Al-Maliki said Palestine recognizes that Israel exists’ but failed to mention that the Palestinians do so ONLY with the caveat that Israel is an illegal entity that must be replaced by an Arab state. Of course, the interviewer did not raise that issue. After all, he was talking to an important Arab diplomat.
On a similar note, an Arabic speaking Israeli journalist interviewed a resident of a “camp” near Jerusalem. The journalist was willing to recognize that the Palestinians need a state of their own. But his opposite number rejected totally the idea that any Jew could have any rightful claim to ANY part of HIS land.
Until the kind of thinking expressed by both The Palestinian “Foreign Minister” and the camp resident disappears there is little hope that there can be a “just” or “lasting” peace.
By way of contrast I ought to mention that the supermarket where we shop is mostly staffed by Arabs. One of the checkout clerks (Yes, Arab) passed us in th aisle while we were still shopping and we exchanged friendly greetings, and even a few sentences more. As human beings we CAN get along. But I’ve always known that, Throwing extreme political views into the mix is what makes problems.
Wetherhorn 