Another Bulldozer Attack In Jerusalem (Updated)

Another bulldozer attack in Jerusalem:

Two police officers were wounded in Jerusalem shortly after 1:00 p.m. when an Arab-driven bulldozer plowed into their vehicle. Other police officers patrolling nearby fired at the terrorist, as did a civilian taxi driver, and the terrorist was killed.

According to an eyewitness, the Arab rammed the police car, flipping it over twice, and then tried to push it into the bus, which was empty at the time. He was shot as he attempted to crush other vehicles with the bulldozer. An open Koran was found in the driver's compartment, according to Jerusalem District Police Commander Nissan Shaham.

Unlike in the US, here in Israel there is no doubt about the motivation or who is carrying out the terrorist attacks--of which today's is the third of this kind:

Two similar attacks using tractors or bulldozers were perpetrated by eastern Jerusalem Arabs in July 2008. In the first one, three people were murdered in their cars, while in the second one, no one was killed, though over 30 people were injured. Civilians on the scene shot and killed the terrorist in both incidents.

Commander Shaham said that a list of all bulldozer owners and licensed bulldozer drivers in the greater Jerusalem metro area has been compiled following the incident, although "this is not the kind of attack we can anticipate in order to prevent in advance." The terrorist's identity was not immediately known.

Naturally, Hamas was quick to praise:

Senior Hamas terrorist spokesman Mushir al-Masri praised the bulldozer attacker in a statement released to the media shortly after the incident. "The operation in Jerusalem was a natural response to aggression against our people. The Zionist enemy should realize that they alone bear the responsibility for displacing our people in Jerusalem and for the killings in Gaza and [Judea and Samaria]."

Operation Cast Lead now seems like a distant event.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey has an interesting perspective on the nature of the 'operation':

Think of this as a metaphor for the overall Palestinian movement. They settle on a strategy that doesn’t work, but they keep trying it even as it becomes obvious that it won’t work...

The Palestinians have now launched three of these bulldozer attacks in a year. The first time, the driver killed four people before getting killed by police gunfire, but in the last two attempts, the only death has been the driver. These could be copycat crimes, but it looks more like a strange strategy — strange in that it clearly doesn’t work very well in killing civilians.

Why keep pursuing a failed strategy? In this specific case, it could be that improved security with the wall and other Israeli efforts has limited the options of Palestinian terrorists inside Israel. Overall, though, that’s practically the Palestinian pastime.

Other than firing rockets, with which Hamas is growing increasingly successful.

More at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tag: Terrorism.