ISRAEL: Right-wing Israelis protest the Jerusalem bulldozer attack; Driver's death is caught on camera

Record ID: 353012

  • Title: ISRAEL: Right-wing Israelis protest the Jerusalem bulldozer attack; Driver's death is caught on camera
  • Date: 23rd July 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF SETTLERS DEMONSTRATING
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAAYHLZNVKWSM9UZ0ZZQ9GAVIG2
  • Story Text: Right-wing Israelis protest against what they fear will become a new trend in Jerusalem - using bulldozers in attacks. The death of the Palestinian driver, shot at point blank range, is captured on amateur video.
    Right-wing Israelis protested in Jerusalem's city centre on Tuesday (July 22) after a Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into vehicles on a busy Jerusalem street, injuring 16 people before he was shot dead.
    Dramatic video footage showed an Israeli policeman firing at point-blank range the attacker.
    It took place just down the road from the hotel where visiting US Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, was to stay later in the day. It is the second such incident using a bulldozer in west Jerusalem in three weeks.
    It occurred while Israeli President Shimon Peres hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his official residence less than a kilometre (half-mile) away.
    Israeli officials said the driver was a Palestinian from a village in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel considers part of Jerusalem. Its residents have freedom of movement throughout the city and Israel.
    Right-wing settlers gathered at the site, angrily protesting the attack.
    Touring the area, Israeli Minister for Internal Security, Avi Dichter, said he was concerned that this kind of attack might spark more copycat ones and become a new tactic.

    "We know that this is another lonely wolf terrorist but we can not ignore the fact that it is the third time during this year here in Jerusalem," he said referring to attacks carried out by individuals, including the two bulldozer attacks and another involving a gunman firing on Jewish seminary students.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
    The attack was praised by Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip as "a natural reaction to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation".
    Obama was due to arrive in Israel from Jordan later on Tuesday. Police said they had no immediate evidence to suggest the rampage was linked to his visit.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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