The Fear is Worse Than The Terror

http://jtf.org/

Please don't think that I'm downplaying the inherent dangers of Arab terror on the State of Israel, Israeli society, businesses and ordinary innocent citizens, both Jews, Arabs and others.

The terror attacks that are happening daily and unpredictably in Israel  have paralyzed and terrorized many people, kept them home, from shopping, walking around, taking public transportation, going out to restaurants etc. Many businesses are suffering. People are shopping closer to home and in stores that do not employ Arabs. Restaurants have found reservations cancelled. Public transportation is much emptier than usual.

On a personal note, I haven't really changed my routine at all. I walk rather than take buses when possible, but I had been doing that for fitness for a very long time. Now, if I'm waiting for public transportation I try to stand where I can see in all directions. This is not the time to plug your ears and listen to music or whatever in public. We do need to be alert. And we have to be cooperative with security.

Last night, a tragedy occurred at a Jerusalem bus stop, which can be blamed on the stress of the Arab terror attacks.

Security forces operate at the scene of the attack on a bus in Jerusalem. (photo credit:COURTESY UNITED HATZALAH)

Man, mistaken for terrorist, killed after attacking security forces on Jerusalem bus
A man boarded a bus in Jerusalem on Yermiyahu street Wednesday and attacked security force officers and attempted to steal a gun from one of the officers, Israel Police reported. (Jerusalem Post)

Palestinian terrorist killed after stabbing an IDF soldier Wednesday. (Jewish Press)

In the afternoon, an IDF soldier was seriously stabbed in her neck and torso while stationed at the Adam Junction north of Jerusalem and just south of Sha'ar Binyamin, where I was at the time working at Yafiz.

These weren't the only Arab terror attacks yesterday. These are just the attacks at locations I frequent. The Adam Junction is a badly designed and busy place between Jerusalem and Sha'ar Binyamin and most of the communities in Mateh Binyamin and the Shomron. The volume of traffic is more than that tiny traffic circle can handle, so it's the center of daily traffic jams in two directions, three if you count the turn-off to Ramalla. It's not a place I stand at of get off, but Arabs do, causing even more traffic and security chaos. That is why there are soldiers stationed there.

Yirmiyahu bus stop on a quieter night. (photo by Batya Medad)

And the bus stop where last night's tragedy took place is now part of our bus routes after a long struggle against the Ministry of Transportation that had amputated central Jerusalem from our bus lines. When I blogged about our "victory over city hall" on A Jewish Grandmother, that's the main bus stop we now use.

Now you shouldn't think I'm careless in my traveling. I'm an Arab terror attack survivor having been injured in the first "drive over Jews terror attack" just over twenty years ago. And I'm not counting all of the times Arab terrorists threw rocks and whatever at vehicles I was in, sometimes not making a dent and other times breaking windows and even injuring passengers including family members. I couldn't count how many times I was in such an attack even if I tried. The first time we found ourselves being stoned by Arabs was even before moving to Shiloh in 1981.

Twenty years ago, immediately after realizing that I had been attacked and survived, I felt that the fear had gone away. I felt that my life was not in my hands; if Gd decides that it's the time to die, then that will be it, and the method is out of my control, whether illness, accident or Arab terror attack. The Arab terror attacks are so random, and considering the size and population of Israel, most Israelis will never be touched/injured directly. Yes, some people end up being targeted more than once. Harel Bin-Nun, HaYa"D, a neighbors' son was seriously injured when shot by Arab terrorists in the attack on the eve of the Madrid Conference, in the same drive by shooting in which my friend and neighbor Rachalla Druk, HaYa"D, and the  busdriver Yitzchak Rofeh, HaYa"D, were murdered over twenty years ago. He miraculously recovered, but then was murdered by Arab terrorists almost ten years later in Yitzhar.

One of the major aims of the Arab terrorists is to cause such fear and paralysis in Israeli life that people will do "anything" to stop it including further weakening the country. An objective look at the history of Israeli concessions and territorial and administrative withdrawals in favor or the Arabs will show how counterproductive they have been. We were much safer forty-five 45 years ago, when the Arabs were afraid of us. Now they know how weak our will to survive is. The government leaders, epitomized by the Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu, are still trying to pander to foreign approval, which we'll never get.

Only true leadership which considers the needs of Israel and its loyal citizens as priority will stop the Arab terror against us!! We shouldn't fear the Arabs and international public opinion; we should just fear Gd Almighty!!