Walking through the Old City, I often noticed the many security cameras mounted high on the walls of the alleyways. I wondered if anyone was watching, and if so, how they kept from falling asleep. This weekend that footage came in handy, when an Israeli Arab grabbed the pistol of a security guard and shot him. That footage is now online, but before you watch it, a few words. What you’re seeing is footage from multiple cameras, stitched together so you can see the full progression of the event. Initially you see the attacker following the guards. Later you see the gun grab, and then a few shots of the shootings. If you’ve spent much time in the Christian Quarter, you may recognize the streets.<\/p>\n
You can watch the video here<\/a>, as released by the Jerusalem police. If you’re a parent or you are going to Israel in the future, you should watch this<\/a> instead.<\/p>\n A few words about the attacker. He was an Israeli Arab, which means that he is an Israeli citizen (and was all of his 29 years). Some will suggest this even means that all Israeli Arabs are evil and Jew-killers. There are many reasons why this is false, including the reality that those who initially helped the wounded Jewish soldier were Arabs.<\/p>\n There’s another reality that must be noted, however. The funeral of the attacker was held in Kefar Manda (near the real Cana, and a city I’ve been in several times). Here is what the JPost<\/a> said about the funeral.<\/p>\n Khatib, who is survived by his pregnant wife and young daughter, was buried on Sunday in Kafr Manda in a funeral attended by thousands, carrying green Islamic Movement flags. <\/p>\n The funeral began with a speech by Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch. “Those who murdered Ahmed Khatib are criminals, terrorists and cowards” he said. He also promised that those responsible will be cursed by Ahmed’s blood. <\/p>\n Ahmed’s father, Mahmoud, said that the security tapes were a fabrication, claiming that police had told him that evidence was still inconclusive. He blamed the security guards for his son’s death, but said that ultimate responsibility lay with the Israeli government.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In my opinion, the response of the thousands of Israeli Arab citizens is much more troubling than the attempted murders by one of its members. These Arabs are not “oppressed West Bank Palestinians” who “had their land stolen.” They have lived in Israel for 60 years and have received benefits as citizens. This strongly suggests to me that the best possible peace deal with the Palestinians will not end Israel’s struggle with Arabs.<\/p>\n Israel has two problems, as I see it. The first are those in<\/em> and around her who desire her destruction. The second is an absolute rejection of the only One who can save the nation. According to Scripture, the first will be resolved when the second one is. Unfortunately, Israel is trying to solve the first without realizing that there is the second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walking through the Old City, I often noticed the many security cameras mounted high on the walls of the alleyways. I wondered if anyone was watching, and if so, how they kept from falling asleep. This weekend that footage came in handy, when an Israeli Arab grabbed the pistol of a security guard and shot him. \u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-modern-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n