This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5560

Arabs Attack Israelis Caught In Traffic Jam

November 23, 2012

Arabs Attack Drivers, Police Watch

Binyamin residents angry as video shows police doing nothing to stop Arab attacks on helpless Israeli drivers stuck in traffic. By Maayana Miskin First Publish: 11/23/2012, 1:16 PM

A new video showing police inaction in the face of Arab rock attacks has caused anger among residents of the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem.

The video was taken as an Arab gang attacked Israeli drivers who were stuck in traffic. A massive traffic jam forms daily between the Adam junction, just minutes north of Jerusalem, and the Hizme checkpoint at the entrance to the city.

"We just sat there and got hit," related one of the drivers. "We had no way to respond."

The video showed that it was not only the drivers who found themselves silent in the face of the aggressive assault, but also police. An Israeli man at the scene caught police on video doing nothing to stop the assault or disperse the attackers.

When he asked repeatedly why they were not taking action, he was told, "We don't have the equipment" and "We've called a squad." One officer told him, "For each camera you have, they have ten," hinting that the inaction was motivated at least in part by fear of reprisals if the officers were portrayed as aggressors by the rioters.

Benny Katzover, head of the Samaria Residents' Council, said, "Unfortunately, this video clip exposes the face of the Israeli Police and the factors that security forces have in mind when they are asked to take action against Arabs."

"It is truly humiliating to sit in a traffic jam and get hit with no ability to act," he added. "This traffic jam is not only a nuisance, but a security risk, as we have warned dozens of times."

Rock attacks in Judea and Samaria have caused injury and death in the past. Most recently, a 60-year-old woman suffered serious head wounds on Tuesday when an Arab gang attacked as she and her daughter drove south of Jerusalem.

A Border Police spokesman responded to the charges that police did not assist drivers under attack. The police officers in question were not equipped to deal with a riot, he said. "The officers called active-duty teams to the scene who responded… and dispersed the rioters," he stated.

The incident is under investigation "and lessons will be learned if needed," he added.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162448

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5560