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Hussam Duwiyat. (AP)
Last update - 09:09 03/07/2008
ANALYSIS / Terrorist or petty criminal run amok?
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Tags: east jerusalem, israel 

During the years prior to the Six-Day War, divided Jerusalem was rife with the phenomenon of the "mad Jordanian": A soldier from the Arab Legion suddenly and with no apparent reason began taking shots at civilians on the Israeli side of the borders.

The Jordanians said that the man was crazy and in that way absolved themselves from any responsibility for his acts. Hussam Duwiyat, the terrorist who ran amok with a bulldozer in the middle of Jerusalem - and his neighbor, Ala Abu-Dahim, who murdered eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva four months ago - appear to be a Palestinian incarnation of the same modus operandi.

The Shin Bet security service agents who arrived at the home of the terrorist's family in Sur Baher in East Jerusalem, are now looking for clues as to the motive behind the deed. They will try to find out when was the last time Duwiyat visited a mosque, and whether he heard there unusual words of incitement against Israel. Some of the terrorists who carried out attacks in recent years of their own volition, and with no links to any organization, had been driven to take action out of deep religious feelings.
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The neighbors of the murderer Wednesday had contradictory observations to give the press about his character - from descriptions that he was "a regular guy" to calling him a petty criminal, but they all agreed that he did not regularly go to mosque.

Perhaps he was upset because of some personal experience, a quarrel with his Israeli supervisor at work or a random insult from a policeman. The probe into the attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva did not reveal any links between the killer and any organization. The shooter, Ala Abu-Dahim, was a born-again former criminal. His family said that he was shocked by the photographs of Palestinian civilians killed in the Gaza Strip during the Israel Defense Force's operation "Hot Winter," which ended several days prior to the attack.

This time around, the Gaza Strip is calm, but it seems that not every killer needs an immediate incentive.

During the past five years the security forces, primarily the Shin Bet, have had impressive success. The number of Israelis killed as a result of Palestinian terrorism dropped from 426 in 2002 to only 13 last year. Whoever argues that it is not possible to win decisively in the asymmetric warfare against terrorism, will have to agree that in the West Bank Israel has achieved this to the maximum degree possible.

But the two latest outrages in Jerusalem, in which one person attacks, is something for which an early warning based on intelligence is almost impossible. When the murderer is a lone terrorist, with no infrastructure backing him, and not having spoken about it, it is hard to stop him. In Wednesday's incident, even the murder weapon did not prove to be a problem, as Duwiyat was an employee of a construction firm, the regular operator of a bulldozer.

The Arabs of East Jerusalem carry blue identity cards (but do not have citizenship), move about in the capital with no restraint, speak fluent Hebrew and do not raise suspicions. So when it comes to the residents of East Jerusalem, their interaction with the terrorist's target population is inevitable.

Contrary to its image of serenity, the eastern part of the city has been active in terrorism during both intifadas: About 300 residents were arrested during the last eight years for their role in terrorism.

Precisely because the area is territory under full Israeli control, no real response is expected at this time. If Hamas is not responsible, and the Palestinian Authority is not to blame, Israel has no target against whom to retaliate. On the other hand, politicians outdid each other yesterday (including the prime minister and the defense minister), in aggressive declarations. It seems this time they will try to raze the home of the terrorist, a retaliatory act that was put on hold in the case of the attack on Mercaz Harav.

The enthusiasm for this initiative - a sort of magic formula - is strange. The IDF ceased razing homes in the West Bank in 2005 when a committee headed by Major General Ehud Shani concluded that destroying homes has not proved to be a deterrent, because it did more harm than good.

While Islamic Jihad lauded the bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, Hamas avoided expressing any enthusiastic support for the act. The family of the terrorist did not put up any Hamas flags on its home, and the family did not receive even a partial endorsement from the organization.

Irrespective of the questionable criminal record of the terrorist, it seems that the measured response of Hamas is linked more to the group's wish to lower - at this time - its public visage in the confrontation with Israel. The attack in Jerusalem does not serve Hamas well at a time when it is mostly seeking to improve the living conditions in the Gaza Strip, and it needs Israel's agreement in order to keep the crossings into the Strip open.

It is doubtful that the bulldozer operator had planned the attack in advance, but the attack took place under the media's nose, in front of the building that houses foreign news outlets. The people who were passing in Jaffa Road, and all of Jerusalem, relived the terrible days of the intifada at its height, between 2001-2003. A serious attack in four months may undermine the sense of security that was restored with significant effort.

Even if most of those killed this year have been victims of an individual's attack in Jerusalem and rocket and mortar shelling from the Strip (both forms of terrorism that are hard to prevent), the statistics are troubling: 26 dead in six months. This number of victims is four times greater than last year.

Related articles:
  • Two teachers among the dead in Jerusalem attack
  • Palestinian terrorism as a natural act
  • 56 MKs sign petition calling to raze home of Mercaz Harav gunman
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      1.   Well, well as if this makes any difference 03:25  |  Genuine Tosefta 03/07/08
      2.   Jerusalem syndrome? More like Muslim syndrome. 04:13  |  Terry 03/07/08
      3.   Clearly, the Issue Now Concerns This Idiot`s Affiliation 04:30  |  MIKE 03/07/08
      4.   More Leftist idiocies 05:09  |  Frank 03/07/08
      5.   It is a sad reality 05:20  |  gus 03/07/08
      6.   Stop frustrating the poor Arab 05:50  |  Dave 03/07/08
      7.   sometimes people just snap 05:58  |  RM 03/07/08
      8.   terrible incident. no question about it! 06:00  |  bashar 03/07/08
      9.   #1 is a dreamer. Arabs hate Jews 06:20  |  George 03/07/08
      10.   Wrong Vehicle Description 06:24  |  Jesse Hamilton 03/07/08
      11.   Most people do snap for a reason 06:30  |  Ilan 03/07/08
      12.   bashar, frustrating `incident`, you call it? 06:36  |  terry 03/07/08
      13.   Killing Jews and the Get-Out-Of-Jail Card 06:45  |  Gilad 03/07/08
      14.   jerusalem bulldoser. 06:51  |  Ramachandran Nair 03/07/08
      15.   #7 wrong generalization, history shows the opposite 07:11  |  bashar 03/07/08
      16.   terry, you no choice but to resolve this coflict 07:19  |  bashar 03/07/08
      17.   #7 bashar - BUT can YOU ever GUARANTEE that arabs will STOP 07:27  |  CK Tan 03/07/08
      18.   When Israel (and Israelis) will take any responsibility? 08:13  |  Ulf 03/07/08
      19.   ck tan, sure they will stop 08:16  |  bashar 03/07/08
      20.   Interesting article... 08:19  |  Johnboy 03/07/08
      21.   #11 Ilan, the psychologist? 08:22  |  Maureen Ann 03/07/08
      22.   #4 Yes a kind of Baruch Goldstein 08:33  |  Ulf 03/07/08
      23.   To all the Arabs living on the Land of Israel ! 08:37  |  Jean Van Daem 03/07/08
      24.   #16, they don`t bashar if they`re dead 08:42  |  terry 03/07/08
      25.   No bashar, the Jew shooting in Hebron was declared a terrorist 08:44  |  terry 03/07/08
      26.   Double standards 08:56  |  Roz 03/07/08
      27.   it happens everywhere 09:00  |  robert of jerusalem 03/07/08
      28.   To #1: that sounds familiar 09:10  |  Filmviteren 03/07/08
      29.   Rachel Corie. 09:19  |  Imad 03/07/08
      30.   Ulf idiot, Arabs are a thousand times worse than Baruch Goldstein 09:26  |  Genuine Tosefta 03/07/08
      31.   #23 09:26  |  anon 03/07/08
      32.   WITH OR WITHOUT THIS ATTACK 09:30  |  indrajaya 03/07/08
      33.   Not the Shin Bet but The Wall has stopped attacks 09:36  |  Aaron 03/07/08
      34.   Reap what you sow 09:49  |  Natallie Durson 03/07/08
      35.   Pathetic analysis 09:50  |  Mike Friedman 03/07/08
      36.   Not so Petty Criminals versus Terrorists 09:55  |  Tzfonit 03/07/08
      37.   Democratic State ? Why did they kill the man? Was he armed? 10:04  |  Freedom 03/07/08
      38.   The Family Home in East Jerusalemshould NOT be razed 10:08  |  Dagma 03/07/08
      39.   Don`t insult Palestinians or Arabs or Moslems 10:10  |  Steve the Pals. 03/07/08
      40.   The Family Home of the Bulldozer Arab should not be razed 10:17  |  Dolly 03/07/08
      41.   or perhaps... 10:18  |  Mike 03/07/08
      42.   Pals. can sing a song 10:32  |  Dav 03/07/08
      43.   #25, terry... get your facts straight.. 10:34  |  bashar 03/07/08
      44.   The Belgium smart reaction from " Freedom " 10:35  |  Hans 03/07/08
      45.   Ha`aretz why in gods name? 10:38  |  Hans 03/07/08
      46.   terry, clean up your behavior... 10:41  |  bashar 03/07/08
      47.   he didn`t run amuk in east Jerusalem! 10:42  |  ecr 03/07/08
      48.   Freedom or so you call yourself #37 10:52  |  Tzfonit 03/07/08
      49.   #37 Of course he was armed, Freedom 10:53  |  Johnboy 03/07/08
      50.   He is a terrorist 10:59  |  rachel 03/07/08
      51.   attack in Jerusalem #2 Terry 11:10  |  Dik 03/07/08
      52.   To 39. Steve the Pals. Solve the problem 11:15  |  Altalena 03/07/08
      53.   #37 free in Belgium on why he was killed 11:21  |  Ari ben Yisrael 03/07/08
      54.   Razing the home would be almost as evil as the attack 11:24  |  Michael 03/07/08
      55.   #39If i would have killed allthe people who have insulted me 11:28  |  Susanna/Shoshana 03/07/08
      56.   To 34. Natallie. Reap what you sow 11:30  |  Altalena 03/07/08
      57.   What about the hundreds of dead Palestinians? 11:34  |  Marilyn 03/07/08
      58.   Freedom or Anarchy #37 11:35  |  Shlomo 03/07/08
      59.   To Steve the Pals 39 - My my you sound ready to kill 12:03  |  Natasha 03/07/08
      60.   Ramachandran Nair 14 12:04  |  ChanahS 03/07/08
      61.   bashar 16 - you have no choice either 12:07  |  ChanahS 03/07/08
      62.