Arab Drive By

13 of the Eighth Month 5768

Usually when you hear the word "drive by" shooting, you think of Los Angeles gangs.

Well, today there was a "drive by" in my 'hood, near Shkhem (often identified as Nablus by the international news media).

The shooting took place at the northern entrance to Ariel, a city in Samaria which site midway between Tel-Aviv and the the Jordanian border. In order to catch the shooter, the road was blocked between Ariel and Tapu'ah Junction.

I arrived to catch the bus to Jerusalem about an hour after the shooting. Tapu'ah Junction, the main crossroads in the area, which joins the Jerusalem road with northern Samaria, and the coast with the Jordanian border, was packed with cars and trucks coming in from all directions, and trying to move on in all directions. Needless to say it was a mess! (Click map to enlarge)

I knew that there was no way that the bus was going to get through, and most likely had already decided to skip my bus stop. So I did something which many of you may is crazy. I started walking south,...unarmed. My goal was to get out of the mess, and get to the next town, Rehelim, where the main highway is joined by road from Ariel's southern entrance. Once there, it would be possible for me to catch a ride toward Jerusalem. I have walked this road before, and was not concerned.

I was joined by a former student. We exchanged news about Havath Gil'ad, where he was headed to help defend its residents from the continual plague of Arab harassment and by the self-hating Jews who come along to egg the Arabs on. The Israeli government is supposed to call that kind of activity "incitement," but doesn't because religious Jews are not involved.

Shortly before we reached Rehelim, we could tell that the roadblock had been lifted, by the renewed flow of traffic.

I later learned that the terrorists had still not been caught.

But, I digress...

Various organizations like the UN, EU, and any number of NGO's constantly criticize Israel for the "great hardship" it causes the Arabs through the roadblocks it sets up in Judea and Samaria.

Well, this is why. The roadblocks are set up to prevent such attacks, by hindering the movement of arms and of the terrorists themselves. Critics have also come down on the IDF for the searching of ambulances, even though incidents of ambulances smuggling arms are well-documented.

It is clear that the so-called "international community" cares more about the occasional inconvenience to Arabs' than actual Jewish lives. I wish that fact were clear to my Jewish brothers and sisters in the U. S. and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, just where did the Arabs get their weapons from?

A certain former, Israeli prime minister authorized the arming of the Arabs about 13 years ago.

A certain, current president of Israel has repeatedly reassured us that those authorized firearms have never been behind the killing of Jews. (???!!!)

Funny. I don't feel very reassured. There was just a "drive by" in my 'hood.

Since the system of roadblocks is not 100 percent effective. So there really is only one solution... But we are not allowed to talk about it. For if we do, we are accused of "incitement."