Wednesday February 6, 2008

Column:

It was a 1 - 2- 3 punch.

An increase in terror inside Israel proper was as predictable as it was inevitable.

Step one, Gazans breached their border with Egypt. Step two, terrorists from Gaza set up new centers inside Egypt. Step three, the terrorists mobilized. Step four, BOOM.

This time the attack took place in a sleepy little city, primarily populated by immigrants and even a group of Black Muslims originally from Chicago. The city is called Dimona, it is home to the most developed nuclear reactor in Israel. The reactor was not the target. A pedestrian mall located in the city's commercial center was the target.

What makes this terror attack a classic example of terror attacks? The intention of this attack like all other attacks was to wreak havoc and devastation. The intention of this attack like all other attacks was to maim psychologically even more than to harm physically.

What makes this attack dramatically different from so many other attacks? One innocent little old lady who is now dead, one medic who ran to the scene as soon as the boom was heard, one well-trained police officer who saved many other innocent victims from dying and an entire group of people celebrating the deadly attack with candy and song.

After scanning the crowd to determine who was most in need of care the Jewish Israeli medic ran to the side of an Arab man lying on the ground. The medic evaluated the condition of the unknown stranger and ripped open his coat to begin administering care. And then he saw the explosive belt still strapped to his body. He had run to the aid of the second of two suicide bombers, a bomber whose worst nightmare had come true. His partner was dead, he was still alive. The medic, Salomon Amar, ran to help a patient as if he were any injured man, not a man dedicated to ending his own life as a mass murderer. Keeping watch was an Israeli policeman who, after rushing to the scene, had cleared out the area to protect those still uninjured from the blast. And when the hand of the suicide bomber reached towards the explosive belt still on his body, as the suicide bomber attempted to complete his mission, Kobi Mor, the policeman, shot him. Kobi Mor shot him four times in the head killing the Arab terrorist, the failed mass murderer. For 73 year old Lyubov Razdolsky, a retired physics professor, it was too late. She was already dead - killed on impact.

The attack in Dimona claimed three dead. Two suicide bombers and one old lady so badly disfigured that her sons could only assume that it was she after discovering that their father had been seriously injured and their mother was nowhere else to be found. Over thirty people were injured. And then the celebrations began.

These two terrorists were celebrated around the world. Their identities are known and were broadcast on TV and radio. I will not identity them by name, they are not deserving of recognition. They should not be googled, their photos should not be displayed. But the youth of Gaza would disagree with me.

Across Gaza young people handed out flowers and candy. Young men and women stood at intersections and stopped cars giving sweet and fragrant gifts in honor of the two murderers. There was shared laughter. There was a feeling of national pride.

Until we understand a culture that celebrates brutal killing, a culture that calls terrorists soldiers, a culture that transforms murderers and elevates them to the status of national heroes, we will never succeed in the fight against terror.

By reading or listening to the responses of Hamas and of other extremist groups in the Muslim world immediately following this lone attack in the city of Dimona one would think that a death blow had been dealt to Israel. How can anyone truly be convinced that murdering one elderly woman was a death blow to Israel? Hamas and Hamas henchmen, in this case the al Aksa Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinians, the groups claiming credit for this attack are not super powers, their operatives are not super heroes, they are simply a band of murderers.

They live in order to kill. And their victims are 73 year old women.

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