Jewish Terrorist Murders Arabs

Shamefully, an extremist Israeli—AWOL from his army unit—murdered four Israeli-Arabs on a bus in what can only be described as an act of cowardly terrorism. The attack took place in Shafaram, northern Israel. Shafaram is an Israeli-Arab village with a population that is roughly half Muslim and half Druze, with a sprinkling of Christians. The Druze, incidentally, are loyal to the state and young Druze men serve in the Israeli Defense Forces in the same capacity as Jewish Israelis. But for 19 year-old Eden Tzuberi, none of that mattered—he just saw Arabs that he wanted to kill. Every group has its racists and extremists, Tzuberi was one of ours. So far, thankfully, it appears that he acted on his own and not as a part of a terrorist group or network.

Prime Minster Ariel Sharon has condemned this despicable assault in the strongest of terms:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a statement calling the attack "a criminal act of a bloodthirsty terrorist targeting innocent Israeli civilians." He said that he instructed security officials to make the investigation of the incident a top priority.

"This terrorist incident is a purposeful attempt to harm relations between Israeli citizens," Sharon said. "Terror of one citizen against others is the greatest danger to the future of Israel as a democracy. All of Israel, without regard to religion, race, or gender condemns this attack. The Israeli government is determined to defend its citizens of every sector."

While the authorities investigate the attack, we should all pray for the dead and wounded. We should also hope that Israeli-Arab political leaders and members of Knesset behave in a responsible manner and not use this horrible incident as an excuse to incite their constituents.