Twenty Years Since I Was Runover by a Terrorist

With Shabbat Zachor approaching, that means that it's soon going to be twenty, yes 20 years since "my terror attack" when I was run over by an Arab terrorist.

Today the sidewalk where I had been standing with a few dozen others does not exist. It's the crosswalk over the lightrail tracks. Twenty years ago there was no light rail, and to go to Shiloh, other Mateh Binyamin (County) communities and the Shomron, Samaria, one continued down the road through Ramalla. This was the place with lots of bus stops, besides being a trempiada.

At the time, the Arab terror tactic/weapon of choice was explosives to blow up oneself and as many bus passengers as possible. This was the time of Arab suicide bombers, think of the World War Two kamikaze pilots who killed themselves while trying to blow up Ally/American ships. Not just any culture can train/indoctrinate to do such things.

I'm pretty sure that there hadn't been any Arab terrorist rammings, like the one I had experienced, before this one. There had been knifings/stabbings, shootings and the suicide bus bombers. And during the few weeks before the attack, there had been lots of suicide attacks. To try to calm down people and since the police/army hadn't been there, they first announced that it had been an accident and began prosecution of the young men who neutralized/executed the terrorist on the spot after he had jumped menacingly out of his car.

Considering that the terrorist's car had made a sharp turn over my foot, knocking me down to the ground, I was very lucky that I wasn't seriously injured. Many others were, because he drove into the crowd waiting for buses and rides. A woman was murdered, too, by him.

I've blogged a lot about the attack over the years, because it happened, and although today I have recovered physically, one can never wipe out such a thing. And this is the season that the memories get stronger and stronger, especially considering that today's arab terrorists have been utilizing this terror attack method.

And no doubt, I'll blog more about it. Remember that Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat before Purim is when we are commanded by Gd to remember what Amalek had done to us and what the modern Amalek is still doing. It's clear in my mind that the Arab terrorists of today are today's Amalek.

Do you have any questions about the attack you'd like answers to?

It Had Seemed So Much Longer, And Very Forboding

The roads near French Hill, Jerusalem, have changed yet again. Not all that long ago I ranted about our loss the the combination bus stop and "trempiada," around the corner from French Hill. Now if you're coming from north of Jerusalem, like Shiloh, or even Pisgat Ze'ev and Neve Ya'akov, you have to take a very round-about way to French Hill. And if you're going by bus, you need an additional bus or walk further and through an Arab neighborhood.

Monday night was the opening of the Jerusalem Conference in the Hyatt Hotel, which is between French Hill and Mount Scopus and in what's considered an "Arab neighborhood." I've walked there from French Hill, and that was my plan. But the bus didn't stop across from French Hill. It took the bridge and left me off at Ammunition Hill, across from Ramat Eshkol, catty-corner from the "white statue," which isn't a Calder.


I was stuck with a dilemma. How could I go to the hotel? Walking through French Hill was no longer a reasonable option, due to distance and an "unpleasant" section of roadway. Walking up as it to the hospital would take a while, too. Taxis aren't in the budget of the unemployed, and there is a direct road straight to the hotel, but I've only seen Arabs walk there. I called my husband to ask, and he answered:

"Take the road by the statue."
"But it's full of Arabs."
"So, what could happen?"
"They could kill me."
"There are guards there at one of the buildings."

I tried to get myself into a strong, confident posture and pace. They say that body language is a great defensive weapon. But really, an over-weight middle-aged behatted woman with a backpack strapped to my back, and a fanny-pack and camera strapped to my waist, I definitely didn't look very Arab. I looked like one of those crazy Jews from a sic "settlement." The road felt very long. I was nervous about terrorists and being run over, since there wasn't a sidewalk. And I've already been run over by an Arab terrorist.

I noticed the guard, and he noticed me, and soon I got to the end of the road, turned right and could already see the hotel. Over the following two days, I took that route, again and again and again. This may not follow the Laws of Physics, but I am sure that it got shorter and even shorter. The last time I walked it, close to 2pm yesterday, it only seemed a couple of blocks long. And, no, it didn't sprout a sidewalk.


I'm glad that I walked it, because it is now the best way to get between French Hill and Ramat Eshkol. And I faced and conquered a fear.

Please believe me; it looked much more frightening in the dark!

Complicating Life Further

For at least thirty years, a corner of Northern Jerusalem, at the edge of French Hill, just across from the "villa" neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol there have been bus stops and place for tremping, hitchhiking to the Shomron, Jordan Valley, and further.

It was originally on the corner going to Shuafat, Beit Chanina and Ramalla. Then the new road was built to Pisgat Ze'ev, and the buses were rerouted to there. Rabin's Oslo included a lot of new roads, and we no longer had to travel through Ramalla, which is situated just north of Jerusalem on the Patriarchs' Path, which connects Shechem, Shiloh, Beit El, Jerusalem, Hebron and Beersheva.

Waiting for a bus at the "trempiada," has not been just fun, games, rain, wind and sun. Arab terrorists targeted it a few times. That's where I was injured.

Periodically, the police have tried to get people to stop waiting and cars to stop stopping. But it's not so simple. Where else can I be dropped off to wait for a ride home after the last bus has left? And why should I travel from French Hill or Hebrew University at Mt. Scopus all the way in the wrong direction to the Central Bus Station to go home? And how many hours can we wait in the bus station when there's a good chance a neighbor is looking to do a mitzvah and take us home?

The lightrail did it. All of a sudden things have changed, and of course the Jerusalem Municipality didn't think it important enough to warn people about the changes.

I took these videos from the bus yesterday. The situation isn't safe.