Improving Safety and Traffic at Shiloh Junction

Just a few years ago, the powers that be in our Binyamin region thought they were improving our lives by building a sort of bus stop/hitchhiking post on Highway 60 going north at the Shiloh Junction. It has a bench, top and backing. For safety there are even a few poles that in theory would stop a terrorist vehicle from ramming into waiting Jews seated there.

Yes, in theory, sitting at some desk, designed and planned by "experts" who own cars and get cars from their employers, that bus stop/hitchhiking post is a gem.

But for us, those who get dropped off there, or those who have to that bus stop/hitchhiking post, it's terrifying.

• The bus stop/hitchhiking post is far north from the Shiloh junction.
• There's no safety barrier, or even sidewalk between the "shelter" and the turnoff to Shiloh.
• Walking to the Shiloh turnoff requires walking directly into traffic, and most of the traffic is Arab. 
• Walking from the Shiloh turnoff requires having your back to the traffic.
• All this brings up my post traumatic stress from the terror attack, first ramming, in which I was injured over twenty years ago.

A couple of months ago, there was an announcement that due to the heavy traffic by the Shiloh Junction, we're being upgraded to a traffic light. 

Thank Gd, more than just a traffic light will be gracing our junction. The entire Shiloh Junction is being upgraded. There will be designated lanes for right turns. The construction of this new Shiloh Junction has been causing traffic delays most nights. It's far from finished, but the terrifying walk along the road is now a thing of the past. Last night I happily hopped, skipped and jumped while making my way through the dirt and rocks until I could cross the road and catch a ride going into Shiloh. The icing on the cake was when someone offered me a ride before I even reached the sidewalk. 

Next big request is that they make that  bus stop/hitchhiking post into an official bus stop, so we'll have more transportation northwards to Eli, Ariel and Tapuach. Gd willing....

Potential Security Deterioration in Mateh Binyamin

For years when there had been reports of terror attacks, drive bys, rammings, shootings, stabbings at various roadside bus stops in Gush Etzion and the Shomron (Samaria), I'd be able to say that in Mateh Binyamin our security experts have tried to protect us by not approving roadside bus stops. This has now changed.

There have always been trempiadas, hitchhiking posts on the main roads, but official bus stops had been restricted to either inside of communities passing guard posts, like in Ofra, Kochav Hashachar and Sha'ar Binyamin or inside junctions, where there are soldiers stationed, like near the gas station on the way to Psagot/Tel Zion. And until two days ago, January 20, 2019, Givat Asaf, the T junction to Beit El and Ramalla.

When the road "planners" of Mateh Binyamin "upgraded" that junction, which has been plagued by traffic jams and terror attacks, they somehow forgot that not only are there buses that go to and from Beit El, but all of the buses on Highway 60 in both directions turn in so that passengers can board and unboard. More frequently than you'd like to imagine, the buses got stuck, because various vehicles blocked their way. In addition, there was no coordination between where the buses turned and the exiting bus stop. The whole setup had become a major nightmare, but at least if I caught a ride going into Beit El, I could wait relatively safely on the inner road for a bus going towards Jerusalem.

For me, ramming terror attacks are something I've experienced, so I fear them more than other terror genres. I was lightly injured in the very first ramming terror attack over twenty years ago. 

I was horrified to discover that from now on the official bus stops are on the main road. There is now a traffic light, including a pedestrian one, but that decreases security. I've passed by a few times already, and travelers are on their own there. Security personnel stand in relative safety inside structures on the inner road leading to Beit El and Ramalla.

Here are some photos I took yesterday going north on my way home to Shiloh:

the new Givat Asaf Junction, showing its traffic lights

bus stop going south towards Jerusalem
buses stopped to pick up and let off passengers will stop traffic

going north to Ofra, Shiloh and Ariel

going north to Ofra, Shiloh and Ariel

Deja Vu, Another Terror Ramming

Every time an Arab terrorist uses a vehicle as a weapon against Israelis/Jews, I feel an ache. Over twenty years ago, I was most probably the very first to be injured by an Arab terrorist who drove his vehicle into a group of Jews waiting at a bus stop. Nobody can remember such a terror attack before "mine." The Israeli police tried to claim that it was an "accident," but we managed to convince them that nobody "accidentally" makes a sharp turn onto a sidewalk and another sharp turn to mow down shocked, unprepared innocent people.

Why am I writing about these terror attacks again? It's because right before Shabbat, there was another terror ramming attack.

Two killed, two injured in car-ramming attack in Samariapic.twitter.com/iRmWCrgpN0

IDF Sergeant Netanel Kahalani, Courtesy of the family (Arutz 7)

An IDF officer and a soldier were killed and two additional soldiers were injured in a car-ramming attack adjacent to Mevo Dotan in Samaria on Friday afternoon.
The injured soldiers were taken to the hospital for medical treatment, said the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
The Arab terrorist initially fled the scene but was later caught. The IDF said he was injured and was taken to the hospital. He is being questioned and IDF troops are searching the area.

Recently this has become much too common, and that is because it really is easy. And there aren't any totally effective ways to prevent these ramming attacks.

All we can do is to stay alert, keep our eyes on the traffic. And when we're waiting, we should "case the joint," look and see where we can find protection. And of course we must always pray to Gd. Gd can protect us, but we must do our part.

Refuah Shleimah, a full and speedy recovery to the injured.

Terror: Car Ramming, My Story on The Radio

Tamar Yonah interviewed me by phone.
Photo by Yisrael Medad

This morning Tamar Yonah, a well-known Israeli radio personality, called me to interview me about "my terror attack." Over twenty years ago I was lightly injured in what was most probably the very first ramming by an Arab terrorist.

This should never be considered a "minor" terror attack. A woman was murdered and about twenty innocent Jews injured that day. An Arab terrorist drove his car into us. We were innocently standing at a bus stop, on the sidewalk when he made a sharp right and then a sharp left on my foot and knocked me down.

One of the greatest dangers of this genre of terror is that it is so easy. Anyone with a vehicle of any sort, can terrorize and murder with ease. Today this is well-known and not only in Israel. There have been many such attacks, even with heavy vehicles like trucks and tractors. But in early 1996, when I was knocked down, the police and politicians tried to claim it was an "accident."

You're invited to listen to the interview by clicking here and here.

Op-ed I Wrote About Terror Attack 1966

Someone found the article I wrote for the Jerusalem Post about the terror attack in which I was injured. You may find it interesting. It was most probably the first "ramming" attack, meaning that the Arab terrorist used his car as a weapon, drove over the sidewalk in an attempt to kill and maim as many Jews as possible.

Ramming Terror Attacks, Too Easy

Soldier murdered near Ofra: Elhai Taharlev

Considering that I was injured in the first ramming terror attack over twenty years ago, I'm a bit hyper-worried about them. I must admit that I had seen the car that hit me approach, but then I turned away to tell my friend that I wouldn't go in since the driving wasn't good.

I learned my lesson and since then I've been pretty alert to what's happening on the road when I wait for a bus or ride. I'm known as that crazy old lady with the American accented Hebrew telling others to be careful. I've even told soldiers that they're not doing their jobs when they ignore dangerous behavior. And I've bitten my tongue many times when I've wanted to tell soldiers supposedly guarding that very stop outside of Ofra that they should be paying attention to the traffic, potential terrorists, and not chatting or looking at their phones.

Many times when waiting at that stop outside of Ofra, I plan escape and wonder how badly injured I'd be jumping into the nearby ditch.

Well, that nearby ditch is a lot better than what we have outside of Shiloh going north. Honestly, I don't remember waiting there for a ride, but many times I've gotten out of rides, and I don't like it.

When they fixed it up and put a few protective poles, they certainly didn't think of everything to protect someone who just has to go a hundred meters or so to the Shiloh Road/entrance.

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago planning on writing about how nervous this makes me, but I hadn't gotten around to it. This morning this was a terror attack at Ofra's entrance resulting in the death of a young soldier.

Terror Ramming Attacks Cross All Borders, Berlin, Too

As you may well know, I'm a victim of one of the first Arab terrorist ramming attacks, which happened just over twenty years ago in Jerusalem. Considering how easy it is for terrorists and apolitical murderers to perpetrate such an attack, I guess we should be grateful that it hasn't become more popular/common.

Killer trucks*: What can the West do to stop the next attack?
Following Monday’s terrorist attack in Germany, what can the Germans and the rest of the West do better to prevent the next terror attack? (Jerusalem Post)

Rescue workers tow the truck which ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital last night in Berlin, Germany, December 20, 2016. (photo credit:REUBEN BRAND)

I hate to say this, but there really isn't any way to stop such terror attacks. Basically, anyone with a drivers license or access to a vehicle can use it to murder, maim and terrorize. The Arab terrorist who injured me drove a small ordinary car into us, which resulted in one murder and some horrific injuries to others who had been innocently waiting at the bus stop.

The latest report from Berlin is that the terrorist hasn't yet been caught. That makes for a very dangerous holiday season in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.

Terror and terrorising is becoming too easy.  There's no need to purchase explosive or MacGyver a bomb. Just take your car, or the truck or any large vehicle you drive at work, and...

The modern world keeps getting more dangerous!

*Another really dumb and inaccurate headline. The trucks aren't the killers; they are the tool/weapon used by the killer/terrorist.

TERROR in France Yet Again

I had completely different blogging plans for this morning, but the news that greeted me changed it all.

Yes, there was yet another TERROR ATTACK in France. I'm capitalizing it, because the news agencies and mainstream newspapers are inexplicably putting quotation marks around the word "terror," "terrorist."

Truck 'terrorist' kills 80 in Nice Bastille Day crowd
A "terrorist" gunman killed 80 people and wounded scores when he drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday, officials said. (Reuters)

This TERRORIST ramming dwarfs all those we've suffered.

PHOTOPQR/NICE MATIN/MAXPPP/Newscom.com

French police forces and forensic officers stand next to a truck July 15, 2016 that ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday on the Promenade des Anglais killing at least 60 people in Nice, France, July 14.. (photo credit:REUTERS) Jerusalem Post

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 80 people died and 18 were in a critical condition, with many more also wounded. 
Counter-terrorist investigators were seeking to identify the driver, who a local government official said opened fire before police shot him dead. The official said weapons and grenades were found inside the 25-tonne, unmarked articulated truck.
Officials said hundreds were hurt as the driver wove along the seafront, knocking them down "like skittles."
The attack, which came eight months and a day after Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers struck the French capital on a festive Friday evening, seemed so far to be the work of a lone assailant. Newspaper Nice-Matin quoted unidentified sources as saying the driver was a 31-year-old local of Tunisian origin. (JPost)

No doubt that the numbers may climb, since some of the severely injured may not survive, and some who survive will be affected, even seriously handicapped the rest of their lives.

The world is changing for sure; it is getting much more dangerous. Fact is that a very high percentage of terrorists are Muslim and many of them are Arab, too. I'm talking just plain numbers. And western, once relatively safe, countries all over Europe and the United States, too, are welcoming lots of Arab Muslims from countries like Syria. That is in addition to the illegals sneaking in.

It's harder for an ordinary Jewish Israeli twenty-something to get a tourist visa to visit the United States than it is for a Syrian Muslim to be accepted as a future USA citizen.

US will welcome target of 10,000 Syria refugees, says Kerry

And we've all read those articles about European countries, especially in Germany where Muslim refugees have taken over, changing the demography, norms a safety of what once were safe, sleepy villages.

To be perfectly honest, I feel safest here in Israel, and when I have to travel to the states I feel more secure about paying more for a direct flight, rather than changing planes in a European airport.

Safety Tremping- Are The New Poles Safer Than Cement Blocks?

Yesterday, while on the bus on the way to work, while passing Ofra I saw that the cement blocks protecting trempistim aka hitchhikers were being replaced by brightly colored  poles.

going north, towards Shiloh, Eli, Ariel etc

going north, towards Shiloh, Eli, Ariel etc

going south, towards Jerusalem

Even though these poles are installed well and into the ground, I am not impressed, nor am I comforted nor feel safer. The security experts first started putting in poles to protect bus stops and hose waiting, after the terrorist rammed into us twenty years ago. They do protect a bit when the weapon is a regular car. But I always felt much safer when able to hid behind those cement barriers if there would be a shooting attack by terrorists.

No, Baruch Hashem and bli eyin haraa, (not the tempt the Evil Eye,) I was never shot at. But while waiting for buses and tremps (rides) I do rehearse in my mind how to hide from danger. And considering the amount of shooting attacks, I don't think that the cement barriers should be scrapped.

What do you think?

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?

Will These Poles Really Protect Us?

Yes, it's deja vu time yet again. 

The two most popular, rather low tech, methods the Arab terrorists have been using to try to murder us of late are pretty old. 

#1- Stabbing, of course is the simplest, because every home kitchen has knives that can murder, and they're pretty easy to hide. One of the very first Arab terror murder by stabbing that made a strong impression on me was when Arab terrorists knifed/stabbed Aharon Gross, HaYa"D, in Hebron over thirty-two years ago. That's because I know the family very well. And there is nothing one can actually do, besides trying to be hyper-alert, against a stabbing attack.

#2- Ramming a Vehicle into Innocent Bystanders, for this one needs vehicle, a car or as some terrorists have used, a tractor or any other mobile weapon. It's close to twenty years since I was run over by what may have been the first terrorist to try that method. It's amazing how unprepared ordinary people waiting for a bus may be and how quickly and easily a vehicle can veer onto the sidewalk to kill and maim. There have even been unintended accidents with the same deadly results.

I remember how twenty years ago after I had been injured how quickly the government put poles up by that bus stop, and now they're at it again.

Cement barricades are used, too, on main roads.

They are all only effective if people make a point of standing behind them, but none of these methods will make any difference when it comes to knife attacks, unfortunately.

All I can say on an optimistic note is that the attacks are less common than the headlines would make you believe, and more and more times armed and trained civilians, along with official security, have managed to quickly and promptly execute the terrorist, thank Gd. That is what also happened to the terrorist who attacked me, seriously injured a couple a dozen and murdered a woman.