2008 Jerusalem BMW attack
31°46′44″N 35°13′30″E / 31.77889°N 35.22500°E / 31.77889; 35.22500
On 22 September 2008, a Palestinian drove a BMW saloon car into a group of civilians and off-duty soldiers in a terrorist ramming attack in Jerusalem, injuring 19 people. Stratfor Global Intelligence analysts say this attack represents a new terrorist tactic which is less lethal but could prove more difficult to prevent than suicide bombing.[1]
Background
The attack was a third in a series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem involving a new tactic, using vehicles as weapons; the others were the 2 July 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack and a similar attack with a Backhoe loader on 22 July.[2] The Jerusalem Post has termed them "ramming terror attacks."[3] According to Stratfor, the American global intelligence firm, "while not thus far as deadly as suicide bombing", this tactic could prove more difficult to prevent. No single group has claimed responsibility for the incidents.[1]
On 2 July 2008, Husam Tayseer Dwayat, an Arab Israeli citizen from the Sur Baher neighborhood of East Jerusalem drove an earthmover along Jaffa Road in West Jerusalem, slamming into a bus and passing cars. Four people were killed and another 45 were injured.[1]
Later that month, on 22 July 2008, Ghassan Abu Tir, from the Umm Tuba neighborhood of East Jerusalem, drove a front-loader into traffic on King David Street in West Jerusalem, slamming into a bus and passing cars. Sixteen people were injured.[1]
Patrick Martin, writing in The Globe and Mail in 2016, discussed this attack as an example of copycat terrorism.[4]
The attack
On 22 September 2008, the assailant, Qassem Mughrabi (alt. Qasim al-Mughabi), a 19-year-old Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem's Jabal Mukaber neighborhood, drove a black BMW saloon into a group of civilians and off-duty soldiers standing on a Jerusalem street.[5] [6] 19 people were injured.[7]
Mughrabi was shot dead at the scene[8] by off-duty soldier Lt. Elad Amar. Amar told Army Radio that the attacker "drove towards the soldiers at top speed, plowed onto the traffic island, ran over soldiers and civilians and then continued, ramming into a building. At that point I assessed that it was a terror attack and decided to neutralize the driver so that he wouldn't be able to reverse the car and continue the attack."[9]
The assailant
According to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency, Qassem Mughrabi was a member of Hamas.[10] Mughrabi's family denied that the event was a terror attack. Mahmoud Mughrabi, Qassem's father, said his son did not have a driving license and apparently lost control of the car. "My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack. This was a car accident." However, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were convinced the attack was politically motivated. "We're 100 percent sure ... he deliberately drove into people," Rosenfeld said.[11]
A number of Israeli Members of Parliament called for the demolition of the home of the assailant, as a means of discouraging future attacks.[12]
Vehicle ramming as a trend
This was one of a small cluster of terrorist vehicle-ramming attacks in Jerusalem in this period.[13] Articles in New York Magazine, Breitbart News, Haaretz, The Times of Israel, and other publications cite this attack as harbingers of the terrorist vehicle-ramming attacks that would occur in many countries during the 2010s.[14][15][16]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Israel: Vehicle Attacks - A New Militant Tactic?. Stratfor Global Intelligence
- ^ Entous, Adam (22 September 2008). "New Jeruslem vehicle "attack" as Livni seeks govt". Reuters India. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ Background: Ramming terror attacks in recent years, by JPOST.COM STAFF, Yaakov Lappin, Etgar Lefkovits, 29 August 2011, Jerusalem Post [1]
- ^ Martin, Patrick (15 July 2016). "Amid such chaos comes fears of emulation: With vehicles increasingly being used as weapons by lone-wolf killers, history suggests the threat of copy-cat attacks is very real". The Globe and Mail. ProQuest 1803998593.
- ^ Palestinian Car Rams Israelis, By Isabel Kershner, 22 September 2008, New York Times [2]
- ^ 22 September 2008, 15 wounded in terror attack at busy Jerusalem intersection, By Etgar Lefkovits, Shelly Paz, Jerusalem Post [3] [dead link]
- ^ Terrorist in car rams 19 in J'lem, By Jonathan Lis
- ^ Palestinian drives into crowd, injures 15, police say, CNN
- ^ 'He drove towards group at top speed,' The Jerusalem Post, 23 September 2008
- ^ 'J'lem terrorist was a Hamas member', by Etgar Lefkovits, The Jerusalem Post 23 September 2008 [4][permanent dead link]
- ^ "Father of Jerusalem attacker: My son's no terrorist". Haaretz. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ Selig, Abe (6 October 2008). "MKs visit east J'lem to push for demolition of terrorists' homes". The Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 319660890.
- ^ Lappin, Yaakov (29 August 2011). "Background: Ramming Terror Attacks in Recent Years". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Raymond, Adam (18 August 2017). "The Rise of Truck Attacks, the Terror Tactic of Today". New York. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ Sommer, Alison Kaplan (7 June 2017). "Concrete Barriers on the Street: Facing Terror Wave, London Adopts Israeli-style Measures". Haaretz. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- ^ Lidman, Melanie (4 August 2014). "In tractor rampage, a return to a familiar, and deadly, terror method". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
External links
- 13 Israeli Soldiers Hurt in Palestinian Vehicle Attack - published on Fox News on 22 September 2008
- 13 hurt by vehicle attack in Israel; driver killed - published on USA Today on 22 September 2008
- Troops hurt in Jerusalem car attack - published on Aljazeera on 23 September 2008
- 17 hurt as terrorist plows car into Jerusalem crowd - published on Haaretz on 22 September 2008
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Israel
- Azor attack3 (February 14, 2001)
- Netanya bombing2 (March 4, 2001)
- 1st HaSharon Mall entrance suicide bombing (May 18, 2001)
- Dolphinarium discotheque massacre2 (June 1, 2001)
- Binyamina train station suicide bombing (July 16, 2001)
- Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing2 (August 9, 2001)
- Nahariya train station suicide bombing (September 9, 2001)
- Camp 80 junction bus 823 attack (November 29, 2001)
- Ben Yehuda Street Bombings (December 1, 2001)
- Haifa bus 16 suicide bombing (December 2, 2001)
- Hadera attack (January 18, 2002)
- Tel Aviv outdoor mall bombing (January 25, 2002)
- Jaffa Street bombing (January 27, 2002)
- Karnei Shomron Mall suicide bombing (February 16, 2002)
- Yeshivat Beit Yisrael bombing (March 2, 2002)
- Seafood Market attack (March 5, 2002)
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- Egged bus 823 bombing (March 20, 2002)
- King George Street bombing (March 21, 2002)
- Passover massacre (March 27, 2002)
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- Rishon LeZion bombing (May 7, 2002)
- Netanya Market bombing (May 19, 2002)
- Pi Glilot bombing attempt (May 23, 2002)
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- Herzliya shawarma restaurant bombing (June 11, 2002)
- Patt Junction bus bombing (June 18, 2002)
- Neve Shaanan Street bombing (July 17, 2002)
- Hebrew University bombing (July 31, 2002)
- Meron Junction Bus 361 attack (August 4, 2002)
- Allenby Street bus bombing (September 19, 2002)
- Karkur junction suicide bombing (October 21, 2002)
- Metzer attack (November 2, 2002)
- Kiryat Menachem bus bombing (November 21, 2002)
- Beit She'an attack (November 28, 2002)
- Tel Aviv central bus station massacre (January 5, 2003)
- Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing (March 5, 2003)
- Mike's Place suicide bombing (April 30, 2003)
- Jerusalem bombings (May 18, 2003)
- Afula mall bombing (May 19, 2003)
- Davidka Square bus bombing (June 11, 2003)
- Murder of Oleg Shaichat (July 28, 2003)
- Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing (August 19, 2003)
- Tzrifin bus stop attack (September 9, 2003)
- Café Hillel bombing (September 9, 2003)
- Maxim restaurant suicide bombing (October 4, 2003)
- Geha Interchange bus stop bombing (December 25, 2003)
- 2004 Erez Crossing bombing3 (January 14, 2004)
- Gaza Street bus bombing (January 29, 2004)
- Liberty Bell Park bus bombing (February 22, 2004)
- Ashdod Port bombings (March 14, 2004)
- Beersheba bus bombings (August 31, 2004)
- Carmel Market bombing (November 1, 2004)
- Karni border crossing attack (January 13, 2005)
- Stage Club bombing (February 25, 2005)
- 2nd HaSharon Mall entrance suicide bombing (July 12, 2005)
- Hadera Market bombing (October 26, 2005)
- 3rd HaSharon Mall entrance suicide bombing (December 5, 2005)
- 2nd Rosh Ha'ir restaurant bombing (April 17, 2006)
- Gaza cross-border raid2 (June 25, 2006)
- Eilat bakery bombing (January 29, 2007)
- Dimona suicide bombing (February 4, 2008)
- Jerusalem yeshiva attack (March 6, 2008)
- Jerusalem bulldozer attack (July 2, 2008)
- Jerusalem BMW attack (September 22, 2008)
- Ramallah lynching (October 12, 2000)
- Murder of Ofir Rahum (January 17, 2001)
- Assassination of the Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi2 (October 17, 2001)
- Murder of Shalhevet Pass (March 26, 2001)
- Palestinian fatal stoning attack (June 5, 2001)
- Immanuel bus attack (December 12, 2001)
- Ein 'Arik checkpoint attack (19 February 2002)
- Wadi al-Haramiya sniper attack (March 3, 2002)
- French Hill Junction suicide bombing (June 19, 2002)
- Itamar attack (June 20, 2002)
- Immanuel bus attack (July 16, 2002)
- Sonol gas station bombing (October 27, 2002)
- Hebron ambush (November 15, 2002)
- Yeshivat Otniel shooting (December 27, 2002)
- Kidnapping and murder of Sasson Nuriel (September 21, 2005)
- Kedumim bombing (March 30, 2006)
- Murder of Eliyahu Asheri (June 25, 2006)
- Nahal Telem shooting (December 28, 2007)
- Bat Ayin axe attack (April 2, 2009)
- Killing of Rabbi Meir Hai (December 24, 2009)
- Kissufim tank ambush (September 5, 2002)
- Murder of the Hatuel family (May 2, 2004)
- IDF outpost bombing attack (December 12, 2004)
- Sinai bombings (October 7, 2004)