Three Palestinian assailants armed with guns and knives carried out an attack Friday night in Jerusalem that killed one Border Policewoman and left a number of people wounded.
The officer, Hadas Malka, 23, was critically stabbed while attempting to reach for her gun, according to Israel's Police, and later succumbed to her wounds.
All three attackers were shot dead by officers at the scene.
The attack unfolded along Sultan Suleiman Street, near Damascus Gate in the Old City. At one scene, two of the attackers were shot and killed after assaulting police officers with knives and guns. At the other, an attacker was shot dead after stabbing a border policewoman, critically wounding her.
Another officer was lightly wounded in the attack. Both were evacuated to Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment, where the female officer died of her wounds.
Israel's Channel 10 News reported that the assailants homemade Carl Gustav submachine gun jammed during the attack.
The attackers have been identified as As'ama Ata, 19, Adel Ankush, 18, Bra’a Salah, 17, from the West Bank village of Deir Abu-Mash'al, according to the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, which added that the three were previously involved in "popular terrorism."
Jerusalem District's Police Commander Yoram Halevy said all three attackers were residents of the West Bank, and noted that some of them had permits to enter Israel. He added that there were no specific alerts before the attack. "However we know what Jerusalem is. We are in the Ramadan period and we do not act according to alerts, we are on one big alert all the time," he said.
Palestinian factions and terrorist groups hailed an attack carried out by three terrorists that killed a female Israeli police officer in Jerusalem on Friday and wounded others nearby.
The Islamic State used its Amaq news agency to claim that “soldiers of the caliphate” attacked a “gathering of Jews.” Hamas rejected the IS claim of responsibility while Israeli officials expressed skepticism over the IS statement.
The Islamic Palestinian factions praised the combined attack, with an Islamic Jihad spokesman Dahoud Shihab saying in a statement released immediately after the terrorist event that “The martyr’s blood that was spilled at the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque is a clear message that the intifada continues and that the Palestinian people will not give up.”
Shihab praised “the pure martyrs who were killed while fasting,” and noted that the attack in Jerusalem “is proof that Jerusalem is the land of the jihad. Praise be to the pure martyrs who rose up to defend the purity and sanctity of the blessed land while screaming in the faces of all those who seek normalization.”
Hamas also praised the attack in Jerusalem. Hazem Qassem, one of Hamas’ spokesmen, said in a special statement that the attack was additional proof “that our Palestinian nation continues its revolution against the criminal occupation and that the intifada will continue until we achieve full freedom.”
According to him, the death of the three terrorists “is proof that the occupation is the true face of terror, terror against which the Palestinian nation is exercising its right to defend itself and its holy places.”
Instead of condemning the terrorist attack, the Fatah movement, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, slammed what it called “the killing of three young Palestinians by the forces of the Israel occupation in East Jerusalem.”
Abbas’s Fatah movement called “for the Israeli occupation government to immediately cease the escalation that does not serve the security or stability of the region.” The movement further called on the international community “to seriously consider the possibility of security international protection for the innocent Palestinian people.”
This week, a documentary called “Wilders” premiered at DocFest, a film festival for documentaries in the British town of Sheffield.
The documentary is made by American film director Stephen Robert Morse. Although he does not agree with my political views, he at least tried to bring a balanced story, which is more than I can say of many Dutch journalists.
I allowed Morse and his team to follow me around for a few months. The documentary shows how, due to Islamic death threats, I have to live under 24/7 police protection, am being driven around in armoured cars, am obliged to wear a bulletproof vest whenever I have to speak in public, etc.
Some live in almost similar situations, such as Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and his Swedish colleague Lars Vilks, British author Salman Rushie, Danish historian Lars Hedegaard, and others. In that sense, this documentary is also a tribute to them. What we all have in common is that we are on Islam’s death list. But what always strikes me is that I am the only elected politician on the list.
All politicians competing in elections claim to be standing for office with the goal of serving the people. But serving the people begins with telling them the truth. The truth about Islam is not a pleasant one.
How wonderful would it be if Islam were what most of our politicians claim it to be: a religion of peace. Wonderful, but naïve, for the truth is that almost all terrorist acts committed in the world today are committed in the name of Islam.
Many politicians do not tell the truth about Islam. Some find it much easier to parrot the politically-correct dogmas of the left. Others are afraid of having to live like me and Westergaard, Vilks, Rushdie, Hedegaard and others.
But I do not consider that a valid excuse. No-one is forced to be a politician, but if you do choose to do so, allowing yourself to be silenced by the threat of violence, means that you allow the violent side to win. And that is something no democratic politician should ever do.
Over the past decades, the threat of terrorism in the West has steadily grown. This growth has everything to do with the growth of Islam in our democratic societies. Politicians who refuse to see this reality are not just fooling themselves but also endangering the citizens. That is why today everyone is on the death list of Islam.
We are all at risk now. And this is totally unacceptable. People have the right to live safely in their own towns and cities. That, too, is a basic human right.
In my opinion, it overrides the rights of the followers of Islam in our society to live according to their so-called religion. The West should not grant Islam the freedom to abolish the freedoms of the West.
There are already plenty Islamic nations in the world, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, where Sharia is the law of the land. Why don’t those who want to introduce Sharia in our land just move there?
Sooner or later, even those politicians who still prefer to look away from the problems will be forced to face them. Meanwhile, however, we are losing precious time. And the present governing elite is entirely to blame for that.
Let us stop the cowardice. Let us reject political correctness. As General Patton said: “The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty.” I will keep doing my duty. Probably again as leader of the opposition. And I will keep speaking out, whatever the price may be. I will fight the Islamization of my country and defend its freedom. Without compromise and with determination, conviction and strength. Always.
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