Children Terrorized by Attack on School Bus

Jewish children were terrorized Sunday morning when masked Arabs attacked their school bus on the Mount of Olives.

Innocent Jewish children on their way to school were terrified Sunday morning when three masked Palestinians hurled rocks and bottles of paint at their school bus.

The unprovoked attack occurred when the children’s bus was on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives en route to their school in the Old City. The children and driver were unhurt but the bus’s windshield and exterior side mirror sustained damage, according to reports.

Sacred Jewish Site

Jewish residents of the surrounding Ma’ale Zeitim neighborhood, where the attack took place, are often targeted by Arabs, as are mourners and tourists who visit the ancient Jewish cemetery located on the Mount of Olives. The historic cemetery dates back to the First Temple period 3,000 years ago and is still in use today as a sacred burial ground, yet its graves have been desecrated and visitors have been injured as a result of an ongoing Arab campaign of harassment, assault and intimidation.

One resident characterized the attacks as “an ongoing communication from our [Arab] neighbors that they are upset with our [Jewish] presence here and they will continue to make it uncomfortable for us as long as possible,” JewishPress.com reported.

‘They’re Just Little Kids’

The incident on Sunday was not spontaneous.

“It’s always from the same place, the same four meters,” the resident explained. “This was very much a planned attack because they knew exactly when the bus leaves and they targeted that bus: it’s the main bus that takes the children to school. They’re just little kids.”

Some of the youngsters on the bus were the children of Jerusalem City Councillor Aryeh King. Following the incident, King expressed dissatisfaction with the way policing is conducted in Jerusalem and called for a continuous police presence in the city’s Arab areas to prevent this type of terrorism.

Deterrence Needed

“Police have arrested 600, 700, 800 – it may soon reach 1,000 terrorists arrested,” Israel National News reported King as saying. “There is no doubt that the policy of arrests being used by the police force is not working. We have a great police force but no deterrence. This is how Jewish residents of Jerusalem live their lives.”

In a separate incident on Sunday, the windows of a public bus in Jerusalem were shattered in a rock attack, according to the Jerusalem Post. No injuries were reported.

Author: Joanne Hill
Staff Writer, United with Israel