The site of the vehicular attack (Unity and Rescue, May 20, 2015).
The vehicle involved in the vehicular attack (Facebook page of PALDF, May 20, 2015).
The vehicle involved in the attack (Israel Police Force, May 20, 2015)
The scene of the vehicular attack.
Palestinians riot in Jebel Mukaber and clash with Israeli security forces (Facebook page of Fatah, May 20, 2015)
Palestinians riot in Jebel Mukaber and clash with Israeli security forces (Facebook page of Fatah, May 20, 2015)
Death notice issued by Hamas for "the shaheed of Palestine, the shaheed Imran Omar Abu Dheim (Facebook page of PALDF, May 20, 2015)
Overview
1. On May 20, 2015, a vehicular attack was carried out in Jerusalem, the third during the past month and the seventh since the beginning of 2015. During the past year there was an increase in the number of vehicular attacks carried out as part of what the Palestinians call the "popular resistance." In this instance as well, Fatah and the Palestinian media represented the Palestinian terrorist as the victim of the Israeli security forces, a false representation familiar from previous vehicular attacks. The Palestinian Authority (PA) did not condemn the attack.
The Vehicular Attack
2. On the morning of May 20, 2015, a Palestinian rammed into a group of Border Policemen standing at the A-Tur junction, which leads to the Mt. of Olives in Jerusalem. The driver was shot and killed by one of the policemen. The initial investigation revealed that the Palestinian terrorist saw a group of policemen standing at the junction and deliberately swerved towards them with the intention of running them over. After hitting them he reversed to verify that he had in fact run them over. One of the policemen shot and killed him. A Border Police policeman and policewoman were injured and evacuated to a hospital.
3. The Palestinian terrorist who carried out the attack was Imran Omar Abu Dheim (aka Abu Hamzeh), 41, from Jebel Mukaber (south Jerusalem), married and father of five (Facebook page of PALDF, May 20, 2015). He apparently was not affiliated with a Palestinian terrorist organization and carried out the attack on his own initiative. He was related to Alaa Hashem Abu Dheim, who carried out the shooting attack at the Mercaz Ha'Rav yeshiva in Jerusalem on March 6, 2008.[1] According to his brother, Imran Omar Abu Dheim worked as a vehicle security officer for severalIsraeli transportation companies. His funeral was held before dawn in Jebel Mukaber, where a mourning tent was erected.
Left: The mourning tent erected in Jebel Mukaber (Facebook page of Fatah, May 20, 2015). Right: Palestinian terrorist Imran Omar Abu Dheim (Facebook page of QUDSN, May 20, 2015).
4. When it became known that Imran Omar Abu Dheim was dead, Palestinian sources accused Israel of killing him. They claimed he had been involved in a "traffic accident" and that shooting at him was unlawful. Riots broke out in Jebel Mukaber where Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces, threw stones and overturned garbage pails.
Reactions to the Vehicular Attack
5. So far no formal condemnation of the attack has been issued by the PA. However, the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which is directly subordinate to the office of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, reported the incident with a headline reading, "Young [Palestinian] man killed by occupation [forces'] fire." According to the agency, Imran Omar Abu Dheim was killed by police fire "because they claimed he had tried to run over two policemen" (Wafa.ps, May 20, 2015). No mention was made of the fact that the attack was deliberate.
6. Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, the PA's official newspaper, reported the incident on the front page of its May 21, 2015, edition with a headline reading, "The occupation killed a young [Palestinian] man from Jerusalem on the claim he tried to run over two policewomen." Family members of the terrorist were interviewed and were reported as saying that he was an ordinary person who was unlikely to have done what was attributed to him. Eyewitnesses were also interviewed, and claimed the incident was a traffic accident and not a vehicular attack (Alhayat-j.com, May 21, 2015).
7. Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmeh issued a formal Fatah statement condemning the so-called "cold-blooded" killing of Imran Omar Abu Dheim at the hands of Israeli police shooters who claimed he had carried out a vehicular attack. He also took the opportunity to claim Israel's activities in Jerusalem were "ethnic cleansing." He said Fatah would continue its struggle against Israel "regardless of the price" (Kofiapress.net, May 20, 2015).
8. Fatah's official Facebook page posted a picture of the terrorist with the Temple Mount and Jerusalem in the background. The Arabic reads, "Abu Hamzeh [is a] shaheed and Jebel Mukaberis revolting."One of the comments to the left of the picture reads, "May Allah have mercy on him" (Facebook page of Fatah, May 20, 2015).
(Facebook page of Fatah, May 20, 2015)
9. Hamas also condemned the killing and issued a death notice. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, blamed Israel for his death, claiming it was an example of all the killings of Palestinians carried out by Israel. He also said that Hamas called on all international institutions to show responsibility and respond to Israel's "crimes." He also said those "crimes" would not break the spirit of the Palestinian people (Facebook page of Sami Abu Zuhri, May 20, 2015).
[*]Follow-up to the May 18, 2015, bulletin "During the past year there has been an increase in the number of vehicular attacks in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria."
[2]On March 6, 2008, a Palestinian terrorist carried out a mass-killing attack at the Mercaz Ha'Rav yeshiva in Jerusalem. He entered the yeshiva with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, and shot and killed eight yeshiva students and wounded ten, three of them critically and one seriously. For further information see the March 10, 2008 bulletin, "Terrorist shooting at Yeshivat Mercaz Ha’Rav in Jerusalem leaves eight students dead."
