Israelis worried but defiant amid wave of stabbings

Israelis are deeply unnerved in the midst of a spate of stabbings that have brought back memories of previous Palestinian uprisings, but say they are ready to "confront" any attacker.

Those who witnessed the 1987 and 2000 intifadas especially are reverting to making mental lists of places to avoid and basic safety habits.

These Palestinian uprisings against the Israeli occupation of their territories were marked by deadly shootings and suicide attacks.

On Thursday in Tel Aviv, in front of the HaHagana train station, many young soldiers quickened their pace, choosing to walk along the wall not the main road.

They know they are easy targets in this open area where a young conscript was stabbed last year.

"It's us the terrorists track down first," said one soldier, nervously keeping an eye on his surroundings while smoking a cigarette in front of the station.

"We've received advice to be vigilant -- especially for those who, like me, are not armed," he added.

A number of Israelis were wounded in seven stabbing attacks on Thursday and Friday, with two Palestinian assailants shot dead.
Another Israeli, 22-year-old settler Ishay Kaplan, travelled to Tel Aviv from his home in the occupied West Bank by hitchhiking and taking a bus and then train with his firearm visible under his T-shirt.

"Just in case," he told AFP.

Kaplan said he saw a video showing a Palestinian attempting to stab an ultra-Orthodox Jew at a bus stop in a Tel Aviv neighbourhood on Saturday.

Bystanders overpowered the attacker, while some in the crowd even called for him to be killed.

"Some fled, others threw themselves on top of him," said the young settler. "I can tell you that I'll know what to do" if needed, he said.

During the second intifada, suicide attacks against buses and restaurants were usually followed by long seconds of stunned, helpless silence.
- Gun on hip -
But today Israelis, mobile phones at hand to film, and personal or service weapons on hip, are ready to take on any attackers, who recently have mostly been young Palestinians with knives.

The Israeli authorities are encouraging this type of vigilance.

The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, has gone as far as to encourage residents who own guns to carry them around with them.
"Possessing weapons increases the confidence of residents," he said on Monday as he toured occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, his own gun in full sight. "They will increase the likelihood of fast intervention."

In the southern Israeli city Dimona, a 17-year-old Jew stabbed two Palestinians and two Arab Israelis, telling police that "all Arabs are terrorists." The victims were suffering light to moderate wounds.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly condemned the stabbings by the Jewish suspect, a sign of concerns it could trigger further violence.

Israel considers Jerusalem to be its indivisible capital, while Palestinians want to establish the capital of their future state in the eastern side of the city.

Many Jerusalem residents have started to scan their surroundings with suspicion as violence has escalated in Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past week.

Security checks have been stepped up in public areas, especially at bus and train stations where security guards now ask for identification.

The authorities have started to install metal detectors at entrances to the religious and historical centre of the Old City of Jerusalem.

In another sign of the underlying worry, the US consulate in Jerusalem has banned its employees from travelling to the Old City or the occupied West Bank.

The French foreign ministry has called for "utmost caution".

Source: AFP