attack in jerusalem

Pearl ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 2:50 am

"Young Jewish Man Murdered in Jerusalem. His crime - being Jewish.

I sit facing my computer, and words fail me. I have just witnessed one of the most tragic and traumatic events of my life.

A Jewish young man died in my arms tonight.

Yes, you read correctly. A Jewish man died in my arms tonight. His sin? Being Jewish in Jerusalem.

At about 8:25 this evening, we got a call from the MDA dispatcher about a stabbing on Rechov David - the shuk leading from Shaar Yaffo (Jaffa Gate) to the Kotel. I immediately left my apartment and sped over to the chaotic scene not far from there on a Hatzolah ambucycle. Upon arrival, a horrible sight greeted me. A young Jewish man, lying in a pool of his own blood, with a 15" knife sticking out of his stomach. After being at many bombings, car accidents and other traumatic events, this scene had the distinction of being the worst one I have ever seen.

His skin a very pale color, and his eyes half open, I reached him. The only people around were police officers, who didn't really know what to do. The young Jewish man was not breathing, and he had no pulse.

This is the nightmare of any EMT. Alone, as the only person with medical training at the scene, there is not much you can do. Many tasks need to be done, and many people are needed to do them. Starting CPR, connecting oxygen, starting numerous IV's due to massive blood loss and trying to stop the bleeding are some of the things that need to be done, but in the seconds that I was there, my mind stopped working. One cannot think rationally in such situations - one must act like a robot, doing whatever could be done as quickly as possible. First, I called for backup on my MIRS, and then I started CPR. Even with all of the expensive equipment that we have, there are times that the only thing you can use is a simple pocket mask.

Using a bag valve mask on a trauma patient that you are having trouble opening an airway for is a waste of time. It is close to impossible to use on your own on such a patient. I took out my trusty face mask, and started mouth to mouth resuscitation. I felt his lungs fill up with air, and I was slightly encouraged. One of the police officers started chest compressions (as well as he could), and we continued basic CPR for a minute or two.

At this point, an ambulance with a paramedic - Aryeh Yaffe - arrived at the scene, along with Rafi Herbst and another volunteer. We now had four sets of hands instead of one, and could now start to try to save the young Jewish man's life. We immediately searched for the wounds and tried to stop the bleeding. At the same time we tried to start an IV, but were having difficulty due to the massive amounts of blood that he lost. We continued CPR, this time with a bag valve mask and good compressions, and in the meantime, more volunteers from the Jewish Quarter arrived on foot, and quickly took my place. Shortly thereafter a MDA Mobile ICU arrived and continued to work on the patient - the Doctor I saw on their crew was one of the best I have ever seen working under pressure and keeping his cool - as well as giving fantastic care to the patient.

Soon, we had three IV's running, and we were trying to restart the young man's heart using drugs. Atropine, Sodium Bicarbonate were used among other drugs, and soon we had a heart rhythm on the EKG, although we did not have a pulse. We moved the patient to the mobile ICU who transferred him to the trauma center at Haddassah Ein Karem, but the young man was pronounced dead in the operating room - he had a massive gash in the veins and arteries in his stomach, and we could not save him. When I had arrived at the scene previously - he was no longer with us, yet we tried everything that we could to bring him back - to no avail.

What was the young man's crime? What did he do wrong? Why was he murdered by our 'peace partners'? To us, the residents of the Old City, these answers are clear. The arabs want us out of Israel - out of Jerusalem. They see clearly that violence and terrorism against Jews works, as witnessed in Gaza and Gush Katif - five years of violence culminated in the surrender of the Jews. Now, they clearly say that they want Jerusalem - and the way for them to get it is through blood - our blood.

A friend of mine commented tonight, "Jewish blood is not cheap. It's free."

The terrorism will continue - and will get much worse in Jerusalem. One thing I can tell you - we won't run. We will stand firm, and remain here until one side wins - us or them. The battle is for the soul of the Land of Israel - let no one think otherwise.

In the meantime, I'm sure you are asking yourselves - what can be done? The answer, as I see it, is threefold.

Physical help: This includes writing to congressmen, senators, politicians; trying to influence the viewpoint of others around you; visiting Israel; helping us in our struggle. After tonight, I've realized that every volunteer EMT in the Old City should have a gun with him - we need to raise money for that as well (I can be reached at moshe@hatzolah.org.il for more information as to how to donate). I never thought that as an EMT I'd be trying to raise money for guns - the instruments of death, but times have changed. There are also other medical items that we need - reach me at the email address above.
More importantly, we must realize that our fate is decided in Heaven. When a decree comes from before G-d, we must take a deeper look at ourselves and try to find what is wrong spiritually. Each of us must make additional effort in the spiritual realm to do more mitzvot and study Torah, and through that may we merit the rescinding of the terrible sword that hangs above our heads.
Let us cry together. Let us understand that a Jew murdered in Jerusalem must have an impact upon the entire Jewish nation - we must realize the depths that we have reached. We are a splintered, fragmented nation - each of us finding fault with the other. At the very least, let us join together in sorrow, and cry as one for the blood of a young man, murdered in Jerusalem simply because he was a Jew.
Please pass this message on. We must wake up and realize where this is leading. We must arise to the challenge given to us and join together to be victorious.

Written in sorrow by

Moshe Simons, EMT
Hatzolah & MDA Volunteer
Hatzolah Newsletter Editor
Jewish Quarter, Jerusalem
moshe@hatzolah.org.il"

technic ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 4:04 am

4 THIS they gave back gush katif? shock

hardwrknmom

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 6:27 am

Mandy ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:15 am

sorry, this is going to sound stupid, but how did the emt guy know the murderer was an arab and that it was done to get the Jews out of Jerusalem ? Aren't there any other murders in Israel or only political ones ?

↑ Pearl ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:25 am

for the record, I didn't post it was an arab who stabbed this yeshive bochur (an american).
mandy, unfortunately there are plenty bad people around in israel (like anywhere else in the world), not all of them arabs.
but I read on msn.co.il that surveilance camera of the police taped the whole thing. it was a palestinian. apparantly not an organised attack, but a personal attack. maybe now, because he wanted to wait till the pinuy from gush katif was finalized, or maybe as a reaction to what happened in shiro.
so, yes, it seems very probable that it's a terrorist attack.

Last edited by Pearl on Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:26 am; edited 1 time in total

supermom ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:26 am

you got that one right!! by the shuk by the kotel is known for the many terrorist attacks on jews tons of them that I know personally. and to get us out of jerusalem is their only thing that the arabs want. they have said it themselves with their own mouths.

↑ Pearl ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:29 am

that's true, time and time again they announce on national and international broadcast that they won't stop until they have all of jerusalem and all of israel...
and how proud they are that terror pays off!

de_goldy ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 7:35 am

Yes, they make no secret of their motives. In fact, as Abbas was giving a speech about 'peace' he was wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "Today gaza, tomorrow westbank and Yerushalaim" (one of millions of t-shirts and stickers printed and distributed by the UN!!)

Tefila

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 8:06 am

B/4 Gaza was given back The Lubavitcher Rebbe said Israel was the safest place in the world to be Exclamation

now I'm not sure..... btw where is it safe for us shock

and why too can we not have our own home Exploding anger

↑ Pearl

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 8:18 am

still, when for example the french experience horrible waves of anti semitism, they are welcomed with open arms in eretz yisrael...
for now, we still have a home. we should take extra good care of it, together, as an united people.

and btw, I think gush katif was given away, not back...

1stimer ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 9:58 am

He was an English bachur learning in the Mir. Engaged to be married after sukkos. It's a terrible tragedy. It defies logic. A young boy, 21 yrs old, who came to Israel not to party but to learn Torah, and is killed on the way back from the Kosel! It's a terrible tragedy.

↑ supermom ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 10:09 am

oh my goodness. Crying

poor girl!! and family of course you know where he is originally from?

↑ 1stimer ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 10:27 am

Originally from London

613 ↓

Thu, Aug 25 2005, 10:41 am

wow! what a story Crying

freilich wrote:

B/4 Gaza was given back The Lubavitcher Rebbe said Israel was the safest place in the world to be Exclamation

now I'm not sure..... btw where is it safe for us shock

and why too can we not have our own home Exploding anger

freilich, remember we're in galus. we will never have a place to call "home" until Moshiach.

gryp ↓

Fri, Aug 26 2005, 7:45 am

freilich, I highly doubt the Rebbe would have "changed his mind" about Eretz Yisroel being the safest place to be. it is always the safest place because it says "Eynei Hashem Elokecha Bah Mereishis Hashana ad Acharis Hashana" "The eyes of Hashem your G-d is on it (the land) from the beginning of the year until the end of the year."
The pasuk still stands, and I believe the Rebbe would still say today that Eretz Yisroel is the safest place, and encourage people to go there like he always did.

↑ gryp ↓

Fri, Aug 26 2005, 7:50 am

Quote:

freilich, remember we're in galus. we will never have a place to call "home" until Moshiach.

0613- there are actually two types of geulahs- the general geulah shleima that we are all waiting for, and there is also a personal geulah. a person can have his own personal geulah, and we see many examples of tzaddikim who were on this level throughout the generations. it basically means that they had perfected themselves completely and overcame all their limitations.

the Rebbe encouraged us to live as if the geulah is already here, so that when Moshiach really does come we will already be "used to" living that special way, and will be ready for it!

↑ gryp

Fri, Aug 26 2005, 7:53 am

Quote:

sorry, this is going to sound stupid, but how did the emt guy know the murderer was an arab and that it was done to get the Jews out of Jerusalem ?

the entire thing was on videotape, the police are scouring Jerusalem for the murderer. they know he is still in the Old City, and they are treating this like a terror attack.

↑ Mandy

Fri, Aug 26 2005, 8:01 am

Okay- I get it. It just wasn't clear from the article. But then I read some other stuff about it and yeah, sadly it looks like a terror attack.

↑ supermom ↓

Sat, Aug 27 2005, 11:51 am

just heard on the news that he punched the guy in the stomach. what was he doing punching an arab in the stomach in the first place? Confused

and an arab at that.

Rivka ↓

Sat, Aug 27 2005, 3:50 pm

How do they know what he did?
I heard it wasn't provoked at all, this guy came and stabbed a bochur.
The guy is from London and the brother in law came into my chemist to get passport photos to go to Israel.
Very sad. It wasn an arab because they have CCTV footage of what happened and have the guy's face on it and if they find him can charge him.