Anatomy of a Terror Attack

Trying to listen to each other over the music, we were sitting around the table this evening at a friend's simcha. 8:38 PM. The person opposite me gets a phone call on his cellphone, looks at me and says, "there's a terrorist right now shooting in Yeshiva Merkaz Harav."

My reply, "Why is he still shooting? How is it still going on? Why doesn't someone shoot him?"

Person to my left says, "Jameel, how can there be an attack going on and you don't know about it?"

I thought about that for a second and checked my beeper. Nothing.

Checked my cellphone. Nothing.

Checked my Hatzala radio..."Message Received" was blinking ominously. I hadn't heard the message come in over the din of the music.

Seconds are wasted in frustration, flipping to the SMS menu.

"ARAN ARAN ARAN (Mass Casualty Event) in Jerusalem, switch to channel 1"

I'm not in Jerusalem but in the Shomron, yet all EMTs switches to channel 1 to hear how bad it is. There have events before so bad that EMTs have left the Shomron and Central Israel regions to help.

The chaos of a terror attack blares through on my emergency radio's Channel 1.

Sirens and confusion are the backdrop to the voices reporting over my radio, as the forcedly calm voice, directs volunteer EMTs to the scene.

I call my friend Lurker in Jerusalem and tell him to get on the internet to see whats going on. He says the news sites have nothing; I tell him which site to go to. Its all there, reports coming in. Killed. Wounded. Terrorists in the Yeshiva.

Outside the simcha hall I'm getting phone calls from people; some walk over. I don't want to say how bad it is. JoeSettler calls me up with his report. Lurker calls me back with another report. Hatzala keeps yelling at its volunteers that there might be another live terrorist still there.

And then, there's a family at the simcha who have a son in the yeshiva. Another couple frantically tries to reach that son, hoping, praying he's ok. He's found. The parents are gently told about the attack, but their son is ok. The walk away in shock.

Everyone receives conflicting reports; my MDA beeper keeps going off. The IDF sends an update. Our whole Shomron region has gone to higher alert; our counter terror unit (kitat konenut) goes on alert for Shabbat.

Arab rocks are thrown at car outside our settlement.

Lurker calls. Another Qassam missile in Sedeort - a house is hit. More wounded.

As of now in Jerusalem's attack at 11:26 PM: 8 Dead. 7 Wounded.

Chodesh tov. Shabbat Shalom.

Jameel

I'm about to press publish when an incoming email from our community list catches my eye:

Please say tehillim immediately for my nephew, יהונתן בן אביטל who was wounded tonight in the terror attack. He's going into emergency surgery now.
He was niftar last night. Hashem Yikom Damo.

After thought: The location of tonight's terror attack was at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem -- founded by Rav Avraham HaCohen Kook. In 1929, when the news of the progrom in Hevron was relayed to Rav Kook, he fainted. After rousing him, he was asked if he was ok. He replied, "How can a Jew not faint when hearing such terrible news."

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד