Attacks Continue Inside Israel

In the second major attack in two weeks, Border Police Chief Inspector Jidaan Asad was killed and 13 others were wounded. Ibrahim al-Akri, 38, drove a car onto a crowded train platform in Jerusalem. He then backed out and drove a short distance away before attacking a group of civilians and police officers standing by the side of the road with an tire iron. This attack took place on Wednesday and is believed to be related to an attack that took place last week in which an Ecuadorian mother and baby were killed.

In an incredibly ironic moment following the attack, two separate terrorist organizations - Hamas and Islamic Jihad, attempted to claim the attack as a work of theirs. With two groups claiming to have committed the same crime, it is difficult to understand many details on who was actually responsible. It seems like every day there is more news of an attack on Israel, making it seemingly the most dangerous place to live in the world. While Hamas measures its success by how many Israelis it is able to kill, Israel measures its success in part by how few Palestinian civilians it kills. According to an article by jpost.com, Israel actually has a lower mortality rate than the United States. 

Jerusalem is split into a largely Palestinian East and a mostly Jewish Western side. Tensions have been rising over the last few weeks between the sides, with drive-by shootings and molotov bombings. It is sad that members of the so called "religion of peace" will violently fight against allowing other religions to pray in a location that many people consider to be the holiest place on earth. Why haven't Islamic world leaders spoken up against this violence, instead it has been condoned. I am not saying that this is purely a conflict due to Islam, it is certainly not, but nobody appears to be doing much in the ways of solving the real problems.