A morning rush hour in Jerusalem turned into carnage when two Palestinian terrorists from the West Bank opened fire at a busy bus stop. In less than a minute, six Israelis were murdered and more than a dozen were wounded. The attackers sprayed bullets at bus passengers and pedestrians before being killed by an off-duty soldier and armed civilians. Witnesses described chaos as people ran into traffic on Sept. 8, shielding children with their bodies and pulling the injured into buses.
Among the victims was a recent immigrant from Spain, killed as his new life in Israel was beginning. Others included parents on their way to work, students and elderly commuters. The Israeli Arab bus driver was also among those shot at during the attack. Families now face funerals as their loved ones were abruptly stolen from them.
“There was gunfire beyond anything imaginable,” survivor Malka Cohen recalled. “I can’t believe I’m standing here. Indescribable gunfire.” That same morning, Hamas terrorists attacked an army camp, killing four Israeli soldiers.
Incitement and praise: ‘Kill Jews one by one’
Hamas immediately praised the attackers and called the innocent Israeli civilian victims “soldiers” and “Zionist terrorists.” The Iranian-backed terror group praised the “heroic operation.” Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas issued a soft condemnation, but the X account affiliated with the Fatah organization led by Abbas also praised the attack as a “heroic operation.” In a grotesque social-media post, the Palestinian nationalist political party posted a graphic picture of a murdered Israeli civilian with blood pouring from his head with the caption: “A very good morning.”
A senior P.A. religious judge delivered a sermon two weeks earlier on the government’s official TV channel, urging Palestinians to kill Jews: “O Allah, grant us victory over the infidels. Allah, kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.” Another religious leader in June advocated the same message: “O Allah, strike the thieving Jews, kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.”
The clerics are paid by the P.A. Ministry of Religion. Journalists and clerics close to the Qatari government also continue to glorify Hamas leaders and praise the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, as a model for raising children. An Israeli airstrike on Sept. 9 targeted top Hamas leaders based in Qatar, who Israeli officials stated were directly responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre.
Terrorism continues in Israel and America: Shared threats
The Jerusalem shooting follows a century-long pattern of attacks on Jews. In 1929, Arab rioters massacred 67 Jews in Hebron, destroying a community that had lived there for centuries. In the 1970s, Palestinian terror groups pioneered airplane hijackings, deliberately endangering civilian lives to gain international attention and secure prisoner releases from European and Arab nations. Now, the European Union is using the Jerusalem terror attack to call on Israel to stop its war in Gaza before destroying Hamas.
Terrorism is the “intentional use of, or threat to use violence against civilians or against civilian targets, in order to attain political aims,” as defined by terrorism expert Boaz Ganor.
Among the most notorious Palestinian terror attacks during that era were the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) in 1968 by Palestinian Jordanian Sirhan Sirhan, who protested RFK’s support of Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Anti-Israel, anti-America rhetoric: ‘Neutralize Americans’
The same messages that fuel terror in the Middle East are also echoed in America—spreading the ideology beyond the region. Anti-America and anti-Israel activists have promoted actions against U.S. institutions and amplified slogans at rallies.
At the recent People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, an event affiliated with a Palestinian terror group, speakers spewed anti-American and anti-Israel hate. Presenters explicitly invoked calls to “Globalize the intifada,” a slogan used by terror groups to justify violent attacks against Jews. One participant went further, declaring that Israelis and their allies in places such as Tel Aviv, Washington and Europe are “criminals” who “need to be taken out and neutralized.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also spoke at the event and a university student promoted “destroying the idea of America because it is an evil country.”
From incitement to murder on U.S. soil: ‘Globalize the intifada’
Calls to “Globalize the intifada” likely contributed to the murder of an American Jew and Israeli Christian outside the Capital Jewish Museum and the brutal firebombing of a parade in Boulder, Colo., killing an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor. These murderous attacks are happening on American soil and have raised alarm bells in the Jewish community; they are a warning sign that should concern all Americans.
Only days before the Washington attack, a senior Hamas leader said that “the time has come for everyone to take action. Everyone who can bear arms anywhere in the world must act. Spare no IED, bullet, knife or stone.”
American progressive influencer Hasan Piker hosted a 20,000-person live stream with an Australian guest who urged Americans to randomly kill Israelis: “Weapons in America can be used very effectively.” He also spoke at the Detroit conference, calling for an “end to Zionism.”
9/11 anniversary: America and Israel face common enemies
The timing of the Jerusalem terror attack took place days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., when Al-Qaeda terrorists killed nearly 3,000 innocent people. The terror group’s leaders repeatedly framed their campaign against the United States, in part for support of its democratic ally, Israel. An Al-Qaeda leader recently threatened the United States with an imminent 9/11-style attack.
This incitement is not confined to the Mideast. Echoes of the same rhetoric have surfaced in America, where conspiracy theories about 9/11 and claims that Jews and Christians are eternal enemies are voiced by extremist clerics in some mosques. An Atlanta imam recently stated that “America’s Judeo-Christian thinking will be replaced by Islam.”
As Americans prepared to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, Israelis were burying teachers, students and grandparents gunned down at a bus stop. Jews around the world are also getting ready to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre in Israel of 1,200 people, along with 251 others who were kidnapped and taken in the Gaza Strip (48 of whom are left, both living and dead). The Jerusalem gunmen deliberately targeted civilians to create fear and advance a political cause, just like the 9/11 hijackers and 10/7 terrorists—two events linked by the use of terror against innocent people.
Points to consider:
- Terrorism is a scare tactic for political purposes.
Terrorism is the deliberate targeting of civilians to instill fear and exert political pressure. The Jerusalem attack is a textbook example. Two Palestinians gunned down commuters waiting for a bus simply because they were presumed to be Jewish. It was calculated. The intent is to make Israelis fearful and advance Palestinian political goals through violence. Terrorism is not just murder; it is psychological warfare.
- Terror is never justifiable: Murder is murder.
Terrorists and their supporters often claim that attacks are justified acts of “resistance,” blaming politics or circumstances; still, intentionally targeting civilians is never justified and should never be rationalized. Whether in Jerusalem, Colorado, Washington or New York, the deliberate murder of innocents is the same crime. Every country deserves normalcy and security without the fear of terror. No nation should live under constant threat, and murder should never be excused as politics by other means.
- Recognition of a Palestinian state is a reward for Hamas terrorism.
Spain and other countries plan to recognize Palestinian statehood at this month’s U.N. General Assembly. However, Hamas and Iran’s other proxies, who claim to represent the Palestinian people, do not want a two-state solution; instead, they seek Israel’s annihilation. By pushing recognition now, these countries risk legitimizing groups that reject peace and pursue terror, sending the dangerous message that violence will be rewarded with diplomatic prizes.
- Incitement and the Palestinian ‘pay to slay’ system fuel terror attacks.
Palestinian Authority officials and religious leaders have praised attackers as heroes and martyrs, while Hamas terrorist leaders glorify them as soldiers of jihad. The P.A. still offer monetary stipends to terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks in what is known as “pay to slay.” The more Israelis killed, the higher the cash payments. The government also names schools after terrorists. Terror is not random; it grows from rhetoric, sermons and schoolbooks that promote violence. When leaders celebrate killers, individuals act on it.
- From Hebron to Jerusalem: A century of terror.
From Hebron in 1929—when Jewish families were murdered in their homes—to the 1972 Munich Olympics, the tactic has remained consistent: Strike the innocent to send a message. The Jerusalem murders are another chapter in this troubling narrative. The methods shift from knives to guns to hijackings and bus bombings, but the intent stays the same. Terrorists consistently aim to kill Jews, weaken Western civilization and spread fear.
- Terrorism against Americans and Israelis is linked.
Attacks against the Big Satan and Little Satan (America and Israel) unite Islamic terrorists. A Houthi official recently visiting Iran led chants: “Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to England!” Al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden and Palestinian terrorist leaders shared the same ideology. They see Americans and Israelis as legitimate targets. For Israelis, the bus-stop massacre is another chapter in a relentless campaign of terror. For Americans, it is a reminder that New York, Washington and Jerusalem share the same threats.
