CNN reported this morning, \"Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians… The two were on their way to work in Israel… Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon\'s inner security cabinet has decided to give Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at least another 48 hours to comply with a truce…\" This puzzling report left out a few key details regarding the morning\'s incident as well as the context in which the Israeli cabinet made its decision, such as this weekend\'s 60 Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli targets.
What actually occurred was that an Arab taxi driver, carrying several passengers, was signaled to stop at an IDF checkpoint, as are thousands of Arab cars each morning. Rather than do so, however, he immediately reversed direction and attempted to escape. Checkpoint soldiers are trained to suspect just such behavior as an indication of the all-too pervasive terrorist activity that has left 180 innocent Israelis dead in the past year; in this case, they suspected that wanted or would-be terrorists were passengers. The soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, killing two of the passengers. Other Arab suspects escaped on foot.
What actually occurred was that an Arab taxi driver, carrying several passengers, was signaled to stop at an IDF checkpoint, as are thousands of Arab cars each morning. Rather than do so, however, he immediately reversed direction and attempted to escape. Checkpoint soldiers are trained to suspect just such behavior as an indication of the all-too pervasive terrorist activity that has left 180 innocent Israelis dead in the past year; in this case, they suspected that wanted or would-be terrorists were passengers. The soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, killing two of the passengers. Other Arab suspects escaped on foot.