Border Police arrest Arab at checkpoint
Border Police arrest Arab at checkpointIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A security guard who works at the Shuafat checkpoint told Arutz Sheva Sunday that attacks like the one thwarted earlier in the day at Kalandiya are becoming more and more frequent. "The Intifada is back," he said.

The guard – who requested anonymity, and will be referred to by the pseudonym Yisrael – was witness to a similar attack 20 days ago at the Shuafat checkpoint in northern Jerusalem. In that event, an Arab woman with Israeli citizenship brazenly refused the guards' instructions to proceed through the pedestrian lane. She got close to the guards and said, in Hebrew, that she refuses to pass through that lane.

A guard walked up to her and she then tried to pull out a knife and stab him. He saw that she was about to attack him and was able to overpower her.

A Border Policeman was stabbed in the neck at the same checkpoint on Saturday and suffered light injuries.

Yisrael said that the events at the checkpoints are all connected, and that Israeli forces are not equipped to handle the new wave of violence. The danger is always present, he said, and one never knows where the next attack will come from. An Arab worker who is upset about something that happened to him during the day can take out his frustration in an attack on soldiers, he said: "We trust them daily, and one day they can stab us in the back."

The guards have the authority to arrest suspects, added Yisrael, but this authority is only partial and requires the presence of a police officer. In addition – the guards are not equipped with nonlethal weapons like electric shockers, pepper spray and the like. Poor conditions also make the guards less alert: not enough food, a shortage of personnel and lack of air conditioning are all problems that could lead to a tragedy, he explained.