More Busy Little Bees

Barely three months ago I was writing about the activity of a little busy bee in East Jerusalem. Now there's more of them and their activity is of a much sinister nature. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the news on the radio a few days ago, and finding this bit of printed news doesn't add much happiness or peace of mind. But there we go, nonetheless.

Fiery Youths
by Yossi Elli
Kol Hazman, May 30, 2008
(All the Time, Jerusalem weekend supplement)

The District Police Department working closely with special units of the Border Police have been investigating 25 youths residing in East Jerusalem neighborhoods aged 11-18, all suspected of throwing incendiary bottles in Abu-Tor (a mixed Jerusalem neighborhood) and on the Ma'aleh Addoumim highway. Among them (and according to Israel Radio the leader of the gang) a 12 year-old boy who admitted to the offence and told the investigators that he had learned how to prepare Molotov cocktails from his uncles while visiting his family in Jordan.

The police reveals that the bottles contained acid, mercury and pieces of metal. The gang experimented with the bottles in the Peace Forest (!!!), then they placed one bottle in a house in the Abu-Tor neighborhood and then they threw a bottle at another house in the neighborhood. Three gang members will soon be indicted, while the rest are too young to be tried (how about their parents, do they bear no responsibility? Will they be free to try and arson more Jewish homes?)

Following and intelligence tip, investigators aided by Border Police officers detained a 33-year-old Issawiye resident. The police searched his car and found a handgun complete with two bullet magazines, silencer, two fake identity cards and posters calling for the killing of collaborators and Zionists. During the enquiry the man claimed to be a contractor and that he planned to "plant" the incriminating objects in the home of a disgruntled and to report him later to the police. He also told the investigators that he had purchased the gun and the silencer from a Palestinian residing in the territories. He admitted to having written the posters himself.