THE TERROR ATTACK IN SHEFA 'AMR

Shefa-Amr:
The shafa'amr massacre on 4th August 2005

"On 4 August 2005, Israeli settler Natan Zada, an Israeli terrorist, opened fire from his automatic rifle on peaceful passengers in a bus in the Galilee town Shefa'amr. Four were killed: Sisters students Hazar and Dina Turkey, Mr. Michel Bahus and Mr. Nader Hayek. Many others were injured."

THE TERROR ATTACK IN SHEFA 'AMR

On August 3, 2005, at 17:05, the terrorist Nathan-Zadeh boarded Egged bus 165 from the Checkpost bus station in Haifa to Shefa'amr via the “Krayot” area. Nathan-Zadeh, aged 19, a soldier absent without leave from the IDF, was originally from Rishon Lezion. He had recently become an observant Jew, had close links with activists in the Kach movement, and was living in the settlement of Tapuach in the West Bank The terrorist pretended to be asleep until the bus entered Shefa'amr. The bus driver, the late Michel Bahouth (aged 56, hereinafter “Michel”) turned to the terrorist and pointed out that he was in Shefa'amr. He reassured him and told him not to worry, and said that he would make sure that he got back to Haifa. Evidently Michel assumed that the terrorist had fallen asleep and had missed his stop before the bus reached Shefa'amr. Later, Michel and the terrorist returned to Haifa in an Egged vehicle.

The next day, August 4, 2005, the terrorist boarded the same bus line at the same time. He sat on the back seat, on the right-hand side, and was carrying his army weapon (an M-16 rifle) and a bag. There were other passengers on the bus, both Jews and Arabs. Michel spoke to the terrorist and warned him not to fall asleep again, and to make sure he got off before the bus reached Shefa'amr. However, as the bus reached Shefa'amr the terrorist was still on board. Michel asked the passengers to tell the terrorist to come and speak to him, but it seems that he did not do so and did not speak to Michel.

In any case, the bus continued along its route. At about 17:30, when the bus reached the Marshan neighborhood (the Druze neighborhood of Shefa'amr) and stopped to let a passenger off, the terrorist got up from his seat and walked toward the driver. He stood by the steps, drew his weapon and fired a volley of shots at Michel’s head. Michel was killed instantly and his head fell forward onto the steering wheel. The terrorist then turned to a Nader Haik, a man who was sitting behind Michel, and fired another volley at him. He then turned on two sisters who were sitting in the front seat on the right-hand side, Hazar (23) and Dina (21) Turki, and fired another volley at them. Michel, Nadar and Hazar all died immediately. Dina was unconscious for some time, but later died of her wounds.

The bus continued to move on slowly for several meters, and hit a Mercedes and a lamp post before finally coming to a halt. In the meantime, the terrorist continued to shoot randomly at the other passengers in the bus, who were hiding behind the seats in front of them, and later attempting to escape through the back door, which was open. The terrorist also aimed his weapon at people who had gathered outside. Two passengers were shot as they attempted to escape from the bus: Vivienne Gamal (22) was hit behind the ear (the bullet entered via the rear of her ear and existed through her cheek), and Sabri Muhsan (35) was shot in the hand. The terrorist continued to fire, and found one of the passengers, L., hiding in her seat (which was behind the Turki sisters). He aimed his weapon at her head and pulled the trigger, but no shot was fired, probably because the ammunition had run out. L. took advantage of this and jumped on the terrorist, seizing the barrel of his gun and pushing him. At the same time, another passenger, Ha’il Janhawi (28) also jumped on the terrorist, seized the barrel and began to struggle with him. He eventually managed to hold the terrorist down on a seat with his weapon pressed against his chest, holding him down with both hands. The remaining passengers got off the bus. At this point, when it was quiet and there was no more shooting, other people entered the bus, handcuffed the terrorist and dragged him to the back of the bus. One of them asked the terrorist: “Do you know what you have done?” He replied calmly: “I came to kill Arabs.”

In the meantime, police officers entered the bus. Local residents gathered outside, entered the bus and beat the terrorist to death; his body was then removed by the police. Four people were murdered in the attack and 12 were injured by the shooting.

Press reports revealed that a series of failures prevented the security forces from identifying in time the threat posed by the terrorist. A report by Ha’aretz found that both the IDF and the GSS had prior information, including warnings from the terrorist’s family, suggesting that he might be dangerous and could use the personal weapon he took with him when he went absent from the army. A debriefing by the GSS revealed an “error in judgment” on its part in failing to recommend that the terrorist not be drafted to the IDF, given his contacts with Kach activists. GSS chief Yuval Diskin even commented that the GSS had failed in preventing the terror attack.
Source: Arabhra.org
Many of the villagers face persecution by Israeli authorities for the death of the terrorist.

In its report "One Gunman, Many to Blame: Israel's culture of racism prior to the Shefa'amr Massacre and the role of the Attorney General" of October 2005, arabhra.org writes:

"The HRA believes that an examination of the behavior and attitudes of the Jewish majority toward the Palestinian minority since the establishment of Israel, and particularly since the events of October 2000,[2] leads to the conclusion that the terror attack did not take place in a vacuum, but was preceded by a long and ongoing process of overt racist incitement against this minority, both by the state and official authorities and by the Jewish majority. This incitement was reflected in diverse ways: Racist statements by Jewish public figures; the enactment of racist laws; demands for the Palestinian minority to be expelled from Israel or subjected to transfer; calls for Jewish communities to be cleansed from the presence of Arabs, and so on. These phenomena combined to create an overall atmosphere of racism that legitimized physical attacks on members of the minority, and the most extreme manifestation of this atmosphere was the cold-blooded murder of innocent citizens by a terrorist."