Ordinary citizens become heroes using everyday objects to fight off terrorists

Selfie sticks, nunchucks and umbrellas are the new weapons in the war on terror.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: OCTOBER 13, 2015 22:14
Mickey Ruhani fought a terrorist using an umbrella‏ (photo credit: AVSHALOM SHOSHANI)
Mickey Ruhani fought a terrorist using an umbrella‏
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SHOSHANI)
Ordinary citizens are showing resourcefulness by using unusual objects as weapons of self-defense during the current wave of terrorism.
In an attack on Tuesday morning on Malchei Yisrael Street in Jerusalem’s haredi neighborhood of Geula, a Palestinian terrorist drove his car into a group of people waiting at a bus stop. He then exited his car with a meat cleaver and began attacking the wounded and others.
Matan Choucroun, a bystander who was on the way to pick up his suit for an upcoming wedding, managed to subdue the terrorist using pepper spray and a selfie stick.
Also on Tuesday morning, a 22-year-old male terrorist from east Jerusalem approached a bus stop in Ra’anana outside city hall and stabbed a 32-year-old man in the neck and stomach.
Mickey Ruhani, who was standing at the bus stop when the terrorist attacked, quickly began to hit the terrorist with an umbrella until he was subdued.
“I heard a woman screaming hysterically, and without thinking too much, I took my umbrella, because I didn’t have a weapon, and began to hit the terrorist,” said Ruhani.
MDA paramedics transported the lightly wounded victim to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. The terrorist was also transported to the hospital with light-to-moderate wounds he received from the umbrella.
On Monday night near the Chords Bridge in Jerusalem, a Palestinian man on an Egged bus stabbed a soldier and attempted to steal his weapon.
Seeing the commotion from outside, Yair Ben-Shabbat, an ordinary citizen, jumped onto the bus and attacked the terrorist using a pair of nunchucks he had on his person.
“I wasn’t riding on the bus, but I saw what was happening from outside and I noticed there was a lot of commotion on the bus,” said Ben-Shabbat.
“I saw a soldier with his gun around his neck and a terrorist trying to steal it from him.”
The soldier was taken to the hospital, where he was listed as lightly wounded.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan held consultations on Tuesday to determine a number of immediate steps to deal with the terrorism wave, and also to make it easier for civilians to receive gun permits.
In Israel firearms licenses are typically given only if one can prove they have reason to carry a gun – for instance if they work in security or law enforcement or live in a dangerous area like the West Bank. They must also be over 21 years old, a resident of Israel for more than three years, and pass a mental and physical exam, a shooting test, and background checks by the Public Security Ministry.
They are then allowed to order a gun through a gun store with approval of the ministry and given a one-time supply of 50 bullets to take home.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Tuesday beseeched citizens not to take the law into their own hands and to allow security forces to do their jobs.
Daniel K. Eisenbud and Ben Hartman contributed to this report.