Arabs youths shatter windshield of bus carrying Jews during Mount of Olives rock attack

Palestinian gas station workers allegedly attacked by 2 Israelis, victims’ families say, extra police units continue patrols throughout capital

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
An Egged bus driving through Jerusalem (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
An Egged bus driving through Jerusalem
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
A group of Arab youths threw rocks at a bus carrying Jewish passengers on the Mount of Olives Monday morning, resulting in a shattered windshield and shaken passengers, police said.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said there were no injuries and that the assailants fled the scene, averting arrest.
“Police continue to intensively search the area for the suspects,” he added.
The site of the attack, located near Judaism’s largest cemetery, has long been targeted by Arab teens from nearby schools who take advantage of the area’s narrow streets and congested traffic to throw rocks at stopped Jewish vehicles.
The Mount of Olive’s Cemetery, where four prophets, former prime minister Menachem Begin, Hebrew revivalist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and leaders of revered rabbinical dynasties are buried, is only accessible by driving through Palestinian neighborhoods.
Chronic rock attacks there have resulted in many visitors being forced to retain security escorts provided by the Ministry of Housing and Construction to visit the grave-sites of family and friends.
Meanwhile, Arab media reported that two Israelis allegedly assaulted Arab workers at a gas station in the south-west Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Kerem Sunday, the victims’ relatives said.
According to the men’s family members, they were attacked without provocation and required treatment for light wounds at nearby Hadassah Hospital.
Although one of the victim’s fathers claimed that police arrested the suspects and confiscated surveillance cameras at the gas station, Rosenfeld said he had no knowledge of such an attack.
Rosenfeld added that extra Border Police and regular units in and around Jerusalem continue to patrol flashpoint neighborhoods and carry out security assessments on a daily basis.