Police set to fete volunteer caught on film firing on incapacitated Palestinian who killed a US tourist in Jaffa stabbing spree
Police have recommended awarding a medal to a volunteer policeman who helped stop a Palestinian terrorist by shooting the already-wounded stabber as he lay on the ground.
The volunteer cop and a regular patrol officer have both been nominated to receive honors for their actions in stopping Bashar Massalha — who killed US tourist Taylor Force, 29, and wounded nine others in a March 8 stabbing spree in Jaffa and adjacent Tel Aviv — the Hebrew-language Walla news site reported Sunday. The patrolman, who initially stopped Massalha in his tracks by shooting him as he ran along Tel Aviv’s beachside promenade, is up for a Medal of Distinguished Service. The volunteer policeman, who fired the controversial shot after Massalha was already lying on the ground, apparently incapacitated, has been recommended for a Certificate of Commendation. Massalha was killed by the gunfire.
“They showed readiness to confront [the terrorist] during the incident, thus preventing injury to additional civilians,” wrote Yarkon Precinct commander Yehuda Dahan in his recommendation.
Dahan’s superior, Tel Aviv District chief Moshe Edri, has already approved the proposals, which are to be reviewed by a delegation headed by the chief of police manpower, Deputy Commissioner Gila Gaziel, the report said.
According to police, Massalha, 22, who hailed from a West Bank village near Qalqilya, stabbed three people on the Jaffa boardwalk, a popular site for shopping and leisure, before fleeing inland toward the city’s Kikar Hasha’on, where he stabbed three more people. He then went on to stab at least four more people, several hundred meters to the north, near the Dolphinarium club in Tel Aviv, before he was shot dead by police.
In one video clip posted online from the scene of the attack, Massalha is seen lying motionless on the ground after being shot by the police patrolman, while the volunteer policeman stands nearby.
A voice is heard from the crowd gathered nearby goading the cops, saying, “Give it to him in the head! Don’t be afraid.”
A bullet is fired, and other members of the crowd yell at the cop to stop firing.
“Enough! He’s lying neutralized on the ground. What are you doing shooting for no reason?” yells the second policeman.
Two days after the incident, the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department said it was looking into the shooting, although it had not opened a formal investigation.
Law enforcement officials examined the footage to ascertain whether there was evidence of a crime in the shooting of Massalha after he was already on the ground.
According to Sunday’s report, the volunteer cop maintains he believed Massalha still posed a threat, and shot him in the arm.
The attack in Jaffa was the third of the day across the country, and came as US Vice President Joe Biden was nearby, visiting former Israeli president Shimon Peres at the Peres Center.
Force, the American tourist who was killed, was from Lubbock, Texas, a US Army veteran who had done tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2009 graduate of the West Point Military Academy, he served as a field artillery officer from 2009 to 2014 at Fort Hood.
Force’s wife was severely injured in the attack, according to Zaki Heller, spokesperson for the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
Twenty-nine Israelis and four foreign nationals have been killed in a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence since October 2015. About 180 Palestinians have also been killed, some two-thirds of them while attacking Israelis, and the rest during clashes with troops, according to the Israeli army.
News of the medals comes during the ongoing trial for IDF soldier Sgt. Elor Azaria, who has been charged with manslaughter for shooting and killing a Palestinian attacker in Hebron in March after the attacker had been subdued — meaning he was shot, supine, and barely able to move as he lay on the ground.
regardles of whether this happens I think the Likud and the left are not interested in Judea Samaria to be part of Israel… only the major blocks and security issues.
B”H
JEW!
REMEMBER all Jews and non-Jews in Israel and the Diaspora who have fallen victim to Arab terrorists in the years of the State of Israel existence and especially since the beginning of the so called “peace negotiations” with the Arabs!
ASK the government ministers and leaders and active members of the ruling parties: have you cared of your security and the protection of your families from the terrorists – professional murderers released in the past and earmarked to be released soon? If you have, have you thought about us, your electorate, simple Jews, not covered by the protection measures?
TELL THEM: Prime Minister Netanyahu desires to remain at his post till the end of his term (he has failed to do this twice – in 1996-99 and before the last election) – and to do this is prepared to facilitate the creation of a Palestinian state (G-d forbid!). He would throw any of you out from his coalition and government the moment he feels he has lost the hope for your support!
REMEMBER all those who have voted for the parties making the present ruling coalition and ASK them: do you feel you are responsible for EVERYTHING that people your have chosen are doing and are prepared to do, supporting – actively or passively – the plans to free extremely dangerous professional murderers (who combine their terrorist activities with teaching others to murder?).
Efim MAIDANIK 1.05.2016
Phone: 02-5856873 or 052-304-8078NS
Email maidanik77@gmail.com