Jerusalem's Latest Suicidal Driver

Jerusalem over the past year has witnessed an Arab who went on a shooting spree in a Jewish religious school, two others who ran amok with bulldozers in heavy traffic, and last night a 19-year old Arab slammed his BMW into a cluster of Israeli soldiers, injuring over a dozen.

As far as we know, none of the Arabs were ardent members of a Palestinian terrorist group, according to their families (though the Israeli police speculate that they may have been sleepers, adept at hiding their suicidal fanaticism from family and future brides.)

So what gives? Are Hamas and Islamic Jihad doing a better job of hiding their suicide killers from the eyes of collaborators? Or is there some personal motive, aside from politics, that makes them snap and take out their frustrations through terror? In this highly charged place, any act of desperation, of rage, is interpreted as a terrorist act.

These cases defy easy explanation. Look at the last one: here's an Arab youth with a death wish, and he's driving a BMW? Clearly the Israelis didn't drive him to penury. We can scratch economic hardship off the list as a possible motive.

His family ran a trucking firm; they were well off. They were among the fortunate ones. They aren't subjected to the pressure cooker that most Palestinians are. They live in East Jerusalem and don't face the daily restrictions and humiliations that Palestinians endure at checkpoints leaving and entering the West Bank. Police say that that Qassem Mughrabi was despondent because his girlfriend had broken up with him and that's why he went crazy.

Maybe. But it sounds a little lame to me. Naturally, there's another story. The family's side: they claim that Mughrabi, who didn't have a license, was a poor driver and may simply have lost control of the sleek BMW, plowing into the soldiers. He crashed the car into a wall and an officer shot him dead. The officer was later commended for his heroic action. I agree; Mughrabi could have had a bomb ready to detonate inside his car, and the officer's duty was to protect his men. But Mughrabi's parents claim their son was murdered. Shot 11 times because he lost control of his BMW and it jumped the curb and careened into a bunch of soldiers. One thing is certain: Mughrabi's death sure has made the young Arab drivers --who tend to speed with their radios blaring-- behave much more cautiously at the wheel. Everybody's got a gun in this town.

by Tim McGirk/Jerusalem