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Family Of Bus Driver Responds To Incident
CAIRO, Feb 14 (IslamOnline) - While the U.S. and Israel heaped condemnation for an operation by a Palestinian civilian that took the lives of seven Israeli soldiers and one civilian, the family of the 35-year-old bus driver who carried out the operation applauded him, saying he was "a hero".
After nearly five months of Palestinian protests concerning Israeli occupation of their land, coupled with what international human rights organizations have called "excessive use of force" by Iraeli troops, Palestinians willing to condemn violence committed against Israel are becoming more and more non-existent.
"The repression and the destruction of our homes that Israeli forces practice against us is the real motive for what my son did," 73-year-old Mohammed Abu Elba, father of Khalil Abu Elba, who carried out the operation on Wednesday, told Palestinian news agencies.
"My son is a hero," Elba said. "I am proud of him and of any other Palestinian who even wishes to take part in such operations against the enemy... They [Israeli soldiers] are cutting the trees, bombarding us and killing people. Isn't all that enough reason? If I wasn't 73, I would have done the same thing."
Seven Israelis soldiers and one civilian were killed Wednesday as a Palestinian bus driver rammed into a group of Israeli soldiers who were waiting at a bus stop to go to a military base nearby in southern Tel Aviv.
Khalil's wife, Manal Negm, said there was nothing about her husband that would have indicated that he was planning any sort of martyr operation.
"He was slightly nervous," she said. "But we all are because we think that any Palestinian who goes to work in Israel maybe killed by the brutal Israeli forces. We expect our breadwinners never to return to us everyday. That's why I thought he was uptight."
Manal said the only thing she noticed was that he was often talking about martyr operations against the Israelis, and that he had said "the Jews deserve to die for what they are doing to us," a few days before.
Khalil's mother, Om Ibrahim, 61, said she was in pain over the incident. "He is in Zionists' hands. They have no mercy. They will torture him to get information. This hurts me a lot."
Palestinian news agencies said Khalil has three sons and two daughters. His wife is expecting their sixth child within a few months.
Khalil worked for the Israeli bus company, Igad, for five years with no records of any political activities or affiliations with any political groups.
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