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Read the entire January 2007 issue exactly as it is printed! Pictures and Bonus articles in the print edition, not online

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A Bus Ride into the Intra-Fada: Trial Run?

 By Catriel Sugarman
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Englewood, NJ 07631

January 2007

It was a warm evening on Thursday, December 15, and my thoughts centered more on the lecture I was about to give to the Ra’anana Community Kollel than on any potential dangers that might keep me from getting there. One hundred “Modern-Orthodox” families were spending a “long Shabbat” weekend together at the Nevei Élan Hotel in Ma’alei Chamishi and, having completed a model of the Second Temple in Jerusalem a number of years ago, I was scheduled to speak on the Beit Hamikdash.

Contrary to my usual habit, I arrived at the Tachanah Mercazit of Jerusalem (Central Bus Station) with plenty of time to spare. This is necessary, because the security surrounding the Tachanah Mercazit in Jerusalem is similar to that of an airport anywhere else in the world.

After waiting in line for ten minutes, I finally succeeded in inching my way to one of the entrances of the building. Buffeted by people on all sides, I assured a security man that I had no weapons and dropped my backpack on a stand. Placing my wallet and coins in a small container on the side, I went through the metal-sensitive electric gate, and a guard passed a metal detector over my body.

Despite my precautions, I set off the alarm and a red light flashed. Suspiciously, the security man called me back and, glaring at a bulge in my front breast pocket, he asked me if I “had anything else.” It was my seldom-used cell phone. With a sheepish grin, I removed the offending instrument and placed it in the side container on top of my wallet. This time I managed to stride through the metal-sensitive electric gate without arousing its fury.

Boarding

Collecting my wallet, coins, keys, and cell phone, I followed the line to the right. Under the watchful eye of more security men, I placed my backpack on a moving ramp that slowly passed under an X-ray machine operated by a soldier. Apparently, the contents of my bag—a laptop, a mouse, various electrical wires, a pointer, and a couple of notebooks—held no interest for him and he waved me through. Having (thankfully) passed the final barrier, I retrieved my backpack and entered the massive stone and blue Tachanah Mercazit.

Climbing a few stairs, I quickly came to the escalators that took me to the Bus Departure Area on the third floor where I found Retzif (platform) 17 without any difficulty. Bus 185 services a number of communities in the “Jerusalem Corridor,” among them Ma’ale Hachamisha, Kiryat Anavim, Telz Stone, the Israeli-Arab community of Abu Gosh, and last but not least, the Nevei Élan Hotel.

As departure hour approached, I was surprised that there were almost no people waiting for the bus, and when it left the station, only a handful of passengers were aboard. Ensconced in the first seat behind the driver, I turned around and looked towards the back; almost all the seats were empty.

Crowded Bus

I did not realize it at the time, but unlike most inter-city busses in Israel, the 185 picks up passengers in town before leaving Jerusalem. After exiting the station, the bus drove down Rechov Malchei Yisrael, picking up passengers on the way, and soon entered the bustling Ge’ula section, where more people got on. Boarding the rapidly filling bus were bearded patriarchs with Gemarot, suited yeshiva students with black hats, a group of young women carrying books who looked like they were going to a shiur together, boys with pe’ot, girls with pigtails, and mothers with babies.

As we continued down Rechov Yechezkel and up Rechov Yaffo, more people came through the swinging doors: obstreperous teenagers with backpacks, older women burdened down with bags of fruit and vegetables that they had bought in Machaneh Yehuda, the odd soldier.

By the time we passed Binyanei Ha’umah on our way out of Jerusalem, there was standing room only on the bus, and I was very happy to have my front-row seat.

Making its way through the pine-covered Judean Hills, the bus made its scheduled stops, and people started getting off. Soon, there were seats for all.

Abu Gosh

When we reached Abu Gosh, four young Arabs got off the bus. They had been sitting quietly in the last row; no one had paid attention to them. They did not exit from the rear door, but, rather, walked the entire length of the bus and got off in the front. The driver then closed the door and the bus once again started to move.

Within a few minutes, people seated in the back of the bus started to cough violently. And then, the people in the seats ahead of them starting to cough, and then the people seated ahead of them. Babies were wailing. The “wave” of hacking moved to the front of the bus, and when my throat went raw and I, too, began to cough violently. Because I was in the front of the bus, my coughing fit was the last to start.

Passengers started screaming, “Open the windows. Stop the bus!”

The driver did not have to be told twice. He stopped the bus, opened the doors, and, choking, we all spilled out and filled our lungs with fresh air. It seemed like everyone in the milling crowd pulled out cell phones to call husbands and wives to come get them. The driver called the police.

Pepper Spray

It took a few minutes for us to understand what had happened.

While exiting the darkened bus, the four Arabs had squirted pepper-spray on the floor. They obviously knew it would take a couple of minutes before the chemical took effect, allowing them time to get off the bus and vanish into the night.

While we were waiting for rides (someone was kind enough to take me to the hotel), a woman explained that in the previous two weeks, there had been three incidents of one type or another on that same bus line; this had been the most serious.

The police did not express much interest.

But the episode left me with this thought: What would have happened if the perpetrators of this attack (and this was no prank) had used—or had been furnished with—a more powerful poison? A whole busload of Jews could have been gassed! 

The Jewish Voice and Opinion is a politically conservative Jewish publication which present news and feature articles not generally available elsewhere in the Jewish or secular media. Articles may be reprinted in their entirety with attribution.