"Terrorist" Attacks Soldier

A report in today's 'Haaretz' titled, "IDF soldier loses eye after Palestinian woman throws acid in his face"1, is interesting not so much because of what actually happened but because of how the paper went on to cover the attack, I quote, "The terrorist was arrested by security forces, and the soldier was rushed into surgery because doctors fear he may have lost vision in one eye as a result of the attack."2 There are two things worth noting in this one sentence; firstly, the soldier was attacked by a "terrorist" and secondly, he was rushed to hospital because doctors fear he may have lost vision in one eye. Now my views on "terrorists" and "terrorism" were expounded in some detail in yesterday's post. Moreover, I find myself asking the question, did he lose the eye or didn't he? Well, he might have because as the following report on another recent incident at Hawara shows there is going to be a lot of animosity towards Israeli soldiers at Hawara checkpoint and it is quite fair to assume that only their overwhelming firepower prevents a few more of them losing an eye, a limb or even their lives:
"Nothing helped. Not the pleas, not the cries of the woman in labor, not the father's explanations in excellent Hebrew, nor the blood that flowed in the car. The commander of the checkpoint, a fine Israeli who had completed an officers' course, heard the cries, saw the women writhing in pain in the back seat of the car, listened to the father's heartrending pleas and was unmoved. The heart of the Israeli officer was indifferent and cruel. For over an hour, he would not let the car with the young woman in labor pass through the Hawara checkpoint on the way to the hospital in Nablus. Not to Tel Aviv; but to Nablus; not for shopping, not for work; but to get to the hospital in an emergency. Nothing helped."2
Incidents like the above, of course, happen every day at Hawara. Is it really surprising when a "terrorist" attacks a soldier? If it weren't so tragic, I would laugh my head off. However, it is not funny and a Dr. Anan Abd el-Haq of Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus said soldiers wounded three bystanders with gunfire and shrapnel immediately after the incident. The military said, however, that soldiers fired only shots in the air to keep the crowd at bay."3 Well, I know who I am going to believe!
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023379.html
2 http://keld.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/21/1893936-dead-on-arrival
3 http://www.infolive.tv/en/infolive.tv-29687-israelnews-idf-soldier-wounded-after-palestinian-women-throws-acid-him