Sometimes terrorists blend in with the background to ensure success.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — How much attention do you pay to your everyday surroundings on a daily basis? As you wait for the bus or train to commute to work or school do you notice other people? Or do you stare at your cellphone or bury yourself in a book?
A lot of risk companies advise us to be vigilant in order not to become the victim of a terrorist attack. We are told to look for people that do not fit in or are acting strangely, whatever that is supposed to mean. If we can identify possible nefarious actors we can save ourselves and others.
But what if the terrorists look like everyone else?
Bus bombs occur all too frequently in Israel
On this day in 2003, a Hamas terrorist dressed as an Ultraorthodox Jew detonated a suicide belt on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 17 and wounding more than 100. The incident happened in Davidka Square, destroying the bus as well.
Jerusalem Police Commander Mickey Levy said that the terrorist had been carrying a huge bomb containing a great deal of metal fragments, causing massive injuries to the passengers.
On this day in 2003, a Hamas suicide bomber dressed as an Orthodox Jew detonated a metal fragment-laced bomb on a Jerusalem bus killing 16 and wounding more than 100.
Bus bombs occur all too frequently in Israel. Again, the reasons for this are obvious: lots of people in a closed space with nowhere to run to as the suicide terrorist disintegrates, spewing ball bearings and nails in all directions.
These are also hard to stop since buses are ubiquitous and trying to impose security is next to impossible. Scratch that. It is not impossible but rather impractical. Imagine going through the same process you do to board a plane to get on a bus. See what I mean?
Dressing up as a typical citizen to kill innocent people may be a heinous act but it is a smart terrorist strategy.
