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As Arab-Israeli Strife Grows, Anarchy Looms

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Times Staff Writer

Visiting hospitalized survivors of a knife assault in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on Friday urged Israeli citizens to defend themselves against Arab attack and to ensure that the assailants do not escape unharmed.

No more than 10 miles away, acquaintances of a Palestinian accused of stabbing two Israelis to death in central Jerusalem called him a hero and said they would do the same if they got the chance.

The passion behind the two points of view reflects a sense of growing anarchy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Israeli settlers have formed vigilante groups to retaliate against stone-throwing Arabs on highways in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians speak darkly of escalating the struggle. They warn that continued buildup of their frustrations, not necessarily direct orders from their leaders, is all that’s required to provoke increased bloodshed.

Shamir told Israel Radio: “I think the general public and the Jewish public must do their utmost in order to defend themselves . . . to prevent murderers from doing their deeds and . . . to prevent them (killers) from coming out unscathed if they succeed in doing something.”

The prime minister’s aides were quick to soften his comments. They said he meant that Israelis should “be alert” and help the police catch the perpetrators of such attacks.

Inflammatory Statements

Shamir has been criticized in the past for making inflammatory statements, including charges that members of peace groups were in league with Israel’s enemies.

The victims he was visiting were stabbed Wednesday by a Palestinian yelling “God is great!” and wielding a foot-long knife. Two Israelis, a 60-year-old lawyer and a 91-year-old retired person, were fatally injured in the attack, and three bystanders were wounded.

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Afterward, a mob formed at the scene amid cries of “Death to Arabs!” An effort was made to seize the suspected assailant, who had been captured, and there were demands that he be lynched.

“It would not be wise to whip up emotions now,” a Foreign Ministry official said. “This is a very emotional time in the conflict.”

In the West Bank town of El Bireh, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, emotions already seemed to be inflamed. The 25-year-old Palestinian accused of stabbing the Israelis in Jerusalem lives there, and he was the talk of the streets.

“He’s a hero,” said a youth who identified himself as a former schoolmate of the suspected assailant, Nidal Zalum. “It’s good for the uprising. We have to keep the pressure on.”

A companion put in: “It was courageous, especially because he did it with a knife. With a knife, you have to put your life on the line.”

Would they do such a thing?

“Perhaps,” the first youth said. “Yes. Who says I might not do the same thing?”

Jewish Settlers Stage Raids

In the aftermath of the knife attack, several groups of Jewish settlers raided Arab towns and villages, vandalizing cars, homes and in one case, in Hebron, a mosque.

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The Israeli settlers from the militantly nationalist Kiryat Arba settlement who raided Hebron on Thursday said they were responding to a stone-throwing assault on their homes by Arabs screaming “God is great!” and “Slaughter the Jews!”

“The Arabs are beginning to incite each other,” said Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, a settlement leader and a rightist member of Parliament from Kiryat Arba. “If steps are not taken, the Arab chutzpah of stabbing Jews even in Jerusalem will be repeated all over.”

He said that the mosque was set afire by burning tires that had been ignited by the Palestinians themselves.

Palestinian residents said the trouble began when Israeli settlers descended from their hilltop enclave to set fire to the Khaled ibn Walid mosque, all the while shouting “Allah is dead!” and “Mohammed is dead!”

Soldiers arrived, apparently to separate the settlers from the Palestinians, although some Arabs said the troops stood by through most of the violence. Scaffolding outside the mosque was scorched and a few pieces of the facade were chipped by bullets.

Houses in Hebron were damaged by settlers who broke windows and set fires.

“You know the Arab guy who killed the two people in Jerusalem yesterday?” Fakri Aliyeh Dana, whose house was damaged, said to a reporter. “You know why it happened? Because sometimes the anger is just full, just full, and it comes flooding out, overflows. They talk about Arafat. Who needs Arafat? It just comes out.”

The reference was to Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

A friend visiting with Dana, along with neighbors commiserating with him, said, “We will kill them if they come again.”

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