Two masked men walked into a school in the Israeli-Arab town of Jaljuliya on Wednesday afternoon and shot a student in front of the eyes of dozens of his peers. In video footage published by Israeli media of the attack, two masked men are seen entering the school without any trouble whatsoever. One of the masked men is seen firing his weapon in the air while the other shot a student who was sitting at a kiosk at point-blank range. Miraculously the student is alive. He is currently in moderate condition.

A teacher who witnessed the attack said that prior to the assailants shooting the student, they fired their guns in the air to make sure that no one would come near or interfere with them. One teacher tried to intervene and prevent the shooting, but the masked assailants threw her to the ground and then carried out their attack.

The principal of the school said: “I wasn’t present at the school during the time of the attack. Had I been present I would have forced myself in their way and told them to shoot me and spare the student.” A female student said: “The attack was very scary. I don’t know if I can keep coming back to the school after what happened. It is difficult for me to digest what took place.”

The parent’s committee held an emergency meeting following the attack and discussed the distress that the other students were in. It was agreed that the school as a whole, must undergo special classes to help the students deal with what happened. The stipulated numerous demands to increase safety in the school and said that if the demands were not met, then there would be a parent strike until the situation changed.

Wahabi Ara’ar the Head of the Parent’s Committee in Jaljuliya said: “This incident is very worrying. We never thought that the violence in the Arab community would reach this level where two masked men could enter the school and shoot a student. This is incredibly tragic and we feel that we are helpless in the face of this violence. We feel that our children are not safe in their own school. Part of the fence around the school is broken and there are no security cameras outside the building. Our high schools should have an armed guard who will act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of carrying out such attacks.”

The incident is being investigated by the police and the Education Ministry.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)