This is shaping up to be the best week ever for Doofi! Four down already, and number 5 tonight!
Doofus #95 is a young Israeli student with more imagination than sense.
An Israeli teenager has been arrested after he donned a mask and prowled the streets of his town with a big rucksack and toy gun for a school project.
The boy, 15, was seized by police in the southern town of Ashdod suspecting he was a Palestinian militant.
The student was quoted as saying he was researching police reactions in the town and "just wanted to get an A+".
The stunt was considered highly risky in Israel, where attackers are often shot by police or civilians.
Ashdod police commander Chief Superintendent Danny Elgarat told the BBC the Jewish teenager in question was "normal" and could even be considered a "gifted" pupil.
He carried binoculars and wore his father's military fatigues as he made an appearance near one of the city's malls.
Anxious residents soon began calling the police, fearing the rucksack contained an explosive device.
After a search, armed officers located the youth, surrounded him and ordered him to freeze, at which point he revealed his identity.
"Had he attempted to flee he would unquestionably have been shot," the Israeli newspaper Yehdiot Ahranot pointed out.
The youth was later released on bail and was not charged.
"It's fine - he tested the police reaction," Mr Elgaret said.
Israel has faced numerous attacks on civilians by Palestinian militants in recent years, although there have been few in the past year.
Ashdod is located not far from the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the militant group Hamas.
It's anything but 'fine', Mr. Elgaret! Imagine if some citizen or police officer hadn't waited to ask questions, but fired on someone they assumed to be a terrorist. If I'd been there, the odds are very good I'd have done so - and I think most of us who grew up in a terror-riddled environment would do likewise. We'd certainly feel absolutely horrible if it came out that we'd shot a dumbass student who should have known better: but I don't think I'd have lost too much sleep over it. Anyone who does something that stupid, in what amounts to a war zone, deserves all he gets! The results would simply have been chlorine in the gene pool . . .
Peter
This young man must not have wanted to grow old.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can see both sides of this and as I have not grown so old or to the point of forgetting that at 15, you do stupid crap all the time, I can understand his side of things, dumb as it were.
ReplyDeleteI know when I was 15, I did dumbass things ane I got a 15 year old that is currently DOING dumbass things..by the boatload.
I can also see the reason the Chief thinks it was "fine". The police should not "shoot first before asking questions"...that is not thier purpose. Even in a war zone, MPs are not "blast em then let's talk to who's left."
Quite the opposite. We are trained to contain, capture and only kill if needed. Its always a hard call, true enough, but you have to learn to err on the side of caution while still leaving enough room to avoid un-needed loss of live on any side. The terrorist you shoot today might have saved countless lives as a live capture vs a dead "martyr".
And of course, you got situations like this where some half twit goes off and causes you to wonder about the gene pool...
I would be more upset about the loss of manpower should a REAL terrorist come calling. Having even one less "man on the wall" can be just the opening that let's a bad guy or gal through to do thier nasty work...
Ah well...just another reason I don't live in a war zone...least not an offical one...
Hats off to the cops for the restraint I probably wouldn't have had...
ReplyDeleteConcur that he was lucky... No question.
ReplyDeleteSteel while I see you point, if you have not been there; Israel is at war, and as such are not in a wait and see mode, usually if they do that, there are multiple dead bodies.
That they didn't shoot, I find amazing!
NFO, Yes..sadly I am all to aware of that. Have family in the middle of that mess. 4000 years of war is a bit much but, it is as it is.
ReplyDeleteI have also found that the police are more paramilitary (or real military) and the civilians are more like our police.
That is to say they are all well trained and up.
I think this is a fine example of what a well trained group is capable of doing...