The yeshiva student who was murdered by a terrorist Thursday in Gush Etzion is Ezra Yehiel Schwartz, 18, a US citizen and a student at the Ashreinu Yeshiva in Beit Shemesh. He was in Israel on his own.
He and the other students who were hurt in the attack had come to help build the Oz Vegaon site, which was established in memory of the three yeshiva students who were abducted and murdered last summer.
His funeral will be held in Boston on Sunday.
ZAKA emergency services have contacted his family in the US, as well as a relative in Israel who is to identify his body.
The Beit Shemesh Municipality announced that it is "shocked and grief-stricken by the murder of the yeshiva student, in the shooting attack at Guush Etzion."
Schwartz had come, together with five other students from abroad, to hand out food to soldiers in Gush Etzion.
The five other students were lightly wounded and are being treated at Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
The students are in Israel as part of a program in which youths volunteer for 9.5 months, studying at yeshiva during the day and volunteering in the evenings.
Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced Schwartz dead at the scene. His five friends were evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, three were treated for light injuries and two for shock. They were all released.
A second victim from the attack, Palestinian Shadi Arafeh, 24, of Hebron, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
Yaakov Don, 51, a teacher and father of four who lived in the nearby Alon Shvut settlement was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in serious condition and was pronounced dead upon his arrival at the hospital.
Two Israeli women, one lightly injured from the gunfire and another from the car accident, were taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center, where they will remain overnight.
The United States said it considered the attack to be an act of terrorism.
"We condemn these terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in the strongest possible terms," Edgar Vasquez, a spokesperson for the State Department, told The Jerusalem Post.
"As we’ve made clear, we remain deeply concerned about the situation," he said, "and continue to urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and prevent actions that would further escalate tensions.”
Within hours after the attack, friends posted messages about Schwartz on his Facebook page. The teen, from Sharon, Massachusetts was a graduate of Maimonides Day School.
His friend Adam Kingstein wrote, “I only knew Ezra Schwartz for a few months but he was always such a good friend. He was always so happy to see everyone and gave all his friends hugs whenever he saw them. After only knowing Ezra for a few weeks I asked him to room with me at Rutgers next year. We were so excited for it and spoke a lot about how college together would be. Even if we won't be roommates next year you'll always be with me college.”
Benjamin Edelman wrote, “Ezra was a great and kind friend to me on USY on wheels and never failed to brighten up my day. Wheels is short, but you feel like you've known a person forever after going on a trip like that with them. Some of my greatest memories on the trip were with Ezra. We, along with Dov and Henryck, would choose to room together every Shabbat and he always made me laugh and have a great time. Ezra's constant positivity and kindness made him an amazing human being, and I am shocked and deeply saddened by what happened today. Rest in peace my friend.”
Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
3 comments:
Israel is the only country in the world where over 20% of its population is a traitorous fifth column who are deadly enemies of the state and its majority jewish population,no country can exist with such a disatorous situation,there is one and only solution THEY ALL MUST GO,anything else is NATIONAL SUICIDE,any government that does not realize this obvious truth is DELUSIONAL and will lead to CATASTROPHE ,
People of Israel you have only two rational choices,either you throw them ALL out or you start packing your bags and getting the hell out of there ,anything else is NATIONAL SUICIDE.
A simple question,if someone was to take into his home murderous and poisonous killer snakes and would let them freely roam his house,and one morning wakes up to find his family wiped out,who would you blame ? would you blame the killer snakes or the criminally insane owner of the house?,of course we all know the answer.
People of Israel,you have in your house millions of murderous poisonous Jew hating killers who's ultimate goal is to have you and your families throats slit and throw you into the mediteranian,and what are your so called TRAITOROUS leaders doing about this threat ? answer" they are encouraging and feeding these murderous snakes with all kinds of welfare schemes and social benefits,
Jews of Israel,have you gone mad ? why are you tolerating this ? you must rise up by the millions in a revolution and overthrow this self hating pathtic cowardly TRAITOROUS regime and put those traitorous swines on trial for high treason and install a government that will defend it's land and it's people,you only have two choices,either you do this or pack your bags and get the hell out of there because these suicidal leftist policies will only result in another Auchwitz for you and your families
Chaim
Think of all the taxpayer funded security grants the OU will milk after a couple of terrorist attacks by the 'refugees'. And terrorist scares are also good business for kiruv. And more Muslims who consider kosher like Halal make it easier to convince companies to go kosher.
$$$
http://www.jta.org/2015/11/19/news-opinion/politics/orthodox-union-says-let-syrian-refugees-in-as-house-votes-for-constraints#.Vk5gHooCjvY.mailto
The Orthodox Union joined an array of Jewish groups in urging the United States to “get to yes” on admitting Syrian refugees.
The O.U. statement on Thursday came as the U.S. House of Representatives voted 289-137 for a law that would increase the stringency applied existing restrictions on the refugees.
The Orthodox Union represents the second major stream of Judaism to favor bringing in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, as proposed by the Obama administration. Earlier this week, the Union for Reform Judaism was among 81 organizations, including 11 Jewish groups, that signed a letter urging Congress members to allow the administration’s plan to proceed.
In its statement, the O.U. emphasized its understanding of those who ask for strict vetting procedures, encouraging “a sensible process of reviewing and enhancing security,” but said it should not be a pretext for keeping out the refugees.
“While security concerns must be paramount, our focus as a nation should be on ‘getting to yes,'” the statement said.
Like other Jewish groups, the O.U. invoked the plight of Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.
“Just a few decades ago, refugees from the terror and violence in Hitler’s Europe sought refuge in the United States and were turned away due to suspicions about their nationality,” it said. “In fact, the Jewish immigrants that ultimately came to these shores fully adopted American values and have contributed greatly to the fabric of our great nation of immigrants.”
HIAS, the refugee advocacy group that has led Jewish activism on behalf of the Syrian refugees, condemned the House vote.
“Today’s vote is particularly baffling when you consider how well the existing process works,” it said in a statement. “Refugees are already more thoroughly vetted and screened than any other visitor to the United States.”
The Zionist Organization of America, separately, released a long compilation of arguments against allowing in the refugees, although it stopped short of outright opposing the policy.
The ZOA statement rejected claims that the Syrian refugees could be likened to Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.
“Others have said that there is no comparison between ISIS-infiltrated Syrian refugees and past waves of refugees to America, such as the Cuban-American families of [Republican presidential candidates] Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fleeing from [Fidel] Castro, Jewish-Americans fleeing from the Nazis, Irish-Americans fleeing from famine, and Vietnamese-Americans fleeing the Viet Cong,” it said.
There is at least one known case of a Nazi spy attempting to infiltrate the United States as a Jewish refugee. Cuba flooded the United States with released criminals in the 1980 Mariel boatlift. Transplanted gangsters from Ireland created the first organized crime network in the United States.
Hey OU.... Just do what you do best.... Checking on katchke schmaltz, vinegar, bob-bons and stuffed schnitzels for kashrus, and keep your nunyes out where they don't belong.
A most recent survey shows that in 10 years the Muslim population in the USA will exceed the Jewish one. Meaning more political clout for them and less for us. More anti-Semitism, more joining of leftists with them against Jews and Israel... Are you guys nuts?
As I predict, Jews will sooner than later, with or without a kick in the ass, run outta here. The telltale signs are there, it's only a matter of time... Politicians will fall over themselves to be photo-opted in kafiyes sipping Turkish coffee and inhaling hooka with imams to get votes... No more sit-ins with rebbes over fancy fruit bowls and surrounded by hordes of curious tucheslekkers and promising them the moon... No more heimishe machers and shvitzers kuching in politics...No more politicos showing up at melave malkas, graduations, dinners babbling incoherent bullshit...
OU..!!!! Your tucheslekkerei won't help you...
Derby... en route
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