What do you do when you are driving on an Israeli road and a rock hits your car?
It has become a common event. Rock-throwing began in the first intifada in the late 1980s throughout Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
Israel now is becoming energy self-sufficient. It always has been and always will be rock self-sufficient, especially in Judea and Samaria, where Arabs have plenty of free ammunition.
Rock-throwing periodically returns to popularity, and it has become one of the favorite pastimes of Arab youth who have been educated for a generation by the Palestinian Authority to hate Jews, Israel and Zionism.
The most popular highways for terrorists to pledge their allegiance to the “resistance” and throw rocks and firebombs are on the well-traveled roads connecting Kfar Saba to central Samaria and northern Samaria with the southern Hebron Hills via, Ofra, Beit El, Gush Etzion, Hebron-Kiryat-Arba and Susiya to the south.
I have been stoned, pardon the expression, several times. Thank God, no one has been injured, even when a rock once crashed the side window of our two-week-old car, leaving a young woman, who was to be married two weeks later, with glass all over her.
Here are a few pointers for novices from my own personal experience, but first of all, no one should stop driving on the highways because of the fear of being attacked. That simply is surrendering to the enemy.
The aim of the rock-throwing terrorists is multi-fold:
— Kill the driver or passenger with a direct hit or cause the drive to lose control of his vehicle and kill everyone in the car;
–Scare the Jews off the roads and then scare them into the sea.
Here are several tips for drivers. They will not guarantee that you won’t be hit or hurt, but they might lessen the chance.
Try to stay between two vehicles with Palestinian Authority license plates. When there is one in front of you and one in back of you, your car is a more difficult target for rock-throwers to identify and hit.
Of course, keep your doors locked and windows up in case they decide to carjack you, or open your door and attack you while you’re stopped at a light or when the car in front blocks you. However, be careful you don;t get trapped between two Palestinian Authority “resistance” drivers who suddenly realize they can trap you.
Keep an eye out for rocks on the road. That is a sure sign that the terrorists are waiting for you.
Drive like a jerk.
When I pass through hot spots like Beit Omar, south of Kiryat Arba, I suddenly speed, then I slow down, and then I speed again. It confuses the rock-thrower who gauges the speed of the car.
Furthermore, it usually is an Arab and not a Jew who drives like an idiot, so the rock-thrower probably will figure you are one of them.
It is true that is harder to hit a fast-moving target, but if a rock hits a car that is speeding, the impact could be lethal. However, if there are no Arab cars behind and in front of you, speeding is the best option. By speeding, I mean like a race-car driver.
What do you do if you get hit by a rock?
The first, last and only thing to do is to start exercising your right foot. Firmly place it on the gas pedal and press it through the floor. It helps the blood circulation in the foot and also gets you out of Dodge as fast as possible.
What happens if you are met with a barricade of rocks?
That happened to me in the first Intifada in Hebron. You can be an idiot and get out of your car and tear apart the barricade, making you a sitting duck for a sniper or setting yourself up to be blown up when you touch an explosive device.
Simply stay in your car, hit the gas pedal and drive through or around the barricade. If your tires get punctured, just keep driving. The government will pay the bill.
Others recommend, a very sharp and fast reserve out of there.
Guns:
Do NOT shoot. That is not a typo. Do NOT shoot, unless you want to go to jail
Shooting at a rock-throwing terrorist is a disproportionate response that is going to get you a lot of bad publicity in the United Nations as well as a prison term, unless you can prove that your life was on the line. That is pretty hard to do after the rock has been thrown and all you have to do to get out of danger is to speed away. Don’t play Lone Ranger because Tonto is not around to help you.
There are rare instances when a gun can save your life, but there have been too many instances of cowboys pulling the trigger before putting the brain in gear.
One example: Several years, ago, one young man approached a checkpoint and heard a shot. He pulled out his gun and was promptly shot by alert guards. The man is lucky to be alive today.
Don’t be afraid. Consider driving in Judea and Samaria as an experience.
And don’t forget to say the traveler’s prayer before driving,. It is not insurance, but it can’t hurt.
Happy motoring.