Palestinian Authority-American Shot Dead while Trying to Kill Jews

Israeli soldiers saved Jewish motorists from a firebombing attack Friday night when they shot and killed a Palestinian Authority-American teenager who was throwing a Molotov cocktail at passing cars on Highway 60, north of Jerusalem, Friday night.

Military spokesmen said that Israeli soldiers had set up a lookout patrol on the highway spotted the teenage terrorists hurling the firebomb and opened fire "in order to neutralize the threat to the lives of civilians driving on the highway.”

The terrorist, age 14, was identified as Orwah Hammad, who the U.S. State Dept. said was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and moved to the Palestinian Authority with his family at the age of 6.

He was from the village of Silwad, and residents told Haaretz that Hammad was the cousin of a terrorist who killed 10 Israelis in a sniper attack in 2002 and that his uncle was reportedly killed in the intifada that began in the late 1980s.

Hammad’s cousin admitted to the newspaper that he was among a group of that was throwing rocks at motorists, but U.S. State Dept. Psaki responded to the attack by sending “deepest condolences to the family of a U.S. citizen minor who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces during clashes in Silwad.”

She made no mention of the circumstance of the shooting and simply stated, “We call for a speedy and transparent investigation, and will remain closely engaged with the local authorities, who have the lead on this investigation. We continue to urge all parties to help restore calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of the tragic recent incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

Psaki last week “condemned” Wednesday’s terrorist attack on the Jerusalem light rail train, when a three-month-old American-Israeli baby was killed, but unlike the American response strongly supporting Canada after the deadly attack that killed a Canadian solider in Ottawa the same day, Psaki suggested Israel do nothing.

She condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms,” expressed “our deepest condolences to the family of the baby,” and then urged “all sides to maintain calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of this incident.”