Jerusalem-----December 9.....The death of Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Nir Kahane, 20, the military policeman who was stabbed to death yesterday by a Palestinian terrorist at the Kalandia or Qalandiya security checkpoint, was yet another blow to peace in the region.

Kahane was buried today at 11:30 in the Kiryat Tivon military cemetery. What was also buried with him were the hopes and aspirations of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians who truly want to see terrorism replaced with trust, stability and commerce.

The Kalandia or Qalandiya IDF security checkpoint is one of many checkpoints throughout the West Bank. They serve to protect Israel and it's civilian population against terror suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings. Almost daily, many Palestinians are arrested as they are discovered to be smuggling everything from suicide belts, explosives, mortars, bullets to knives and grenades into Israel.

In fact, this morning Israel Defense Forces troops caught a Palestinian teenager who had strapped explosives to his body. Soldiers spotted the 15-year-old boy at an IDFsecurity checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus and grew suspicious because he was wearing a heavy coat on a warm day. Soldiers stopped the teen, and discovered two metal cans filled with explosives and shrapnel taped to his body. The teenager was arrested, and the cans were destroyed by an army bomb squad, the army said.

All of these weapons have one purpose: to serve as the tools of terror attacks in Jerusalem, Hadera, Afula, Ashdod, Tel Aviv or Haifa. Over 1,000 men, woman and children in Israel have been murdred in terror attacks by Palestinian Islam terror groups since September 2,000.

What makes this terror attack particularly dreadful, was that it will be the Palestinians who will suffer the most from it. First, I define this as a terror attack because it is the same Palestinian Arab Islamic extremists who target civilians who were now targeting soldiers. Second, this terrorist chose to walk down the line entitled: "for Humanitarian purposes only."

When the IDF says "humanitarian purposes only" this is not for public relations. The Israel Defense Forces has trained humanitarian officers at these checkpoints to assist the elderly, pregnant, sick and non-profit organizations such as the Red Cross, the UN and USAID to pass through with very little delay. These humanitarians officers are usually veteran IDF combat officers who now in their 40's, 50's and 60's and work as attorneys, doctors and businessmen understand the real world as an 18-year-old combat recruit does not. He or she understands the weight of a Palestinian mother carrying a baby or a businessman from Rahmallah who is rushing to make a trip to a government office or visit relatives in a Jerusalem hospital.

Yousef Abu Adi, 29, a resident of the West Bank village of Nuema in the Ramallah area, was arrested by soldiers immediately after the late-afternoon attack. The Palestinian, wearing civilian clothes, approached the checkpoint at around 3:45 p.m. and pushed through the "humanitarian needs" line reserved for the elderly, infirm, and pregnant women. Upon reaching the point where Kahane stood, Abu Adi suddenly pulled out a knife which was hidden in his clothes, and slit Kahane's throat.

Kahane was fatally wounded in the terror attack and was pronounced dead on the scene by an IDF doctor despite the intense efforts of army medics to resuscitate him. It soon became clear that Abu Adi carried out the terror attack on his own, despite claims made by the al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades that they had initiated the attack.

The Israel security checkpoint where the attack took place is the point of entry for thousands of West Bank Palestinians from the Ramallah area into Jerusalem on a daily basis. The local IDF commander said that Israel would be forced to further increase security checks at the checkpoint, which has been the scene of previous attacks in the past, as a result of the latest attack.

"This incident hurts all our attempts to improve the quality of life of the Palestinians and we will have to decrease it in order to provide the greatest security to our forces," Col. Miki Edelstein told Israel Radio. The terror attack came against the backdrop of mounting violence following a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed five Israelis outside a Netanya shopping mall on Monday.

Israel temporarily shut down the security checkpoint linking Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to take harsh military measures to strike back, including the resumption of selected targetings against Palestinian terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and several other terror organizations. A nine-month truce between Israel and the Palestinians threatened to unravel following the spiralling violence, which also dashed hopes to revive the long-stalled peace talks raised by Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in mid-September.

Hundreds of mourners participated in Kahane's funeral late Friday morning. "We were waiting to see you next week at our school's 'Graduates speak from the front' day, at which you had volunteered to speak. Nobody could have guessed that the meeting would turn into a separation from you," said Penina Avramson, Kahane's high school instructor. "I would give anything to have one of our wonderful heart-to-heart conversations again.

"I told him to take care of himself," said Baruch Kahane on the morning following his son's killing. What this Israel father did not know was that his son was watching out for the welfare of ordinary Palestinians trying to get to school, business or visit relatives when he was murdered by one of their own.

Palestinians will now suffer, waiting longer in security checkpoint lines in the rain and cold. IDF soldiers at these security checkpoints will now be more than ready press the trigger of a M-16 at the slightest incident and the Palestinians will fall deeper into an abyss of poverty and depression.

The author has over 25 years of international commercial, non-profit, governmental public relations, public affairs and editorial experience. Leyden was commended by the Israel Defense Forces for his crisis communications PR work during Operation Defensive Shield, served at the Kalandia or Qalandiya IDF security checkpoint several times and today serves as a media and SEO Internet consultant to many of Israel's governmental and commercial organizations.

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