Griff Witte’s report, Motives in Earthmover Rampage Debated in Jerusalem is striking for two things one that it says and one that it omits.

Israeli officials and media described Edwyat as a terrorist who had targeted Jews. But friends and relatives in East Jerusalem on Thursday described a man with no political affiliations or particular grievances against his Jewish neighbors. Instead, they said Edwyat had suddenly snapped for reasons they did not understand.

There is New York and there’s West New York, however there’s east Jerusalem and west Jerusalem. They are not separate municipalities.

The second is the way he frames the story between the perceptions of the Jews and the perception of the Arabs. He leaves out an important detail though:

“He shouted ‘Allah Akbar.’ At that moment I pulled the pistol that Oron carried and shot the terrorist three times in the head. After I verified that he was dead, I raised the pistol to make sure that passersby were not hurt,” he recounted.

Shouting “Allah Akbar” is a signature of a terror attack. It might be that Edwyat wasn’t handled by any terror organization and previously was on good terms with Jewish Israelis, but on Wednesday he, for some reason, chose the path of terror.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad