Jewish ‘counter-terrorist’ Group Claims Credit for Arab Bus Arson

A Jewish “counter-terrorist” organization claimed credit for a fire that destroyed an Arab-owned bus shortly before midnight last night in the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Joz northwest of the Old City walls. An anonymous telephone caller told the Jerusalem police department and newspapers that the bus was burned in retaliation for recent arson against Jewish-owned buses and other vehicles. “Terror and counter-terror, an eye for an eye,” the caller said, adding before he hung up that the group planned further reprisals for Arab terrorist acts.

Police originally believed the bus was set on fire by Arab terrorists to warn its owner, the Arab Bus Corp. to halt service today, the 27th anniversary of Israel’s independence. But the anonymous telephone caller said the Jewish identity of the arsonists would be confirmed on a wooden plaque near the burned bus. Such a plaque, bearing a Star of David and the legend “An eye for an eye” was found near the burned out vehicle this morning.

Police said the organization, which calls itself “Terror, Counter-Terror, An Eye For An Eye,” was well known to them from leaflets it has distributed in the past. But up to now it has not claimed responsibility for acts of violence. Police suspect it is composed of former members of the Jewish Defense League and the “Dov” (Dikui Bogdim–Suppression of Traitors) organizations of militant extremists.

Meanwhile, an explosive charge discovered this morning in the Mea Shearim religious quarter in West Jerusalem was dismantled by police before it detonated. The explosives were found in a truck loaded with containers of inflammable gas. The incident was the latest of its kind in Jerusalem and nearby towns. An Egged bus was burned in the West Bank town of Ramallah last Saturday, and the private car of a Jewish couple who live in an Arab neighborhood was set on fire