Hussam Taysir Duwait
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| “ | He really didn't hate Jews. The fact is that he was with me. It's insanity, but the motivation was not nationalist. The problem was that he smoked a lot of drugs. Maybe it's because of that. | „ |
| ~ Duwait's ex-girlfriend speculating about his motivation. |
Hussam Taysir Duwait (died July 2, 2008) was an Arab-Israeli construction worker who was committed the 2008 Jerusalem bulldozer attack. Previous to that, he had spent an undisclosed amount of time in prison for being violent towards his girlfriend.
Biography edit
Duwait was an Arabic man living in East Jerusalem. He had Israeli citizenship and worked for a construction firm that built for the Jerusalem Light Rail. His friends and family told NBC News that he was a drug addict who smoked marijuana and "he'd shoot up all the time".
For 12 years, Duwait dated a Jewish woman and fathered a child with her. The relationship ended when Duwait became violent towards the woman, leading to her filing domestic assault charges against him. Israeli police confirmed that he had served time in prison, but did not confirm the woman's claims or reveal the length of time served. According to the woman (known only as "S"), Duwait was not an anti-Semite and never mentioned politics.
Duwait eventually married a Palestinian woman named Jamileh and had two children with her. As far as anyone knows, Duwait was not a member of any militant organisations. According to his father, he had not expressed militant sentiment or mentioned his intentions to commit the attack.
On July 2 2008, Duwait took a Caterpillar 966 front loader from a construction site on Jaffa Road. He proceeded to drive it against the traffic, hitting several cars and killing a motorist. While shouting Arabic phrases translating roughly to "God is the greatest!", Duwait then rammed a bus onto its side and killed another person. An officer of the traffic police shot Duwait, who came to a halt long enough for a group of men to enter the cab and try to subdue him. An unnamed off-duty soldier who was among those trying to subdue Duwait then produced a gun and shot him three times in the head. Motorcycle policeman Eli Mizrahi climbed the cabin and fired two more shots. The vehicle then started up again and killed an innocent bystander.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Galilee Freedom Battalion and the Al-Asqua Martyr's Brigade all claimed responsibility, however, the Israeli police said there was no evidence that he did not act alone. Hamas condoned the attack, calling it "a natural response to Israeli aggression", but denied being responsible and said they did not know who it was.