UK joins international condemnation of car attacks

The United Kingdom joined the US and others Thursday in condemning Wednesday’s suspected car ramming attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, in which a Border Police officer was killed and over a dozen other people were injured.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond condemned what he called “appalling terrorist attacks,” saying his thoughts “are with everyone affected.”

His statement followed similar condemnations from the United Nations, European Union, Canada and the US.

Hammond also expressed concern over the “growing tensions in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including the violent clashes at Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount on Wednesday morning in which a number of Palestinians were injured.”

“Every Israeli and Palestinian has a right to live in peace and security,” he added.

Wednesday morning’s perpetrator was identified as Ibrahim al-Akary, 48, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, who plowed his vehicle into a crowd of people at a light rail station along the seam-line between East and West Jerusalem.

A second incident in the West Bank later Wednesday in which a van slammed into three soldiers before driving off was initially thought to be a terror attack, though a security official said Thursday that it may have been a traffic accident after the driver turned himself in.

One soldier was seriously injured and two other were listed in moderate condition.

The United Nations is “deeply concerned about the continued violence and tensions we’re seeing in Jerusalem,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric after the Jerusalem attack, adding that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack.

Dujarric said the situation in Jerusalem and Israeli restrictions on access at the holy sites “need to be urgently deescalated.”

The EU’s new foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini urged both sides to show restraint and called Wednesday’s attack in Jerusalem “painful evidence of the need to undertake serious efforts towards a sustainable peace agreement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement that Canada deplores “recent attacks where vehicles were driven intentionally into innocent bystanders. Such cowardly acts of terrorism are completely unacceptable and should be widely condemned.”

“The perpetrators of these attacks are responsible for aggravating an already tense situation. Leadership is required to prevent such violent acts and to restore calm,” he added.

US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the terror attack in Jerusalem as “an atrocity,” while also admitting that peace efforts had gotten bogged down by what he termed “serious complications.”

Kerry met with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Paris Wednesday hours after the Jerusalem attack, the latest in a series of violent incidents in Jerusalem that have roiled the capital and came as Amman said it would recall its ambassador from Israel in response to Israeli actions on the Temple Mount.

“I condemn today’s terrorist act of somebody driving in another car into innocent people standing on the roadside. That is not just a terrorist act and an act of – an atrocity, but it only makes matters worse. It only raises tensions,” Kerry said at a joint press conference with Judeh.

He called on both sides to “step back and find a way to create enough calm and enough space to be able to negotiate these difficult issues.”

A peace accord remains “an urgent priority, notwithstanding the very serious complications that have grown up over the course of the last months,” Kerry said.

The US secretary of state also called on the proponents of a peace agreement to intervene and quell the violence in the capital.

“There are those who oppose peace, and people need to not allow those who oppose peace to control what is happening in the region. The peacemakers need to control it, and they need to take steps to begin to move in a different direction,” he said.

In his remarks, Judeh also emphasized the need for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “so that we don’t have another Gaza and we don’t have these continuous violations and unilateral actions.”

Earlier Wednesday, Jordan recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest at the clashes on the Temple Mount, and threatened to file a complaint with the UN.

Turkey also condemned Wednesday’s clashes on the Temple Mount, and vowed to respond.

“Israel’s violation on the al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest place in the world, is cruelty to the core. We will make necessary efforts to ensure that the international community give the most active response against the Israeli aggression. I also call the world and the Muslim community to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Daily Sabah.

Today’s Zaman quoted Davutoglu as saying Israel’s actions on the Temple Mount were “barbaric.”

US Jewish groups decry attack

Various Jewish organizations in the US denounced the attack on Wednesday, and criticized PA President Mahmoud Abbas for failing to decry the violence in the capital.

ADL head Abraham Foxman called on Abbas to “quickly and unequivocally condemn this senseless act of violence.”

“Silence from President Abbas on these incidents suggests an indifference to Palestinian terrorist activity directed at Israel, and raises questions about his commitment towards achieving a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he said in a statement.

Similarly, AJC Executive Director David Harris appealed to the international community to speak out against the attack.

“Whatever the alleged ‘political’ motivations, such terrorist attacks would not be tolerated by any UN member state against their own citizens,” said Harris. “Astonishingly, PA President Mahmoud Abbas lauded the Palestinian who shot [Temple Mount activist Yehudah] Glick [last Wednesday], and to date has said nothing against the other terror attacks. To the contrary, he has resorted to incitement. Is this the language of a reliable peace partner with whom Israel is to pursue a two-state accord?”

B’nai B’rith International said in a statement that “this violent incident points to the constant threats faced by Israel and Israelis from terrorist organizations and their followers.”

“Following the first car attack, there was minimal outcry from the international community—an alarming lack of reaction considering there is an increasing focus on terrorist organizations, particularly in the Middle East,” it said, in reference to an attack at the Ammunition hill train stop on October 22, in which three-month-old Chaya Zissel Braun and 22-year-old Karen Yemima Muscara were killed.

Marissa Newman, Spencer Ho and AFP contributed to this report.