Israeli Man Uses Pizza Board To Stymie Stabbing Attack

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Pizzeria worker Shlomi Madar used a wooden pizza board to help subdue a suspected terrorist who had begun to stab patrons at a nearby restaurant in an Israeli town, according to the Times of Israel.
“I heard screams coming from the shawarma shop two stores down and I immediately understood what was happening,” he said.
The attack was undertaken by a 21-year-old Palestinian in Petach Tikva, who wounded an bus driver eating in a shawarma shop. An employee of the shop described the attack to the Israeli news site Ynet:
After stabbing the driver, the attacker ran into the pizza shop, where Madar was able to fend him off using the pizza board and a wooden countertop. After Madar smacked him in the face, he dropped the knife and ran outside, where he was tackled by two pedestrians.
“Had it not been for the counter-top, I don’t know if I would still be here,” Madar said.
According to Israeli police, the attacker said that he had carried out the attack in response to Israel’s actions at the Temple Mount. “I did it for Al-Aqsa,” he reportedly said.
Contact Jesse Bernstein at [email protected] or on Twitter @__jbernstein
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