-Jony Klein (Middle-East Correspondent)
A 21 year-old British exchange student was murdered on the Jerusalem Light Train today. The assailant, Jamil Tamimi (57), was a psychologically unstable man, who boarded the Light train and after a few minutes took notice of the young student. He pulled out a knife and began to stab her in the upper parts of her body. An off-duty police officer, who was on the train at the same time, activated the Emergency brake, charged the assailant, subdued him, and removed the knife from his possession. Unfortunately, the victim did not survive the multiple stab wounds. Later, local police and the special Police patrol (Yaasam) boarded the train and apprehended the murderer. He is now under investigation as well as are his four sons (details of investigation are pending).
The Israeli General Security Agency (Shabak) noted that the unstable murderer tried to commit suicide in a hospital earlier this year, by swallowing a razor. Also, in 2011 he was convicted of committing indecent acts. As a result of the murderers heinous killing, Shabak has labeled Tamimi a terrorist, stating, "This is another case among many that a Palestinian who suffers from personal, mental or moral distress chooses to carry out a terrorist attack in order to find relief from their problems."
The murdered woman was 21 year-old Hannah Balderon, a British exchange student. She arrived in Israel in January from the University of Birmingham, where she was studying religious studies. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem she took courses in Bible studies, archeology, and religion, as well as studying Hebrew at Ulpan. She was here for a single semester of study and was supposed to return to England this summer, at the end of the semester.
A 30-year-old pregnant woman and a 50-year-old man were lightly injured in the area of the attack as well.