3 victims and terrorist dead in Jerusalem

[Ed Mahmoud]

MSNBC puts "terrorist" in quotation marks.

Palestinian 'terrorist' in earth-mover rampage
3 killed, 45 wounded in busy Jerusalem street before attacker is shot dead

Sounds like a terrorist to me.

[Regit]

I think it's unclear whether he was a terrorist or just a loon. It's definitely not your run of the mill terrorist attack.

Very weird.

[Chacor]

Bad generalisation here. Not all Palestinians are terrorists. It is wrong to use the term terrorist as-is, and NBC are being rightly cautious and quoting the Israeli PM's office. But of course Ehud Olmert's office will call it a terrorist attack, seeing how he needs some political help right now.

BBC says "Police said he was a 30-year-old from east Jerusalem who had no known affiliations to militant groups."

This man, albeit Palestinian, was apparently also an Israeli citizen: "The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the driver held an Israeli identification card and had a criminal record."

A glance at the more recent headlines from different news sources shows not a single one uses the word "terrorist" in its headline:
Deadly Jeruselem bulldozer attack — BBC
Palestinian goes on rampage in Jerusalem; 3 killed — Boston Globe
Driver rams bulldozer into Jerusalem bus; 3 dead, dozens hurt — USA Today
Driver rams vehicle into Jerusalem bus, killing 3 — LA Times
3 Dead in Jerusalem Bulldozer Attack — AP/Time

Three militant groups claiming the attack — which almost certainly means none of them did it and are just claiming it to show off — but the Israeli police believe he acted alone.

It doesn't appear to be a conventional terrorist attack, for sure.

[southerngale]

People are calling the man a terrorist because Israeli authorities are labeling it a terrorist attack.