August 26, 2005
A Jewish religious student from London has been murdered and another wounded in a knife attack in Jerusalem's old city. Shmeul Mett, 21, was stabbed with a kitchen knife as he walked through the Christian quarter of the old city after praying at the Wailing Wall on Wednesday night. Mett's friend was also stabbed by the attacker, described as an Arab man, but survived after stumbling to a police station. The stabbing was the first deadly attack in the Old City for three years. Police say the incident was caught on CCTV cameras. Israel's security minister, Gideon Ezra, said on radio: "Without doubt, this attack was committed by a lone Palestinian who was not part of any movement, which will make the search for him more difficult." After the attack, Orthodox Jews clashed with the Israeli police over a demand that Mett's body be spared an autopsy for religious reasons. Several hundred men pro tested outside Hadassah hospital and attacked an ambulance. Four of the protesters were arrested and three policemen were injured.
