About the Author: Aharon Factor is originally from London, England. He made aliyah in 1994. He now lives in a small village in the eastern part of Gush Etzion. Aharon works as a commercial lawyer for the firm Dardik, Gross & Co., which does business with a law firm in Cincinnati. Aharon's commute to and from work takes him past the sites of several recent terror attacks.

My name is Aharon Factor. I am 47 years old, married and the father of five young children, three girls and two boys.

I am originally from London, UK and made aliyah to Israel some 21 years ago, in July 1994. I live in a small village called PneiKedem in the eastern part of Gush Etzion.

I work as a commercial lawyer for the firm Dardik, Gross & Co, in Ramat Gan’s Diamond District and commute 60 miles each day to and from work by carpool and train.

My journey takes me past many sites where there have been “pigium” (attacks) in the past and over the last few days: Gush Etzion, Bet Shemesh, Tel Aviv.

Gus Etzion is strewn with monuments to Israelis run down, knifed or kidnapped at various bus stops and junctions, today there were two piguim in Bet Shemesh and Tel Aviv has seen many attacks.

The dispute between Arab and Jew in this Land, the “Matzav” is not new. It has sadly been going on for more than 150 years, ever since the first Zionist reached Israel. The Matzav ebbs and flows like a volcanic larva flow, sometimes the situation is quiet, but the instability is always there bubbling under the surface and even a seemingly insignificant incident may lead to an eruption.

Israel has known many waves of terror far worse than the current one. Following the Oslo Agreements, the Country suffered a wave of suicide bus bombings in which hundreds of Israelis were murdered in cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.  Since then, there have been waves of knifings, stonings, running down, shootings and kidnappings. The attack on a Seder Night Dinner at the Park Hotel, Netanya in 2002 in which 30 were murdered and 140 were injured was one of the worst and led to the HomatMagen military operation in the Territories. Most of these previous attacks were the work of members of terrorist organizations such as Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas etc.

What appears to make the current terror wave different and perhaps more troubling is that most of the perpetrators appear to be unaffiliated individuals, who wake-up one day and decide to kill with whatever comes to hand: knives, screwdrivers, and many of them are youth. When 13-year-old boys or 16 year-old-girls launch stabbing attacks, what hope do we have for future reconciliation, for they represent the next generation?!

We have an Arab colleague in our firm who is a stager – a trainee lawyer. Last night was his wedding celebration in which 1400 people, mostly Arabs, were invited, including all of the staff at my firm. I would have liked to have gone but being a member of my village’s rapid response unit, I had a prior commitment, see below. During the last few days there were many discussions and concerns of colleagues about attending the wedding due to the Matzav. In the end, most of my colleagues went to the wedding and a good time was had by all.

I am a member of the rapid response unit in my village and yesterday we had a training session in the community, together with the Army to respond to a “pigua”, a knife attack outside the community synagogue. The training session was aborted in the middle due to the need of the soldiers to respond to a real attack in Gush Etzion where six soldiers were seriously injured after being run down.

People are very wary on the street and in public places.

I would like to finish on a bright note. Last week an Arab teenage girl from the Hebron went missing from her home and her parents were worried that she might be planning a pigua. They contacted the Army to share their concerns and the girl was later located in Beer Sheva with a knife and planning to undertake a stabbing. The girl was caught in time. To paraphrase Golda Meir, there will be peace when our enemies love their children more than they hate us.

Shalom from Israel.