Residents of the southern east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber celebrated the gruesome synagogue terror attack on Tuesday, and were proud to share a hometown with the two terrorists who carried it out. The assailants were identified on Tuesday as cousins Rasan and Oudai Abu Jamal. Their family members said security forces raided the homes of the cousins and brought in 12 family members for questioning, including the wife of one of the attackers. Friends and family of the terrorists came to pay their respects at the family's mourners' tent. "We are proud of what they did," said one family member. "They are heroic martyrs." The celebrations quickly turned into violent disturbances, with rioters throwing stones and other objects at police stationed in the area. In an incident near the Old City of Jerusalem's New Gate, a Jewish cyclist was hit with sticks and thrown off his bike by two Arab attackers. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack at the Har Nof synagogue. The group's spokesman said in a statement that "This was an act of revenge carried out by martyrs who belong to the organization's military wing." Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said Tuesday that the terror attack at the synagogue was a "heroic act and revenge for the crimes carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people and the holy sites." Hamas claims the attack was also revenge for the death of Yusuf Hassan Ramouni, the Arab bus driver from east Jerusalem's A-Tur neighborhood who was found hanged on Sunday night. Both the police and Health Ministry ruled out the possibility of criminal involvement in Ramouni's death, finding after thorough investigation that it was a suicide. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the attack and called on the Palestinian leadership to do the same. "I call on Palestinians at every single level of leadership to condemn this in the most powerful terms," he said. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack after U.S. urging, but his condemnation also included a call for an end to Israeli "provocations." "The Palestinian presidency has always condemned the killing of civilians on both sides, and condemns today the killing of worshipers in a house of worship in west Jerusalem. "It also condemns all acts of violence from whatever source and demands an end to invasions of Al-Aqsa mosque, to the provocations of settlers, and to the incitement of certain Israeli ministers."
