American MBA student Taylor Allen Force, 29, was stabbed to death on March 8th 2016 amid a Palestinian terror rampage. May his memory be a blessing.
Taylor and his group were walking down the seaside promenade in Jaffa when a terrorist began stabbing anyone within reach. Besides Taylor, the terrorist also stabbed 11 others.
Taylor was part of a group of Vanderbilt graduate students visiting Israel as part of their program. As the group returned to their hotel, they were met by OneFamily psychologists to help them cope with the shocking and tragic death of their friend and classmate.
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Following the stabbing, all 34 surviving members of the group, along with two professors, returned home to the US.
Taylor a graduate of West Point and a veteran of the US Army, left active duty in 2014, after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was enrolled in Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. He was an avid skier and a member of the ski team at West Point.
Vanderbilt chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, in a letter to the school’s student body, wrote, “Taylor embarked on this trip to expand his understanding of global entrepreneurship and also to share his insights and knowledge with start-ups in Israel.” Zeppos added, “He exemplified the spirit of discovery, learning and service that is the hallmark of our wonderful Owen community.”
The attack took place at nearly the same time US Vice President Joseph Biden arrive in Israel. Taylor is the second American tourist killed in the current wave of violence. Ezra Schwartz, 18, a gap year student in yeshiva, was killed at the Gush Junction on November 19, 2015. He is the 34th person murdered since September 13, a rate of murder every 5.5 days.
HEROES OF THE DAY
Yishai Montgomery, a guitar player playing on the beach at the time of the attack, became one of the heroes of the day. When the terrorist ran by the musician trying to escape, Yishai struck the terrorist with his guitar then chased after him until police managed to shoot the terrorist.
Another hero was Yonatan Azarihab, a 40-year-old who was wounded by a terrorist in Petah Tikvah. The terrorist stabbed Yonatan in the neck and upper body. Despite the serious injury, with help from a shop owner, Yonatan managed to remove the knife and stab the terrorist to death with it.
In a third attack the same day, two Jerusalem border police officers were injured in a stabbing attack near the Damascus Gate. The terrorist approached the policemen and suddenly drew a knife and started stabbing them. The terrorist was shot and killed by security forces.
This morning, a man in his fifties from Beit Hanina was critically injured in a shooting attack at the New Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem. Police believe two terrorists carried out the attack after failing earlier in the day to cause injuries in a shooting on a bus in the Ramot neighborhood.